How Can we Embed Digital Literacy into the classroom?
Digital Literacy has many linked components that can be integrated into other academic curriculum.
Technology is an advantage in the classroom for the following reasons:
- Motivates students in their learning due to their enjoyment and ease of use with various technological mediums.
- Reaches students of various learning styles. Technology use applies to and compliments Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.
- Allows students to create and design their own unique products reflective of their personalities and learning needs/styles.
- Encourages students to manipulate media to construct their own meaning.
- Enables students to easy share their learning with teachers, families and peers.
- Gives students the chance to explore technological mediums which in inevitable increase job skills that employers look for in the workforce.
Types of Digital-Age Literacies
In which subject area disciplines would you integrate Digital-Age Literacies?
- Just like text has different genres, technology too requires that students be able to think critically about different types of media to evaluate purpose and to construct their own meaning.
- The various Digital-Age Literacies apply to the more traditional academic disciplines of reading, writing, mathematics, sciences, social studies, history and the humanities.
- The goal of all teachers is to promote higher order thinking skills in their students. Incorporating Digital -Age Literacies and technology into lessons and activities is a sure way for teachers to facilitate their student's construction of knowledge and meaning.
CCCS Reference to Technology by Grade Levels
For easy reference, here are technology related standards by grade level. Please see the link above to view/reference both the literacy and mathematics Common Core Standards in their entirety on the CCCS's website.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading (K-5):
Production and Distribution of Writing (K-5):
These objectives are very similar, but each one builds on previous exposure and knowledge. For space, just grades K, 3 and 5 are shown.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading (6-12):
Production and Distribution of Writing (6-12):
Again, the standards build upon one another from grade level to grade level. Below are the standards for grade 6, 8, 9-10 and 11-12.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading (K-5):
- Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as
well as in words. (Please see “Research to Build and Present Knowledge” in Writing and “Comprehension and Collaboration” in Speaking and Listening for
additional standards relevant to gathering, assessing, and applying information from print and digital sources.)
Production and Distribution of Writing (K-5):
These objectives are very similar, but each one builds on previous exposure and knowledge. For space, just grades K, 3 and 5 are shown.
- CCK.W.6.- With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
- CC3.W.6 - With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with peers.
- CC5.W.6 - With some guidance and support from adults,use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to typea minimum of two pages in a single sitting.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading (6-12):
- Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as
well as in words. (Please see “Research to Build Knowledge” in Writing and “Comprehension and Collaboration” in Speaking and Listening for
additional standards relevant to gathering, assessing, and applying information from print and digital sources.)
Production and Distribution of Writing (6-12):
Again, the standards build upon one another from grade level to grade level. Below are the standards for grade 6, 8, 9-10 and 11-12.
- CC6.W.6 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient
command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting. - CC8.W.6 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well
as to interact and collaborate with others. - CC9-10.W.6 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s
capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dramatically. - CC11-12.W.6 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback,
including new arguments or information.
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Our next video, Digital Literacy- Using Technology in the Classroom, exemplifies the importance of digital literacy and learning in our classrooms with a glimpse at how our students think and how they want to be engaged in the art of learning. |
I'm Motivated! What Can I do Now?
Learning and constructing knowledge in the 21st century!
- First and foremost - encourage, request, even demand that teachers in your school district get EXTENSIVE (not just one workshop)training in the use of technology in the classroom and Digital Citizenship! Teachers are the front line of content delivery, but if teachers are not comfortable and confident with the use of technology, then they will not incorporate its use into their classrooms.
- Collaborate with grade level colleagues to design lessons and activities that allow students to construct knowledge using technology. Collaborate across grade levels to ensure that all teachers are on the same page regarding what skills are deemed important for success in each grade level, along with what skills should be introduced earlier to students who are ready.
- Be enthusiastic! Show your excitement towards the use of technology and your students too will follow suit!
- Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Be confident when using technology, but realistic. If something doesn't go right the first time, try again! Also, technology at times fails for various reasons. Have a back up plan and adjust your lesson accordingly if need be. Your students will understand if you give an explanation.
Some suggested activities to promote Digital Literacy, higher order thinking and construction of meaning in your classroom:
The above list is not extensive and there surely are 1,001 (if not more) ways to incorporate Digital Literacy and technology into your classroom. When in doubt, have FUN with your teaching and your students will have FUN learning!
- Use an interactive whiteboard as often as possible to design and deliver lessons. Promethean and Smart Notebook have websites with teacher created lessons if you are not yet comfortable designing your own.
- Allow students to maintain blogs, wikis, web pages related to their learning.
- Engage in email/video chat exchanges with students from other countries.
- Utilize storytelling media to allow students to create and publish stories.
- Set up a blog site/Facebook page and post weekly discussion questions for students to respond to. Encourage them to respond to each other too!
- Use video cameras to dramatize stories, record scientific experiments and expose students to video editing software to create video productions of learning.
- Engage students in discussions about how and why various media work well to showcase learning and why others do not. Thinking critically about the medium use use to present a message is just as important as the message itself.
The above list is not extensive and there surely are 1,001 (if not more) ways to incorporate Digital Literacy and technology into your classroom. When in doubt, have FUN with your teaching and your students will have FUN learning!