Integrating the Teaching of Search Literacy and Information Literacy Skills in My Teaching

Having learnt a lot this far and continuously getting information that is making me a better teacher and helping me to grow professionally, I would also like my students to benefit from my learning and become digital citizens.
In this case I would go about integrating my teaching of search literacy and information literacy skills in my teaching through the following ways;
·        I would come up with Tutorial sites that I would ask my students to browse that would teach them how to search for information.
·        I would guide them into picking the right starting place ie there is need to define their topic of research before they engaging in the searching.
·        I would guide them into creating a concept map which of course includes them deciding on the central topic or problem etc. that they are going to search for.
·        I would get them to work together in groups and learn how to select key words that are related to the type of information they would wish to look for and also teach them to test run these words in Google.
·        I would also get them to work in groups as I guide them to learn to search in cycles. In this case I would be getting them to realize that they need to view their search from different angles and have different approaches.
·        Teach them about the Boolean logic, get them to work together. With the Boolean logic they would acquire the skill to narrow down the aspect of their search.
·        Introduce the students to online collaborative tasks/ projects in which case I would try to include things such as course integration instructions, tutorials etc.
I cannot assume to be an expert in the field but what I have learnt has taught me that the best ways for one to learn is through Hands-on and collaboration, and I think that is how I would integrate the search literacy and information literacy skills in my teaching.

 

 

Media Literacy and How I can Regularly Integrate the Principles in My Teaching

I have learnt quite a lot with media literacy. Media literacy involves being in position to analyze, evaluate, examine and understand the information, being able to critically think and  create media that communicates the intended message. Media involves television, Radio, posters, images, billboards and so on. When  media  is being used certain things  are put into perspective especially whether the media communicates what it is supposed to. It may not be a hundred percent perfect but it should be in position to carry a clear message that could easily be decoded by those viewing it or the intended audience.
If a  media is not clear, it will be misunderstood or the people for whom it is intended may miss out on the information.
As learners have multiple intelligences, students who learn through using images would benefit a lot from the use of posters and images. That means that category of learners would be catered for in that respect. Even others can reinforce their learning through visuals. An educator or teacher has to make sure they select media whose message will not be missed or doubted for that matter.
I have viewed a number of posters and images on The Government Inspector and I feel I am going to make use of most of them in teaching the text. They give a clear picture of the entire play and bring it to life. I think I am going to use the posters and images more often especially now that I have realized the impact they can have on the teaching and learning process.  Share this poster with me.

 

It shows how the town folks are clamoring to get to Hlestakov and present their petitions against the town officials who are also laboring to stop them from reaching their destination.

 

My New Understanding of Digital Literacy

My research about digital literacy has made me realize that digital literacy encompasses a lot of things. It all starts with the attitude towards technology and the access. After which a person goes on a self professional development and growth through a hands-on experience.

Digital literacy means that one should in the process acquire ICT skills and these include;

·        basic computer skills
·        internet skills
·        Social skills.
It also includes acquisition of information skills and these include;
·        managing information
·        searching
·        analyzing
·        and evaluating it.
And also acquiring transferable skills such as'
·        creativity
·        communicative
·        reflective
·        constructive knowledge
In short, know how to use various digital technologies and how to access legitimacy of web resources.

The funnel is a symbol of what and how much knowledge, basic skills and generic skills are obtained when one has an open mind set.
There are some areas that I am just getting to understand. Originally, digital literacy to me meant having the basic computer skills and being in position to search for information on the internet. Now I realize that it means a lot more than just that.

