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.

 

Comix, Collaboration and Digital Pedagogy

I have had the chance to read articles written about cyber slang and I have come to understand the obsessive behavior of the learners to use acronyms and slangs. This is the twenty first century characterized by technology and a fast changing world. You try to fight the system, you are left behind and have no one to blame but yourself.

Online collaboration is not an easy task. As a student of CCTI, I have had some collaboration online in the previous three courses working on one task or other. It is not an easy thing if the people you are grouped with are facing challenges such as electricity or internet problems or are hindered by family issues here and there. However, it is fun being in position to collaborate with colleagues and sharing ideas. It eases the work and reduces the tension in fulfilling the task.

I have learnt to create a comic strip and it has been an exciting experience. I have always admired the people who created comics for newspapers. I have now discovered the secret. Presenting my understanding in a comic strip has been a bit of a challenge too but once one masters the steps it becomes very easy.

The potential this holds is that;

·        It creates room for social media to develop its own language of communication that will embrace all users of technology because of its ease and minimization of time and space.  

·        It encourages even those who would have been reluctant to join digital globalization to come on board, since they do not want to be left out.
·        It promotes understanding of how technology can be used to serve our interests and the interests of the learners and much more.

 

How a Changing Education Landscape is Affecting Me and My Teaching Practice

 
The Changing Education Landscape is giving me an opportunity to explore various ways of teaching so as to make a greater contribution to the education of my learners.  First of all, the education system has been so static that it has failed to address the problems of society, and yet so many cultural and social changes have taken place since the designing of that system. The system is so boring to the students, places the children of given ages at the same level and subjects them to standardized testing. This is wrong since children have differing abilities and interests.  The Changing Education Landscape is meant to address such issues and has awakened me to the fact that there is need to think differently about human capacity.  I have learnt that in order for effective learning to take place, children should be allowed to mix according to their interests, and they should be allowed to explore, and that learning is more effective when there is collaboration involved as Sir Ken  says; 

"Most learning happens in groups" and that "Collaboration is the stuff of growth".

Separating the learners and judging them separately is not the best way to educate. The Changing Education Landscape promotes Information revolution. As people comment on a given topic, more about that topic is likely to come up through investigations and research. As users of digital technology, we are still failing to differentiate between its intended use especially the students who engage in watching porn movies and entertainment mostly.    

With digital technology and literacy we agree that as teachers the process of dictating notes to students cannot be part of this program instead we should give them room to find out things for themselves. At the same time there is need to give them a conducive environment that would enable them to carry out their own research and to learn. Allow them to curate the relevant sites for learning. Encourage and give them room to freely explore and just watch them being captivated by their discoveries. Through collaboration, research and investigation the learners can get more informed about a topic or issue. Learners can make their own choice of their publishing platform since there are a number of them available already, and they can also use technology to create anything beautiful like a wordle.

However, all this is not without challenges. First and foremost, the learners may end up more knowledgeable than the teacher and this is embarrassing the more reason why teachers need to be on board. Secondly, the time allocated for the subject on the time table may hinder rather than promote progress in cases of face to face programs. Thirdly, some of the students come from poor families and may end up left behind because they lack the tools. Also, there is a danger of the learners being misinformed in case the sites have not been properly evaluated since this is a platform where everybody is free to post anything.  Lastly, the students can easily divert to irrelevant and destructive sites especially when they are working on their own or away from everybody else.

 View my wordle. 

Technology Enriched Teaching

I have learnt that in order to have a successful technology enhanced lesson I need to take a number of things into consideration. Through the ASSURE model lesson plan I have realized that in order for the teaching and learning to be effective, I need to take the following important issues into consideration. 

