RESEARCH SYNOPSIS
Using the collection of files and links
from Part B, consider your research experience and share your thoughts with the
learning group via your blog. How many articles did you find? What is their
relevance to your issue, interest, or opportunity? How was your topic discussed
in the literature? Did you find an absence of literature pertaining to your
topic? What are the key learnings and takeaways that you have generated through
this deeper exploration into your topics of interest?
Overall I found there were a lot
of resources available on digital literacy and digital citizenship. I did find
it somewhat difficult to find recent journal articles that focused on digital
citizenship at the elementary level. Because technology and the way we consume
information is constantly changing, I didn’t use sources that were over ten
years old for this exploration. Although I didn’t find a lot of journal
articles on digital citizenship for elementary students, I did find a lot of
blog posts as well as practical resources on digital literacy.
In fact, there were so many
resources that I felt a little overwhelmed initially and wasn’t sure where to
start because digital literacy is a huge topic. However, the process of
searching for resources helped me narrow down my focus because I ended up
breaking down my research into three categories – sources of reference, sources
for further research and sources for future planning. After doing this, I now
feel like I have a starting point. By exploring what I termed the ‘sources of
reference’ including BC’s Digital Literacy Framework, the ISTE Standards for Students and
the NCTE’s 21st Century Competencies, I feel like I have a better grasp on what areas
are encompassed within digital literacy.
In BC’s Digital Literacy
Framework document, Digital Literacy is defined as “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to
use digital technology and communication tools appropriately to access, manage,
integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, and
create and communicate with others” (p.1). After exploring my ‘sources for further research,’ one of my biggest takeaways from Miller’s blog post “Beyond
Rules of Engagement” and Casa-Todd’s article “Reflections on Digital
Citizenship” is that we need to teach digital literacy and digital citizenship
throughout the year by incorporating these lessons in our everyday teaching rather
than teaching a series of lessons and moving on.
As Richardson points out, “Access
doesn’t automatically come with an ability to use the Web well. We aren’t
suddenly self-directed, organized, and literate enough to make sense of all the
people and information online — or savvy enough to connect and build
relationships with others in safe, ethical, and effective ways” (2012, pp.
169-171). Similarly, ISTE CEO Richard Culatta points out that if we want to
teach students to use technology to improve their community and distinguish
fact from fiction, we need to teach them in context so they need to learn these
skills not just in a physical space but also in a virtual space.
Rethinking Digital Citizenship
In order to integrate instruction
on digital literacy and digital citizenship into our regular routine, I think making
global connections would be a valuable experience for students because this
provides the opportunity for students to recognize how these skills are crucial
to communicating online. According to Richardson (2012), “the potential for all
of us to learn from, and with, real experts in whatever subject we might be studying
has never been greater” (pp. 443-444). In addition, I liked how Casa-Todd (2013)
and Couros (2013) suggested we need to focus on teaching students to become
digital leaders using social media to share their learning with an authentic
audience and reach out to others in an attempt to improve the lives of others.
As I think about teaching digital
literacy, I plan to refer to my ‘sources for future planning’ because while I
have taught digital literacy in the past, a lot has changed in the last few
years. I am particularly interested in exploring Mozilla’s Web Literacy
because I’ve explored several lessons from Common Sense previously
and I’m curious about the elementary level lessons available through Mozilla. I
am also interested in teaching students research and information literacy
skills. I plan to read more about fake news and ways to teach elementary students
the skills to distinguish fake news from real news. While I want students to
learn to recognize fake news and find information on their own, I would still
like to create a site where students can go to access useful links for research
because I am often working on inquiry projects with grade 2/3 students who are learning
to research information for the first time.
References
Casa-Todd, J. (2013). Reflections on Digital
Citizenship. Teacher Librarian,
45(3), 15-18.
Couros, A., & Hildebrandt, K. (2018, September
26). How to We Teach Students to Identify Fake News? [Blog Post]. Retrieved
from https://www.edcan.ca/articles/teach-students-identify-fake-news/
Couros, G. (2013, January 7). Digital Leadership
Defined [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://georgecouros.ca/blog/?s=Digital+leadership+defined
Culatta, R. (2018). Rethinking Digital Citizenship [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/learn/digital-citizenship
C21 Canada. (2012). Shifting
Minds: A 21st Century Vision of Public Education for Canada, 1-40. Retrieved from www.c21canada.org
Filucci, S. (2017, March 20). How to Spot Fake News
(and Teach Kids to be Media-Savvy) [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-spot-fake-news-and-teach-kids-to-be-media-savvy
Government of British Columbia. (n.d.). Digital Literacy Framework. Retrieved
from the Digital Literacy website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy?keyword=digital&keyword=literacy&keyword=standards
ISTE. (2016). ISTE Standards
for Students. Retrieved from http://www2.ncte.org/statement/21stcentdefinition/
ISTE. (2017, November 2). Today’s News: Real
or Fake [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2093&category=Digital-and-media-literacy&article=Today%27s+news%3a+Real+or+fake%3f+%5bInfographic%5d
Krueger, N. (2017, November 29). Teaching
Digital Literacy in a New Era of Skepticism [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/Digital-and-media-literacy/Teaching-digital-literacy-in-a-new-era-of-skepticism
MediaSmarts. (2016). Use, Understand & Create: A Digital
Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools. Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/digital-literacy-framework/use-understand-create-digital-literacy-framework-canadian-schools-overview
Miller, J. (2018, November 28). Beyond Rules of
Engagement [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.edcan.ca/articles/beyond-rules-of-engagement/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=
National Council of Teachers of English. (2013). The NCTE Definition of 21st Century
Literacies. Retrieved from http://www2.ncte.org/statement/21stcentdefinition/
National Council of Teachers of English. (2013). NCTE Framework for 21st Century
Curriculum and Assessment. Retrieved
from http://www.ncte.org/governance/21stcenturyframework
Pilgrim, J., & Martinez, E. (2018, February 28).
Media Literacy Starts with SEARCHing the Internet [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2138&category=Digital-and-media-literacy&article=Media+literacy+starts+with+SEARCHing+the+internet
Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information
Are Everywhere [Kindle Single]. TED Conferences.
Richardson, W. (2011, March). TEDxNYED - Will Richardson [Video file].
Retrieved from https://premierespeakers.com/will_richardson
Roquet, M. (2018). What Happens Now? Computers in Libraries, 38(2), 34-36.
Snelling, J. (2018, August 2). 10 Resources
to Boost Student Media Literacy [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/Digital-and-media-literacy/10-resources-to-boost-student-media-literacy
Zumpano, N. (2017, December 27). 5 Things Students
Should Do to Stay Safe and Secure Online [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=2127&category=Digital-and-media-literacy&article=5+things+students+should+do+to+stay+safe+and+secure+online
This is a good post which outlines your reading and research thus far. I appreciate the strong collection of resources you have collected and the way you sorted them to keep it all manageable. I feel you have a strong foundation here for your Final Vision project. What could you make or do with this new learning that could benefit your students, your school or even broader learning communities?
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