Monday, 8 January 2018

Literacy Website: DogoMedia



DOGOmedia is a next-generation online network empowering kids to engage with digital media in a fun, safe and social environment.  Founded in 2010 by Meera Dolasia, the DOGO network has been used to help students enhance their learning in and out of the classroom, and to safely research current events, books and movies. 
The network has been built over three major domains rather than one single URL. The first domain is DOGOnews (www.dogonews.com). This domain is touted as “the leading online source for current events, news and non-fictional articles for kids, teachers and schools.”  The articles written in this section are up-to-date, kid-friendly, and have links to common core state standard lesson plan suggestions.  The site is also categorized by genre and can be filtered by grade level as well.   All articles have a read to me option and include a vocabulary list as well as games to improve literacy skills.  For an additional subscription fee of $2 per child per year, a teacher may also access reading comprehension, critical thinking, and vocabulary assignments attached to each article posted. 
The second domain is DOGObooks (www.dogobooks.com). DOGObooks major feature is their book review section.  Students here are encouraged to discover, review and rate books on a social platform.  All book selections and reviews are moderated prior to being published.  Each book review section includes a synopsis and excerpts from the actual story to encourage a student to read more.  From there, the student has the option to purchase a book selection either as a hard copy or e-book.   In addition to the reviews, there are many freebies which include book giveaways from site sponsors and contests that may be entered to win hard and soft copies of pre-selected text.
The third and most recent domain is DOGOmovies.  (www.dogomovies.com)  Similar to DOGObooks, DOGOmovies major feature is its movie review section.  DOGOmovies provides a platform for students to watch trailers, rate movies and read movie reviews by other students. All the movies listed here are age appropriate and any reviews left by students are moderated before being published on the website.  This domain also includes giveaways and contests. 
            The DOGOmedia network is definitely an excellent literacy resource.  It looks clean, is easy to navigate, and provides a wide variety of topics to read about, listen to, and discuss.   When used appropriately, DOGOmedia can provide an excellent medium to encourage critical thinking skills through peer-review activities, discussion forums, and digital storytelling.  

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