·        I have to know my learners thoroughly i.e. age, status, their problems both financial, social and cultural, whether they have some prior knowledge of the topic or not. Knowing them helps me to plan for them accordingly.
·        I have to have the objectives of the lesson properly stated so as to conduct the lesson in a way that would lead to the achievement of those objectives. The objectives should be aligned in such a way that they ensure that there is learning expected to take place. As I teach I keep in perspective the objectives set out for the lesson. This helps me to keep in line with the requirements of the lesson.
·        Lessons require specific materials for successful learning process to take place.  Identifying and assembling these materials makes the lesson easy to conduct and the objectives easy to achieve. 
·        The teacher needs to select appropriate methods to use to conduct a lesson. This course has taught me to put into consideration the methods I intend to use for each lesson. You get the opportunity to select the appropriate methods required before hand and match them to meet the objectives of the lesson. 
·        One gets the time to decide which media is appropriate for that lesson/topic and also have websites lined up for students to visit to enhance the mastery of the concept/skill/ topic.
·        I have learnt that utilizing the methods, media and materials lined up for the lesson eases my work as a teacher and at the same time helps me to conduct the lesson in a systematic way that enhances the learning process. The utilization of these materials helps in providing a deeper understanding of concepts/ skills/ topics. Getting the students to use the media and the materials gives them the chance to experience the things and learn more through experiencing.
·        Learners also get chance to participate in their own learning. They get to experience and carry out hands-on activities that are very essential in the entire process. Experiencing something is the best way to learn. Getting the students/ learners to experience is the best way to teach the learners. Children love to work with computers. When brought in touch with the computers their interests are aroused, they are eager to touch and explore and tin the process they are acquiring deeper understanding of the concepts/ skills/ Topics.
·        There is need to carry out evaluation and revision during and at the end of the lesson. This gives me a chance as a teacher to ascertain if there is any learning that has occurred and to what degree it has been achieved.  At the same time it helps me to ascertain whether the objectives set out for the lesson from the start have been achieved.

ASSURE - Plan Participation

Have you succeeded in planning for your students to be actively engaged?

The ASSURE model has helped me to successfully plan for the activities that will engage my students. The activities indicated in the 'utilize materials' section require the learner to be actively involved in problem identification, problem solving and creation of final product. The activities emphasize the importance of researching, networking, collaboration and sharing ideas in the learning process.  

In what ways will they be involved in activities you have not previously tried in your classes?
In my class I have always had the students to read the text aloud and once in a while view the video of the text using a VCR and TV. This has always allowed for general comments and various view points from all corners of the class about different aspects of the play ranging from the plot, costumes, characters, events, themes, stage use and directions, and relevance of the play to contemporary society.  Once in a while they have been engaged in role playing too. The role play has always been done in smaller groups to help them to identify with the characters and try to understand their actions or why they behave the way they do and this has been a very valuable tool in enhancing their views and perceptions of the characters. They have also had to work in smaller groups on a task assigned to them and this has always promoted sharing of ideas.  

What I have not tried in class before is using technology to teach a lesson; or even getting the learners to search the web for information let alone using PowerPoint for presentations. Our classes are designed in a way that there are no computers and no sockets to tap into the power in case a teacher wanted to use technology to teach. Activities such as searching the World Wide Web for information on a task that has been given to them will be an interesting new thing to them. Children like to work with machines. Putting them in groups to search the web, collect information from the sites given to them, writing out the reports together and preparing presentations to be done using PowerPoint; are things they have not been subjected to before.

Is it an effective way of planning a technology-enhanced lesson?
I should think so. I really think it is an effective way because it allows the teacher to organize a lesson that provides for room for sharing for the learners as a group and as a class. The teacher in a way is promoting collaboration among the learners. It also caters for getting the learners to learn to work together and assist each other in the group to use the technology tools available to get deeper understanding of the concepts or skills. Furthermore, it helps the teacher to have focus and have systematic handling of the lesson.   In addition to that, it is good for disrupting the usual and boring order of classroom sitting and lesson planning; and introducing an aspect of excitement and change. Planning for the students to carry out their researches, identifying the websites for them to visit eases the teacher's work as well as the students' role in the whole learning process.   The idea of them getting the opportunity to use the projector and make presentations using PowerPoint is sure to fascinate them and they are likely to concentrate on accomplishing the tasks. The mere thought of interacting with the machine and carry out a hands-on exercise, already capture more than enough interest for the lesson. It is enough motivation in itself. 

How would you change the process to make it more effective?
Allowing the students to search other Sites that they come across that are related to the study topic. Limiting them to the sites given them may not yield the desired results 100%, but giving them a chance to navigate through the links they come across might motivate them to learn about other essential things related to the subject or topic under study. The nature of the timetable may however not allow for this to happen.