Digital Literacy

What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom

If students are “glued” 24/7 to their mobile devices, why is it necessary for schools to teach digital literacy? Who should teach it? And wait … what does it even mean to be “digitally literate”? 

If these are questions you’ve heard or asked, you aren’t alone. Many educators struggle to understand their evolving role in teaching and using technology in their classrooms. Most importantly, many of us wrestle with how technology is shifting the way kids learn.

The New York Department of Education defines digital literacy as “having the knowledge and ability to use a range of technology tools for varied purposes.” Digitally literate people are those who “can use technology strategically to find and evaluate information, connect and collaborate with others, produce and share original content, and use the Internet and technology tools to achieve many academic, professional, and personal goals.”

Most teachers recognize those skills as critical for 21st-century learning. But before teachers and students dive into using technology in class, we should discuss why a digital literacy curriculum is necessary. 

The Myth of ‘Digital Natives’

Many adults think that because children have been immersed in a technology since a young age, they are naturally “literate” or skilled in using technology. Younger generations have been labeled “digital natives” while older generations are “digital immigrants.” Some research suggests this labeling is outright false—students are no more literate with devices than their so-called digital immigrant parents.

Creating a Digital Literacy Curriculum

Like traditional literacy, students and adults alike benefit from guidance, instruction, and practice. Educators should define essential skills and steps for helping students navigate their devices (and the unfettered world of the Internet). It’s also important to take appropriate steps toward digital literacy based on children’s stage of development. Common Sense Media has developed a scope and sequence curriculum to help teachers and districts formalize digital literacy instruction. 

Teachers should also help students develop healthy habits and attitudes when using technology. Educators need to take an active role in helping them understand the benefits, dangers, and opportunities technology provides. 

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/29/ctq_crowley_digitalliteracy.html 

Digital Literacy

Potential Research

Potential Research problems in Education

There are a number of problems that can arise in the market research process. Your task in this exercise is to review the list of potential problems below and assess their likelihood of occurrence and their potential impact (that is, the damage to the validity of the final research results) if they did occur.

Potential Problem 

Some school problems you might worry about include: Finding schoolwork difficult or having problems concentrating in class if others are noisy and disruptive. Tricky relationships with friends and friendship groups. Not getting on with teachers, feeling like you are labelled as 'trouble' You could speak to the wrong people. You ask badly worded or confusing questions. Respondents could make up the answers. Particularly if they are in a hurry. Interviewers could make up the answers. Possible if you are using untrained people. People may behave differently than what they say. A lot of retired people respond as they have more spare time.

Problem No. 1: There exist a handful of obstacles that prevent a more competency-based education system

Solutions to this problem include:

Creating and making available educational resources on competency-based learning. These resources might be best practices, rubrics or tools, or research.

Convening a coalition of League of Innovative Schools districts that are working to build successful competency-based models. Creating a technical solution for flexible tracking of competencies and credits.

Problem No. 2: Leadership doesn’t always support second-order change, and those in potential leadership roles, such as teachers and librarians, aren’t always empowered to help effect change. Solutions to this problem include:

Promoting the League of Innovative Schools efforts to enable second-order change leadership. Creating a framework, to be used in professional development, that would target and explain second-order change leadership discussions. Schedule panel discussions about second-order change leadership.

Problem No. 3: Communities and cultures are resistant to change, including technology-based change. Solutions to this problem include:

Identifying new and engaging ways to share cutting-edge and tech-savvy best practices with school and district stakeholders and community members. Involve business leaders in technology-rich schools and create school-business partnerships. Look to influential organizations to spearhead national ed-tech awareness campaigns.

Problem No. 4: Education budgets aren’t always flexible enough to support the cost, sustainability, or scalability of innovations. Solutions to this problem include: Build relationships with local businesses and career academies and create incentives for companies to hire students, in order to create a revenue stream for schools. Look to competitive pricing and creative solutions. Leaders must not be afraid to take risks and support the changes needed to bring about this kind of budgeting.

Problem No. 5: Professional Development is stale and outdated. Solutions to this problem include: Identifying best practices from other industries or sectors and learn more about adult learning. Create a community for teachers to access immediate help. Personalize professional development. Create and strengthen K-12 and higher education partnerships. Create alternative modes of certification and reward forward-thinking practices.

Problem No. 6: School districts do not have evidence-based processes to evaluate, select, and monitor digital content inclusive of aligned formative assessments. Solutions to this problem include: Creating a marketplace or database to help educators identify and evaluate, as well as take ownership of, digital content. Involve students in digital content evaluation. Identify schools or districts to test digital content evaluation and storage systems.

Problem No. 7: Current and traditional instructional methods leave students less engaged and less inclined to take ownership of their learning. Solutions to this problem include: Creating working groups, within education organizations, with the aim of advancing authentic student learning. Leverage the internet to create online tools and resources that offer innovative teaching strategies to help engage students. Help teachers understand and practice authentic teaching and learning to help students master skills and standards.

https://simplyeducate.me/2013/07/30/four-examples-of-research-topics-on-education/

Digital immigrants

Digital immigrants

Definition - What does Digital Immigrant mean?

A digital immigrant is an individual who was born before the widespread adoption of digital technology. The term digital immigrant may also apply to individuals who were born after the spread of digital technology and who were not exposed to it at an early age. Digital immigrants are the opposite of digital natives, who have been interacting with technology from childhood.

Techopedia explains Digital Immigrant

Digital immigrants are believed to be less quick to pick up new technologies than digital natives. This results in the equivalent of a speaking accent when it comes to the way in which they learn and adopt the technology. A commonly used example is that a digital immigrant may prefer to print out a document to edit it by hand rather than doing onscreen editing. 

The classification of people into digital natives and digital immigrants is controversial. Some digital immigrants surpass digital natives in tech-savvy, but there is a belief that early exposure to technology fundamentally changes the way people learn. The actual classification of people into immigrants and natives is tricky as the adoption of digital technology hasn’t been a unified phenomenon worldwide. For North America, most people born prior to 1980 are considered digital immigrants. Those closer to the cutoff are sometimes called digital intermediates, which means they started using digital technology in their early teens and thus are closer to digital natives in terms of their understanding and abilities.

Transition Activities

Transition Activities

cognitive activities