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Digital Literacy: What You need to know

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Want to make yourself sound smarter, say you are digitally literate! All it means is that you can use technology as a tool to help you do stuff. It could be as simple as knowing how to use a calculator to help you figure out which brand of toilet paper is cheaper, or as advanced as programming the mars rover in C. As a future educator some things I am digitally literate in, or learning about, are blogger, smart boards and smart tech, power point, word, google docs, search engines, outlook, blackboard, and many others. When you can use the tools needed to it makes your life easier and in some cases possible. For example at home I am not digitally literate at using my digital thermostat which make my life more difficult, because I have no control over the temperature. Then of course at school if I did not know how to use blackboard then I would not be able to turn in my homework and fail my courses. (Crowley, 2014)

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Being digitally illiterate can be detrimental to students. In our modern age we are a technologically dependent. It has become as important as knowing how to read and write. It can hurt students at home, school, in their future careers, in their social lives, and hinder their ability to find help in bad situations. On the other hand if we teach digital literacy and give a lot of opportunities to practice these skills then they will learn how to be a digital citizen. They will have modeling and hands on experience of how we should use, act, and contribute to our online communities. (Crowley, 2014)

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A part of teaching students about citizenship in relation to online communities is copyright laws and plagiarism. Teaching about copyrighting and plagiarism sounds daunting and maybe a little ugly, but it is only about giving credit where credit is due. This can be a really empowering idea for students, because it teaches them that their ideas are unique and valuable. (Pennington, 2014) It also helps them to understand how they should relate to others and will help them in their future education and careers so that they work ethically and responsibly. (Rob, 2016)

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Some great ways to incorporate digital literacy into the classroom would be to teach students to cite information and others ideas. They could also have hands on experience with a variety of different programs. They could make power point presentations, they could play interactive games on the smart board, and you could show them infographics and educational video clips. Teachers could use padlet or similar programs to increase participation in the classroom. With all the technology out there the possibilities are almost limitless. The main limitation is just making sure the technology used fits the lesson and that it is safe and appropriate for the students that are using it. (US Digital Literacy, 2015)

Resources

Crowley, B. (2014, October 29). What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom. Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/29/ctq _crowley_digitalliteracy.html 

Pennington, M. (2014, December 4). Tips to Help Your Child Avoid Plagiarism. Retrieved February 11, 2016, from https://www.noodle.com/articles/tips-to-help-your-child-avoid-plagiarism

Robb, L. 6070 Robb, Copyright, Plagiarism, and Citations. Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1794988#anchor

US Digital Literacy (2015). Digital and Media Literacy for Today’s Learners. Retrieved February, 11, 2016. Retrieved from http://www.digitalliteracy.us

PBL and IBL: Advantages and Uses in the classroom.

Fun and interesting ways to grab your students attention as well as teach them content can be difficult to come by. These are a couple of best practices that do just that. 

In a few words, project based learning and inquiry based learning are two engaging and authentic ways to grasp new concepts. In the classroom, we can use these strategies to increase the students depth of knowledge and their ability to interpret, problem solve, and apply information in new ways.

According to Blooms Taxonomy creativity is the highest level of learning, and if have all those skills and information they will be able to create. So now you may be asking, what are these wonderful teaching methods?

 

Project Based Learning

Simply put, project based learning is an immersion process. The students are learning by doing. They are dropped into the actual or simulated environment that they are learning about. It is one of the most interactive learning processes that exists in the academic world.  Students are able to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge through hands on activities and experiences. This information was sourced from BIE click here to go to their website.

 

One great  and currently relevant example of project based learning is a mock election such as in this video.

 

 

Inquiry Based Learning

Inquiry based learning is exactly what it sounds like. What do the students want to know; what are they inquiring about? They want to know the answers to their questions. They want to know what an elephant feels like, what the ocean smells like, and why the moon does not always look round.

 

How does this help teachers? We get to listen to them, give them a topic, or even some of the questions. Then they want to know about the information. They are actively asking questions and getting involved. They having find the answers themselves. They find out an elephant feels like leather, the ocean smells like fish, salt, and fresh air, and the moon does not always appear round because it only reflects light back from the sun and is not always facing us directly. Then they take that data and pull it together into something that makes sense and can be applied in other ways. Elephants feel like leather, Rhinos are similar to elephants so maybe Rhinos feel like leather too! This information was sourced from the Educational Broadcasting Corporation. 

 One great example and further explanation can be seen in Mrs. Schile-Reed's class in this video.

 

E. (2004). Inquiry-based Learning: Explanation. Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/index.html

 

B. (2016). What is Project Based Learning (PBL)? Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://bie.org/about/what_pbl



How Hiking Made Me Want to be a Teacher

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24 years ago my journey began in the foothills of South Carolina, near Clemson University. Growing up my parents instilled in me a love for learning. My mother, who is an author (click here to go to her blog), and my father read to me and my sister. They told us stories of their childhoods and connected them to history. In the bedroom my sister and I shared we had a "library" that consisted of 3 shelves with all kinds of children's books. We often went to the library and my parents tirelessly read and reread the same books over and over as we asked to hear about the elephant story just one more time. Nature was also a huge part of my education. With the mountains being so close hiking adventures and antique shopping were a part of my weekly life. The picture attached is a favorite waterfall we visited frequently on those hiking trips. I learned about different cultures as I grew up and we moved from place to place. My passion for learning just kept growing. As I came into my adult life though, I was very unsure what I wanted to do. I really just wanted to do a little of everything. Unfortunately due to life circumstances, I needed to take time off from school and started working. In everyone of my jobs I saw on the job training was much more effective than computerized or video training. People needed the experiences to learn and really understand a new concept. I also observed that those who had an education had many more options and were often in the higher paid positions in the companies in which I worked. One thing I often did was to help train the new hires. I realized I was pretty good at facilitating that experiential learning. Given this talent, my love for learning, and my strong belief in the power of education, I started to realize my calling. I should be a teacher. From there it did not take long to realize I wanted to teach children, the future of tomorrow. Not to mention the other perk of teaching children means I don't have to pick a subject area. I will get to teach them all!Now, I look forward to becoming a great teacher that instills the same drive for learning in my students as my parents did for me. My most sincere desire is that my students will grow up to have amazing lives full of happiness, and they will make a difference in their homes, communities, states, country, and maybe even the world.