 

 

 

Digital Literacy Infused Lessons, Digital Citizenship and Evaluation of My Earlier Technology Infused Lesson

Most lessons that infuse digital literacies and educate about digital citizenship show that there are many generic skills that are passed on to the learners in the process of teaching and learning. As the learners are fully engaged and involved in their own learning, they get to collaborate and share information, they research and get deeper understanding of issues on their own, they build and recreate knowledge to a certain level that depicts higher order thinking, the learners enjoy what they are doing because of the hands-on experience and the challenges they are given chance to resolve on their own with only guidance from the teachers.  In the process of all this, the learners acquire a number of generic skills such as creativity and innovation, social and interpersonal skills, critical thinking and problem solving, communication, a range of digital literacy skills such as knowledge of the basic principles of technology devices, using computer networks, ability to engage in online communities and social networks (developing and acquiring concepts of democracy and global citizenship), ability to search, find, evaluate and capture information, not to mention an understanding of issues that accrue to society that may be raised by digital technologies . It is also easy to do an assessment of the learners during the course of the lesson to know how much each one of them has learnt and how each one of them has responded to collaboration, getting the problem solved, and creating new information. There is a lot to explore a wide variety of topics, including how people find, use, summarize, evaluate, create, and communicate information while using digital technologies. With digital literacy, knowledge and understanding of the applications and implications of the different technologies are included.       
When I review the lessons I prepared earlier in this course using the assessment tools I set in place, I find that this lesson to some extent meets;
·        Equipping learners with the ability to read and deduce information from books, notes, as well as visuals. This has encouraged and fostered critical thinking.
·        Sites were bookmarked for the learners to search for information but still have to be given the website traffic light to help protect them. 
·        The task given required collaboration; they were put in groups to discuss and make presentations.
·        I created and supported by identifying Resource sites as well as providing the digital tools to use in the accomplishment of task.
·        The learners had the necessary skills to accomplish the task. Technology was applied at the Substitution and Augmentation levels of the SAMR.
·        No online collaboration activity between the teacher and the students was carried out but now I know it can be done.
·        The learners are very interested and have the skills to begin with. The rest of the digital skills they will learn along the way since this is a Hands-on learning experience.
·        At the end of the lesson the assessment indicated evaluation of their interpretation and analysis of task, organization and presentation using PowerPoint or Microsoft Word Processor, content, and voice projection.
 I notice that although I infused literacy in my lesson, there are areas that could be improved upon such as online collaboration between teacher and learners, getting the learners to be more involved in searching for information and evaluating information obtained from educational websites, and encouraging the learners to reflect on what they have learnt.

 

Evaluation of Cool Schools

I have assessed Gr 8 Languages: Newspaper project. The lesson plan equips the learners with the ability to read and also to use visuals and deduce information. It also equips them with the ability to find support information and illustrations on Internet. With the teacher's guidance the learners develop the skill to screen for relevant information and later on carry out a Reflection on what has been learnt. The teacher first develops knowledge and understanding of what the task is about, and also involves activities on how the newspapers communicate information; and then gives support to the students to evaluate both the material they found on Internet and their own written work.  This gives the learners the opportunity to develop the skill of critical thinking, and evaluation. Further still, learners collaborate in groups of threes and fives fostering one of the most important generic skills; interpersonal skills.  This is the substitution level of the SAMR where the learners are engaged in using their PCs and can make a choice between using either Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher activities. On top of that they go ahead to film each other's presentations. An assessment of learners indicates great interest in the project, inspirational and has yielded highly positive results.
The second assessment is on a Technology-supported lesson plans; and that is Language Arts- Book Review.  In this lesson plan Students work together in pairs to read to acquire knowledge through evaluating the information obtained from the reading and that got from the websites. This promotes collaboration thus equipping the learners with interpersonal skills. It gets them involved in working out the task and presenting their final product. The teacher only comes in to draw a template that students use, and also expose them to some book reviews. The learners have some skills although they still need beginning key boarding skills and beginning PowerPoint skills and are at the Substitution level of the SAMR. They gain some competence in general skills such as using PowerPoint and Word Processor. They exercise some critical thinking in reviewing and writing their presentations of the story. At the end of it, an assessment is carried out which shows that the children were very much interested in the topic, collaborating and integrating technology with reading and writing. They make reports and carry out presentations.