I love the idea of encouraging our
students to create their own digital literacy. There are endless resources
students can use regarding technology and digital literacy. With Internet
connection comes endless possible websites, videos, articles, and activities to
facilitate student learning. As a teacher, we can even take this a step further
and ask our students to create digital literacy, such as blogs, Animoto videos,
and interactive online posters. I found the Animoto to be extremely engaging to
both watch and to create. I could see myself using this tool in a variety of
different ways in the classroom. I could use it to introduce students to a
topic or lesson, or I could use it as an assessment by assigning students to
create their own video. I also really like the idea of having students create
Facebook pages for famous scientists, or really any science topic. The students
could then interact with each other’s Facebook pages by leaving comments and/or
messages. Twitter’s word limit could be a powerful tool to teach students how
to summarize information, or to create a clear and concise argument.
During my high school years, I
only learned the basics of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. However, current high
school students much more knowledgeable about technology, and are excited by
the latest advancements in technology and multimedia. I do still believe that
modeling, teaching, and utilizing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is extremely
beneficial for students, but I believe switching it up and incorporating other
multimedia formats, such as some discussed above, will keep students focused
and interested. On the other hand, I strongly believe in utilizing Excel in
science classrooms. I think its important for students to learn to collect
data, and then use Excel to translate the data into graphs, data tables, pie
charts, and other visual formats. Students can also use the program to perform
statistical analysis and calculate slope, the rate of change. When students
create their own graphs, they are forced to understand the relationship between
the independent variable and dependant variable. They will also be able to
directly read whether or not their hypothesis was supported.
In a school I worked at, many students were issued iPads.
They had an app called Notability. Teachers liked this app because it allowed
the students to keep all of their notes in one location. It also allowed them
to complete their homework and quizzes on this app, and the teacher to access
and view it. The students loved their iPad, and truly enjoyed being able to
complete their work on it. However, there is also a downside. Students liked to
listen to music during class and were easily distracted by their device. I
think as an instructor if you want to use iPads and/or other similar devices
they must be one step ahead regarding, which aspects are helpful and which are
distracting. Relying too heavily on these devices may result in unintentional
negative outcomes, when not monitored appropriately. iPads also allow students
to quickly asses the internet and a large volume of information. We as
teachers, can model and explain to them how to identify whether or not the
information, website, article, and/or source is credible. Knowing how to
decipher whether or not a source is credible is an important skill will
translate to all subjects. It is also a skill that can be utilized later in
life for housework, medicine, jobs, etc.
Lastly, I want to mention how I
strongly believe that YouTube is a great source for academic information,
especially if students know how to decide whether or not the video source is
likely to be creditable. In college I was able to student by watching various
videos relating biological processes, physics concepts, and much more. YouTube
videos give life to dense information. They are also easily accessible and
free. Young students are familiar with YouTube and enjoy surfing it. Asking them
to create their own video could also be a fun and interactive way of bringing
digital literacy into the classroom.
I think you bring up a lot of good points about different ways digital literacy can be used. I love the point that you make about teachers needing to be "one step ahead" of their students if students use devices. My school is switching to iPads next year. All of the apps are amazing, especially Notability, because I wouldn't be able to function as a grad student without it. However, my school is doing something that puzzles some of us as well-with the introduction of iPads, they are cutting the mandatory technology class for freshmen, and replacing it with a speech class. I think the assumption is that the students know so much, so they don't need technology classes anymore. Some students do know a lot, but not about the vital programs that you mentioned: Word and Excel. Those are great tools now and they don't need to be replaced, though I'm sure we will find a way. I think we have to regard technology the same way we regard all other teaching practices: just because something is trendy and new and innovative doesn't necessarily mean it will stick around. There are thousands of apps out there, and realistically, not all of them will break into the education world. Our task is decide what is worthwhile.
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