EDTC 6433 TEACHING DIGITAL LITERACY TO ENHANCE TRADITIONAL LITERACY SKILLS

Autumn 2017

In today’s technological society, it would seem that students, who have grown up with and engage in technology on a daily basis, would already be adept at the skills needed for digital literacy, which is defined as

the capability to explore and face new technological situations in a flexible way, to analyze, select and critically evaluate data and information, to exploit technological potentials in order to represent and solve problems and build shared and collaborative knowledge. Dragon & Ewa, 2012, p. 1755

However, Kumar & Vigil (2011) have found otherwise: “undergraduates’ use of new technologies reported more use than creation of online content by undergraduates in the last decade, along with limited or no transfer of technological familiarity to academic environments” (p. 144). In fact, there is a “large gap between Web 2.0 use in their daily lives and in their coursework, as well as negligible online content creation” (Kumar & Vigil, 2011, p. 144). If this is the case for undergraduate students, then it stands to reason that despite younger students’ ease and facility with using iPhones, iPads, online video games, and social media, they need to be taught how to transfer those skills to use in the classroom. Furthermore, as educators, it is our job to teach them: the ISTE, NETŸS, and Common Core State Standards all include digital literacy in their standards (Kumar & Vigil, 2011, p. 144; McPherson & Blue, p. 2369): “Web 2.0 technologies are the 21^st century tools that students use for communicating and collaborating and are essential to students meeting the Common Core State Standards whose purpose is to prepare our young people to be successful in college and in the modern workforce” (McPherson & Blue, p. 2371-2).

Of course, the only way to teach digital literacy is to be digitally literate. I am fortunate to be taking this course as a big step in becoming digitally literate myself, and there are plenty of online resources available for educators as well. Google for Education Google for Education hosts a free training center for using Google Tools in the classroom. Topics are broken down into fundamental and advanced skills and cover subjects such as “Captivate Your Class with Video,” “Teach Students Online Skills,” and “Measure, Understand, and Share Student Growth.” TED Talks are another resource for video talks about how to bring technology into the classroom, and DigitalLiteracy.gov has a section on “Lesson Plans and Curriculum,” which provides information on a variety of topics through a variety of methods, including pdf, PowerPoint, and video. Any information gleaned from these resources could easily be carried into the classroom and taught to the students as well.

Crowley’s article What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom (2014) lists ways to weave digital and traditional literacy skills together, such as Google-a-Day, a trivia question that teaches online research skills, as demonstrated in this YouTube video: A Google a Day in the Classroom.  This could be used as an entry task, either individually or in small groups, and followed with a class discussion on how students found their answers, because different students will use different search strategies. Further strategies could then be taught and practiced, such as those provided here here (Crowley, 2014) and in this article my colleague recommended, which also addresses how to evaluate online resources for validity and bias: Teaching Students Better Online Research Skills (O’Hanlon, 2013). These activities would be a great prelude to a research project or other activity requiring online research, thus linking research skills needed for reading and writing to digital literacy.

TED Talks are another great way to introduce digital literacy into the classroom. TEDEd hosts a library of videos in multiple subjects, which would be useful in class or in a flipped classroom format. But they can also be used as models for students to make their own TED Talk presentations, utilizing video, audio, and other media in a presentation that allows students the opportunity to create content involving reading, writing, speaking, and listening literacies. Assigning these TED Talk presentations as a small group activity would add in a collaborative piece, and publishing them online in an ePortfolio, a Wiki page, or another platform would allow for interaction with a broader audience.

The key for using any technology in the classroom is purpose. For example, Twitter is fun and contemporary, but what would be the purpose of a 140-word comment in an English Language Arts classroom? Rob Sterner talks about exactly this on his blog post Web 2.0, Higher-Order Thinking, and Macbeth: Part 1: The Simplicity of Twitter https://nosternerstuffthanthis.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/web-2-0-higher-order-thinking-and-macbeth/, the beginning of his six-part series on planning and implementing Twitter “in a way that would require higher order thinking especially analysis” (Sterner, 2013). From an educator’s standpoint, I found the peek into his thought processes to be particularly valuable: how he envisioned clear goals, did research about the use of this technology in the classroom, evaluated the feasibility of assessments (how long does it take to grade 2000 tweets?), and ultimately found a way to use tweets as a jumping-off point for character analysis.

Digital use does not necessarily equate to digital literacy. These are skills that must be taught in the classroom as part of our job in meeting the standards set forth by ISTE and NETŸS, namely “that teachers have to “model digital citizenship and responsibility” and “design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments” to help students become digital citizens” (Kumar & Vigil, 2011, p. 144). In order to do any of this, first educators must be digitally literate themselves, and secondly, technology must be used with purpose in lesson activities. Tying digital literacy to clear learning objectives and targets, linking them with standards, and assessing thoughtfully with formative and summative assessments will not only teach students digital literacy, it will also enhance their skill development in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Crowley, B. 2014, October 29. What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom. Education Week Teacher. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/29/ctq_crowley_digitalliteracy.html

Dragon, K. & Ewa. W. 2012. Relationships between Digital Literacy and Print Literacy: Predictors of Successful On-Line Search. Conference: Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference,1755-1758. Retrieved from https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/24664/files/759117?module_item_id=170193

Kumar, S. & Vigil, K. (2011). The Net Generation as Preservice Teachers: Transferring Familiarity with New Technologies to Educational Environments. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 27(4), 144-153.

McPherson, S. & Blue, E. Literacy Goes Digital: Web. 2.0 applications for UDL instruction. 2369-2382. Retrieved from https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/24664/files/759085?module_item_id=170189

O’Hanlon, L.H. 2013, May 20. Teaching Students Better Online Research Skills. Education Week Teacher. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/05/22/32el-studentresearch.h32.html

Sterner, R. 2013, January 31. Web 2.0, Higher-Order Thinking, and Macbeth: Part 1: The Simplicity of Twitter. A Chance to Live Many Lives.

Retrieved from https://nosternerstuffthanthis.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/web-2-0-higher-order-thinking-and-macbeth/