digital+literacy



= = =What is Digital Literacy?=

The Wikipedia defintion of digital literacy **// "is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and create information using digital technology..." //** (more).

The NSW Department of Education and Training explains:


 * // "Learning and communicating requires an ability to read, write and locate information. Today’s technology driven society also requires digital literacy, which means that an individual can read and write digitally in order to 'access the Internet; find, manage and edit digital information; join in communications; and otherwise engage with an online information and communications network...' (Blackall, L 2005). Digital literacy also includes an ability to 'identify…integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process' (DigEuLit project, 2006)." //**

The NSW Department of Education and Training provides further information and references here.

﻿**Why should I be concerned with teaching digital literacy as a teacher?**

The Victorian DEECD Digital Literacy Framework cites futurelab 2010, stating:

//** ‘Digital literacy is an important entitlement for all young people in an increasingly digital culture. It furnishes children and young people with the skills, knowledge and understanding that will help them to take a full and active part in social, cultural, economic, civic and intellectual life now and in the future.’ **//  Also, consider the nature of our clientele. The video clip below is America-centric in its statistics and observations, but you'll agree from your own anecdotal experience that the trend, if not the figures, is the same. If we aren't teaching digital literacy explicitly in our classes, are we really preparing our students for the world they will live and work in post-school? Are we helping them be empowered and involved in their very digital world right now?

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This video was produced by a team of teachers and has had various incarnations, but this latest version was revised and released mid-late last year. You can find out more about the producers of the video and their vision and goals at Shift Happens. However, they have suggested these questions to consider in response to this video:


 * What are your initial reactions to what you saw in the presentation?
 * How are these changes manifesting themselves in your personal lives? professional lives?
 * What do we think it means to prepare students for the 21st century? What skills do students need to survive and thrive in this new era?
 * What implications does this have for our current way of doing things?
 * Do we need to change? If so, how?
 * How do we get from here to there?
 * What challenges must we overcome as we move forward?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What supports will we need as we move forward?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What kind of training will we need to move forward?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What kind of commitments will we need to make (with each other, our students, and our community) to move forward?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Who's scared? Why?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What will we do next? What are some concrete actions that we can take in the near future?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children's future, is it really okay to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?

Karl Fisch, one of the collaborators on the above video, sees it this way:



For an interesting video on the evolution of texts and the influence of digital texts on the learning landscape click here (relevant to all teachers, not just English teachers).

This has been just a little background context on the issue of digital literacy and its place in our classroom practice in the 21st century.