Even with our plates overflowing with covering our curriculum and everything else that comes along, it is our obligation as a school system to teach kids digital literacy. Before you begin teaching digital literacy I think you, yourself, need to have a clear understanding of what it means to you and your class. According to Common Sense ”Digital literacy specifically applies to media from the internet, smartphones, video games, and other nontraditional sources.” I like how they say and other nontraditional sources. I think the sources mentioned are becoming the common “traditional” sources. Students need the skills to find, identify, evaluate and use the information they gather from these sources with proper credit. For the remainder of this year I am going to try to teach it alongside the content we are learning. I am going to try and add them into the learning objectives as we create the units and projects going forward. I would then begin teaching it with introducing the term digital literacy and see what it means to the kids. I would then introduce them to the following 5 and see what they mean to them. Searching effectively, Protecting their and others' private information online, Giving proper credit when using other people's work, Understanding digital footprints, and Respecting each other's ideas and opinions. This could be done using blogs or a program like Today’s meet or poll everywhere. After taking some time previewing and discussing all five skills I would focus on one or two in our upcoming units. For example we just started our unit on atoms and molecules and I want them to find interactive sites that they can build and play with atoms and molecules. This would be an opportunity to leverage the skill of searching effectively. I am going to look at the lessons in common sense and see if I can tweak what they have and add my content instead. At a minimum use their lessons as a guide to make sure I am covering the skill. Next year I plan on incorporating these in my beginning of the year project on our School Wide Learning Outcomes and our school wide BEST expectations so the students will have a good foundation for the year.
5 Comments
Marisabel Olguin
2/25/2018 08:32:31 pm
I think it is a great idea to make it your goal to incorporate Digital Literacy school wide. I think all schools should give this topic the importance it deserves. Most students especially in the elementary level don't realize what a digital footprint can say about them. Adding Digital Literacy expectations to their BEST expectations is a great start.
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Kayla Bryant
2/26/2018 04:29:31 pm
I think teaching digital citizenship and literacy alongside other curriculum is an ingenious idea. When I think about adding something else to my teaching plate, it is extremely overwhelming. However, thinking about how necessary the skills related to these subject areas are, integrating them into the subject matter I am already teaching makes a lot more sense. Students need these skills just as much as they need anything else today, as technology probably consumes as much as, or more of the time in their days than any other activity.
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Amanda Olson
2/26/2018 09:22:39 pm
I love your idea about approaching Digital Citizenship through BEST next school year. We so specifically focus on and teach citizenship in regards to the physical/face-to-face world, but this world does not comprise the entirety (or even possibly the most inhabited aspect) of their realities. We can no longer teach to only one part of their realities, and must teach them how to be successful inhabitants of their whole realities. I plan on teaching the Common Sense lessons embedded within the content/activities/skills being explored in the classroom. I believe digital literacy should be taught alongside and throughout technology's implementation, and should enhance the curriculum being covered. I think using the Common Sense lessons to guide creating your own lessons that cover the same skills is a great idea, and something that I will do as well.
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Scott Marsden
2/27/2018 04:45:31 pm
Jeff--I think the way you are approaching digital literacy is the way you have to approach it for super busy teachers and students. Teach it into the context of whatever content you need to cover. For example, I'm teaching my digital media students to make podcasts. But I'm also teaching them digital literacy by teaching them that they need to use non-copyrighted music and sound effects for their podcasts, and I'm showing them where to find those.
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Benjamin Scinto
2/27/2018 08:28:10 pm
I like your idea of incorporating it into BEST as it is not only a skill, but a behavior as well, which makes it all the more complex. Again, it is here where I think we have wrongly oversimplified Digital Literacy. To be literate in something indicates a level of knowledge, this does not reflect the belief system which is inherent in Dig Lit tenets. It's just like speeding, I am knowledgeable of the speed limit, I just choose to believe it doesn't apply to me in certain instances
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November 2018
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