HI... Thank you!  Michael, you are so right.  Having a learning disability doesn't mean that you can't learn, be wildly successful,  extraordinarily intelligent, read for fun, have critical thinking and decision making skills. There is not one way to learn but many ways which actually depends on the individuals ...hence contextualized learning. Bobbi 


>>> Michael Tate <mtate at sbctc.edu> 01/13/09 1:07 PM >>>

CeCe and Steve,
Reading was the critical skill in the 20thCentury, but since the advent of computers that can speak, read and listen, digiracy rather than literacy is the key skill for the 21st.  This technological advance, and others, allows us to create education programs, classrooms and tutorials where students can interact and respond to lessons in a variety of modes, not just  through reading and writing.  We all need to step up and implement Universal Design. We also need to eliminate college entrance criteria that are obsolete, like insisting upon fluent reading skills.

Steve,
Some people with dyslexia  will NEVER be able to learn to read so that it is a useful skill.  Instead of having the student perseverate on trying to learn to read, the instructor needs to re-focus them on learning to use a compensatory device or software.

Michael Tate

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of cece valentine
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:13 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3341] Re: quantifying student interest in material

Glad U didnt teach in a college years ago.  Reading skils are not critical thinking skills.  Many dyslexics have critical thinking skills but the mechanics of reading are a chore.

Land grant colleges were open to anyone who could get there.  Many adults learned to read after they got to the college.  Their critical thinking skills and divergent patterns of thought kept them going until; maybe years later, they were prepared to teach or be lawyers or doctors.

--- On Tue, 1/13/09, Steve Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com> wrote:

From: Steve Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com><~!B*+R^&>Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3340] Re: quantifying student interest in material
To: "The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List" <englishlanguage at nifl.gov><~!B*+R^&>Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 12:14 AM
If a college student has trouble reading he/she should not be there.

I do not believe that you can teach critical thinking skills. A person who reads widely and has been exposed to many different facts and points of view has a better chance of developing the ability to think clearly and express thoughts in a balanced and persuasive manner. Reading is key.







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