Digital LiteracyChanging how educators teach

Digital Literacy is emerging as a core educational goal for a futures orientated world

Need to use technology as a tool to:– improve skills – enhance quality of life – to drive education– promote well-being across

all elements of society(The Smith Family, 2008).

There has been a shift from print to digital technologies– The revolution in communication and information

technologies has created new types of textual surface and hence, new literacies.

Lanham believes that literacy has extended to “the ability to understand information however its presented.”

(1997)

Paul Gilster:– defined digital literacy as “the ability to

understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide variety of sources when it is presented via computers and the internet.”

Gilster identifies the four competencies of digital literacy as:– knowledge assembly– evaluating information content – searching the internet– navigating hypertext

(1997)

With digital media becoming embedded within

our everyday social, cultural and economic environments, it’s vital we gain these skills and gain from the benefits.

Teachers need to have these skills not only for themselves but to be confident and deliver lessons to students so that they can gain these digital literacy skills.

A person who is digitally literate should be able to:– Understand the different types of digital services

and what content they offer – Use basic programs to get connected and operate

and utilize the various digital technologies– Be confident. – Decipher complex images and sounds as well as the

syntactical subtleties of words – Be quick on their feet and able to go from one using

one medium to another depending on the audience

Group Activity

Orientation: Who, What, When

Problem: What is the main problem or situation that needs to be resolved?

Solution: How is the problem going to be fixed?

Fanfiction

http://www.fanfiction.net/

Teaching Strategies:Within a guided, modelled and

independent framework

Digital Literacy – Crucial to Students

Jukes and Dosaj (2006) says that “today’s generation has grown up in a

digital landscape. For most of them, there’s never been a time in their lives when computers, cell phones, video game and the Internet haven’t

surrounded them.”

• Corbel and Gruba (2004, p.1) state “for English teachers, there is a great urgency to look beyond traditional forms of print media in order to consider how we prepare students for careers that require active participation in the new literacies of the digital age. Therefore ICTs are the learning and teaching tool of the 21st century.”

Why isn’t digital literacy being heavily incorporated into our teaching curriculum for this generation of net savvy students?

Our own learning may result in students not reaching their full potential.

Ljungdahl and March (2006, p.316) agree with this and suggest that “teachers need to look at the ways in which the emerging technologies can blend with traditional methods to influence and enhance students writing and learning. The application of technology can enhance the curricula in imaginative ways; it can address new dimensions to units of study and expand our notion of literacy.”

Teachers can incorporate digital literacy into the classroom through a variety of methods.

Examples:Blogs Epals or KeypalsWeb quest

With such early interaction with digital literacies, one would think curriculum would be implemented earlier.

Digital literacy is very interactive and engaging for students add provided them with knowledge for future endeavours in a highly interactive technology world.

Lankshear and Snyder (2000, p.38) state that “with the arrival of new communication and information technologies... challenges conventional ways of thinking about literacy in terms of text, as well as challenging our very idea of texts.”

ASI Solutions. (2008). What is Digital Literacy? Retrieved on July 28, 2009, from:,http://www.cegact.act.edu.au/public/content/ViewCategory.aspx?id=28

Australian Government. (2009). What is digital media literacy and why is it important? Retrieved on July 20, 2009, from, http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD..PC/pc=PC_311470

Corbel, C. & Gruba, P. (2004). Teaching computer literacy. Sydney, Australia: Macquarie University.

Elearningpapers. (2009). How to strengthen digital literacy? Retrieved on July 30, 2009, from, http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media18513.pdf

Google Books. (2009). New literacies: everyday practices and classroom teaching. Retrieved on July 30,

2009, from, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=cv3T9JIdBQMC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=lanham+and+gilster+-+digital+literacy&source=bl&ots=_epiSmAhwC&sig=pEsYZhpWVOXUCYYKInJKJgdJPug&hl=en&ei=o5GISoP4HILe7AON_5DKAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Jan, L.W. (2009). Write Way: Modelling Writing Forms. South Melbourne, Victoria; Oxford University Press.

Jukes, I., & Dosaj, A. (2006). Understanding digital children (DKs); Teaching & learning in the new digital landscape. (p.1) Retrieved on August 15th from: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/Jukes+-+Understanding+Digital+Kids.pdf

Lankshear, C. & Synder, I. (2000). Teachers and techno-literacy: Mangaging literacy, technology and learning in schools. St Leonards, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Ljungdahl, L., & March, P. (2006). Information and communication technologies. In Winch,G., Johnston, R.R., Holiday, M., Ljungdahl,L., & March, P. (2006) Literacy; Reading, writing and children literature(316-331). South Melbourne, Victoria; Oxford University Press.

National Curriculum Board. (2009). Shape of the Australian Curriculum: English. Retrieved on August 5, 2009, from, http://www.ncb.org.au/verve/_resources/Australian_Curriculum_-_English.pdf

SocialTeach. (2008). Notes towards Digital Literacy. Retrieved on July 24, 2009, from, http://fraser.typepad.com/socialtech/2008/10/notes-towards-d.html

The Smith Family. (2008). Helping Kids with Digital Literacy. Retrieved on July 28, 2009, from:

http://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/site/page.cfm?u=197

Waters, D. (2004). Rowling backs Potter fan fiction. Retrieved August 2, 2009, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3753001.stm