Digital literacy is an aspect of learning that is of utmost importance for the current generation of students to master. Navigating technology with proficiency and using technology to gain resources will have to be second nature to this generation who will be entering a diverse and advanced world of work in the future. Kids today are more tuned into technology than ever before, and adults seem to be learning about all the new technologies at the same rate or even slower than the kids are. This can create misunderstandings for kids about how technology should be being used because parents often don’t have the knowledge to teach them the needed skills. The 3 basic steps to becoming digitally literate as outlined by Media Smarts are:
1. To USE technology (proficiently and technically)
2. To UNDERSTAND technology (benefits, disadvantages, and potential harms/ impact)
3. And to CREATE technology (in an educated and respectful way)
The first and third steps are often easy enough to manage without very specific instructions, in fact, kids are eager to use technology and usually use trial-and-error to figure out how to use technology to create a product without giving much thought into how they got from A to B. When asked to use technology as a tool for their education, however, students too often might be given assignments without being given the important background information
first.
1. To USE technology (proficiently and technically)
2. To UNDERSTAND technology (benefits, disadvantages, and potential harms/ impact)
3. And to CREATE technology (in an educated and respectful way)
The first and third steps are often easy enough to manage without very specific instructions, in fact, kids are eager to use technology and usually use trial-and-error to figure out how to use technology to create a product without giving much thought into how they got from A to B. When asked to use technology as a tool for their education, however, students too often might be given assignments without being given the important background information
first.
For example, students may be asked to explore the regular ‘6 Strands of English’ by learning in an online context, but they might not have
the correct understanding to be fully aware of what they are interacting with. Teachers might simply be trying to increase technology in the class for PD purposes by getting students to read webpage content, write responses as a blog, listen to online lectures, speak through a
recorded video response, view relevant videos, or to represent a theme through an online project. In these ways, they would probably be
fulfilling regular (ELA) curricular outcomes, and they may even master the USE and CREATION steps of technology. The problem, however, is that performing these tasks won’t make the students be an educated digital citizen unless they have UNDERSTOOD the potential impact that their online projects have to the global
community. The difference between regular literacy and digital literacy is that the latter also requires deeper levels of critical thinking, evaluation of impact, and safety precautions (i.e. the understand step mentioned above).
the correct understanding to be fully aware of what they are interacting with. Teachers might simply be trying to increase technology in the class for PD purposes by getting students to read webpage content, write responses as a blog, listen to online lectures, speak through a
recorded video response, view relevant videos, or to represent a theme through an online project. In these ways, they would probably be
fulfilling regular (ELA) curricular outcomes, and they may even master the USE and CREATION steps of technology. The problem, however, is that performing these tasks won’t make the students be an educated digital citizen unless they have UNDERSTOOD the potential impact that their online projects have to the global
community. The difference between regular literacy and digital literacy is that the latter also requires deeper levels of critical thinking, evaluation of impact, and safety precautions (i.e. the understand step mentioned above).
Students need to be aware that whatever they put on the internet
can permanently be traced back to themselves through their own “digital footprint”. They also need to realize how easy it is to target others or to become the target of sexual predators, cyber bullying, advertisement bombardment, and internet scams. This means that students need an awareness of these issues and that they must be educated about trustworthiness and critical analysis of the things they are interacting with online. All of this and much more needs to be addressed so that students can realize their responsibilities online and become confident in their online decisions. This is where teachers need to step up and teach students the responsibilities expected of them. Kids will be interacting with technology both in and out of the classroom, and they cannot be expected to understand the impact and consequences of the online world if they have never been formally taught about them. Considering that this responsibility will largely be placed into the hands of teachers, I took it on as my goal to try and find resources and sites that would help teachers to begin with their lesson planning in the areas of digital literacy and digital citizenship. Here are some good sites that I found!
Digital Literacy Resources and Programs for Teachers
There are many supportive programs and resources that teachers could utilize while starting to teach their students about digital literacy. Teaching digital literacy has become the dedication of many programs such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Common Sense Media, Media Smarts, and The Good Project just to name a few. Programs such as these have set out standards, lesson plans, and other helpful resources for teachers in order to help guide students to becoming confident, critical, and responsible in the
online world. Each program has its own unique platform that works towards successfully turning students into digitally literate members of the global society. For example, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has focused their platforms around goals of:
- Personal growth: Innovative creativity
- Social Skills : Communicative skills, teamwork, and collaboration
- Validity: research and information fluency
- Critical thinking: problem solving, and decision making
- Technology: digital citizenship, using and understanding technology.
(MediaSmarts, 2013)
Media Smarts is a helpful (bilingual) Canadian webpage aimed at providing teachers with resources that have already been copyright cleared such as videos, lesson plans, and discussions aimed around common media issues like body insecurities, advertising, cyber bullying, TV violence, etc. The website also helps to define the major terms such as digital literacy, digital citizenship, and media literacy through very in-depth definitions and examples.
The Good Project is another resource dedicated to the study of digital literacy, but this program focuses around the importance of digital ethics and how to make students become ethical in the online community where it can be so easy to be cruel. Developed by Howard Gardner (the founder of multiple-intelligences theory) he recognizes that students struggle with ethnics in an online atmosphere, and he aims to create empathy towards the ‘faceless’ people that teens interact with online. His platform works around helping students work through their online struggles with identity, privacy, ownership and authorization, trust and credibility, and participation.
