LIBE 477 Reading Review Part B

Literature Research and Data Review:

 Delving Deeper into ADST/Digital Literacies

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My previous blog post was centered around brainstorming specific areas that I’d like to explore more with technology and digital literacy in the library. My thoughts have been primarily focused around examining ADST curriculum on a deeper level with the intent of extending my own practice, as well as supporting my colleagues in the classroom.

This week’s search has led me through multiple forms of information and has prompted me to broaden my ideas around ADST and digital literacy. Supporting my colleagues seems to keep rising to the forefront, which means I need to have a better grasp of all it entails. I know that I want to explore more web 2.0 tools, but to fully embrace those I need to expand my overall understanding. I discovered that I was trying to compartmentalize components of ADST when I really could be connecting them, at least at this stage. I needed to step back into the broader topic of digital literacy and connect what I have learned to what I need to learn, alongside with what I know can be supported by my district DRC.

The NTCE (National Council of Teachers of English) has established 21^st century literacies that our learners must be proficient in to be “literate” and successful in our ever-changing technological world. As Will Richardson points out in his book Why School? this is proving difficult to achieve, as many of the new 21^st literacies are not focused on standardized tests, haven’t breached traditional learning ideas, nor are they on all of our educator’s radars in terms of instructional practice. After contemplating this again, and again, over the past week I decided to approach a variety of resources around ADST and Digital literacy, with more of an open-mind.

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What does digital literacy really encompass? A quick Google search, brought me to a brief article from Education Week, "Digital Literacy: An Evolving Definition." This was an excellent starting point, as  it complements the NCTE 21^st century literacies well,  and can be used both for new understandings as well as discussions with classroom teachers who are new to this area and eager to embark on new learning. I particularly like the discussion about finding and consuming digital content, creating digital content, and communicating and/or sharing digital content.

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Considering the importance that Richardson and the NTCE have placed on 21^st digital literacies I was curious to see what information exists from the BC Ministry of Education (in addition to the ADST curriculum). The BC Ministry of Education has a Digital Literacy BC page, with a Digital LiteracyFramework-guiding document in PDF format. This Framework defines digital literacy and outlines connections to BC curriculum. It is a short, concise document that is broken into sections, with grade level bullets for ease of information. It nicely supplements the ADST curriculum, and can be used in discussions with teachers for collaborative projects and ADST opportunities. I have copied the framework, and added it to my collection of resources to share with staff in an effort to share learning in this broad area.

While browsing my twitter feed, the following poster caught my eye, and led me to  Kathleen Morris’ blog: Kathleen Morris:Primary Tech-Helping Teachers Create Digitally Literate Global learners. 

Kathleen is a primary teacher from Australia, who has been blogging since 2008. Her blog is current, and is a wealth of resources and knowledge. I could get lost in here for hours! This is one of my favourite resources so far, as it is rich with information regarding many aspects of digital literacy and ideas.

Searches through EBSCOhost and ERIC have produced a few articles of interest. One article, "Web 2.0 and you," from Knowledge Quest, although dated (2009), is a survey from media specialists, which provides motivational reasons and examples for implementing various tools into educational programs. It is a quick read with valuable sources for further investigations. I will continue my search through the databases as my inquiry becomes more focused.

I chose to include the following two videos, from Youtube, that I found to share with colleagues who are interested in learning more about digital literacy and ADST. They are both good introductory videos that give the basics, while showing the importance of using and teaching digital literacy skills. One is narrated, while the other is sub-titled, and I can see both of these being impactful for different colleagues that I work with.  

~Thank you for taking the time to read along with my thoughts. I feel like I'm a little all over the map compared to last week but I need to explore more before I can pinpoint exactly where I want to focus. I am enjoying my ADST/DigitalLiteracy learning journey. There are so many paths to take~