Common Sense Media aims to “empower students to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in our digital world” (CommonSense, 2013). The webpage offers numerous lesson plans that have been categorized by age which study reoccurring themes of internet safety, privacy and security, relationships and communication, cyber bullying, digital footprint and reputation, self-image and identity, information literacy, and creative credit and copyright. I found the video “What is digital citizenship?” was a very helpful basic outline of how to explain these concepts, and then it previewed some of Common Sense Media’s units/ lessons in action. I enjoy this site because of its easy navigation, detailed lesson plans, fun but educational games about these issues, and for how ‘kid-friendly’ they are in their approaches to young kids (as I am interested in teaching elementary aged kids.) One example of their friendly approach is the video “Pause and Think Online” which is a catchy song to help introduce some of these difficult topics in a non-threatening way. I also enjoy this digital footprint activity which teaches children that their footprint makes a mark on the world, and can be traced back years down the road. The assignment makes kids focus on how what they post NOW could affect who they are perceived as in the years to come, and then makes them focus on the types of things they WOULD want people to see them as. Check out the videos and pictures below for more details about classroom approaches or resources that I found!
can permanently be traced back to themselves through their own “digital footprint”. They also need to realize how easy it is to target others or to become the target of sexual predators, cyber bullying, advertisement bombardment, and internet scams. This means that students need an awareness of these issues and that they must be educated about trustworthiness and critical analysis of the things they are interacting with online. All of this and much more needs to be addressed so that students can realize their responsibilities online and become confident in their online decisions. This is where teachers need to step up and teach students the responsibilities expected of them. Kids will be interacting with technology both in and out of the classroom, and they cannot be expected to understand the impact and consequences of the online world if they have never been formally taught about them. Considering that this responsibility will largely be placed into the hands of teachers, I took it on as my goal to try and find resources and sites that would help teachers to begin with their lesson planning in the areas of digital literacy and digital citizenship. Here are some good sites that I found!
Digital Literacy Resources and Programs for Teachers
There are many supportive programs and resources that teachers could utilize while starting to teach their students about digital literacy. Teaching digital literacy has become the dedication of many programs such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Common Sense Media, Media Smarts, and The Good Project just to name a few. Programs such as these have set out standards, lesson plans, and other helpful resources for teachers in order to help guide students to becoming confident, critical, and responsible in the
online world. Each program has its own unique platform that works towards successfully turning students into digitally literate members of the global society. For example, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has focused their platforms around goals of:
- Personal growth: Innovative creativity
- Social Skills : Communicative skills, teamwork, and collaboration
- Validity: research and information fluency
- Critical thinking: problem solving, and decision making
- Technology: digital citizenship, using and understanding technology.
(MediaSmarts, 2013)
Media Smarts is a helpful (bilingual) Canadian webpage aimed at providing teachers with resources that have already been copyright cleared such as videos, lesson plans, and discussions aimed around common media issues like body insecurities, advertising, cyber bullying, TV violence, etc. The website also helps to define the major terms such as digital literacy, digital citizenship, and media literacy through very in-depth definitions and examples.
The Good Project is another resource dedicated to the study of digital literacy, but this program focuses around the importance of digital ethics and how to make students become ethical in the online community where it can be so easy to be cruel. Developed by Howard Gardner (the founder of multiple-intelligences theory) he recognizes that students struggle with ethnics in an online atmosphere, and he aims to create empathy towards the ‘faceless’ people that teens interact with online. His platform works around helping students work through their online struggles with identity, privacy, ownership and authorization, trust and credibility, and participation.
Common Sense Media aims to “empower students to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in our digital world” (CommonSense, 2013). The webpage offers numerous lesson plans that have been categorized by age which study reoccurring themes of internet safety, privacy and security, relationships and communication, cyber bullying, digital footprint and reputation, self-image and identity, information literacy, and creative credit and copyright. I found the video “What is digital citizenship?” was a very helpful basic outline of how to explain these concepts, and then it previewed some of Common Sense Media’s units/ lessons in action. I enjoy this site because of its easy navigation, detailed lesson plans, fun but educational games about these issues, and for how ‘kid-friendly’ they are in their approaches to young kids (as I am interested in teaching elementary aged kids.) One example of their friendly approach is the video “Pause and Think Online” which is a catchy song to help introduce some of these difficult topics in a non-threatening way. I also enjoy this digital footprint activity which teaches children that their footprint makes a mark on the world, and can be traced back years down the road. The assignment makes kids focus on how what they post NOW could affect who they are perceived as in the years to come, and then makes them focus on the types of things they WOULD want people to see them as. Check out the videos and pictures below for more details about classroom approaches or resources that I found!
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"Digital Literacy Fundamentals." MediaSmarts. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
< http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals>.
"Scope & Sequence." Scope and Sequence. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
< http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence>.
< http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/digital-literacy-fundamentals>.
"Scope & Sequence." Scope and Sequence. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.
< http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence>.