Digital+Literacy+-+Brian

=What is Digitial Literacy? =

//**Digital literacy involves using and understanding non-print tools and resources in a responsible, moral, and ethical way. It involves using a variety of digital tools from video game systems to computers, cell phones, tablets, and other e-centered devices.**//

=How does it apply to us? =

My wiki page will be focusing on the effects of digital literacy on the modern student mind and approach to learning.

Based on the contents of this course and my own findings, I believe that our society and our students are increasingly relying on the digital world for everything. This includes learning, shopping, socializing, and even working. As a result, I think this is one of the most important forms of literacy out there and that we, as a professional community, need to invest a lot more time and energy into becoming proficient in explaining and using it.

Digital literacy involves educating ourselves about it in terms of fair-use, copyright, plagiarism, and ethical social/moral conduct needs to become a larger focus. To this end, this wikipage will suggest a few ways in which we can consider these issues and how we can begin using web-based tools and other forms of social media to engage and interact with a wide group of students and a wide subject area.

=Some Implementation Strategies: =

We don't have to look far for a variety of web-based tools. In fact, one sound strategy might be to check with colleagues or even students about what applications or programs they're using. If you can tap into prior knowledge why not use it to benefit a larger group of students? Look at it this way: if you go to see a movie that's amazing or read a book that inspires you then the next logical step would be to recommend it to others. We don't shy away from these suggestions just because we didn't come up with it first. No, instead we look for these kinds of ideas and then take away from it something unique to our own perspectives and learning.

Strategy #1:


[|Bitstrips.com] or [|Bitstripsforschools.com]is a web-based comic strip builder. Using this digital tool, it gives students everything they need to build, create, and draw online. The editing tools allow for quick revision and the variety of pre-loaded activities (more than 350 for teachers) show the variety and complexity in which students can be engaged.

You can use this website as an introduction to short-form writing. You can use it as an art project. I know a history teacher who is asking his students to use [|Bitstrips] to tell a story or event from the past as a history project. This is actually standing in for an essay as it's a new form of communication that is free to all students to use.


 * The process is quite easy. Create a new teacher account.
 * From there, create a class code.
 * Next, it will ask you to input the names of your students. First name only is just fine.
 * That's it! When the students go to the website, they input the class code and then select their name from the drop-down list. Next, they give themselves a password
 * Next, create or edit your avatar (an avatar is a digital representation of yourself, something they done for game systems like the Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360)
 * Finally, have them put their characters into a comic strip and get to work!

If you would like an example of how this would work for an actual class, take a look at this website I put together ([|Bit Strips Fun]) that shows the basic principles. It also contains links to other web-based comic book programs and teases about how more sophisticated programs, such as Comic Life, might also become useful.

Here's a great example:

Strategy #2:
[|Wordle.net] is not as sophisticated as [|Bitstrips]but it is an interesting outlet when it comes to look at the idea of Digital Literacy. Wordle has a simple, basic function which is to take pre-selected text and make a visual based on that text. Check out the example below.



This **Wordle** was made using the text in this strategy #2 section of my Digital Literacy wikipage. By looking at all the words (at it has to be three letters or more) and judging which ones appear most frequently, Wordle then creates a diagram that is fairly representative of what was talked about in this post. The words Digital Literacy and Wordle for example appear larger based on the number of times Digital Literacy was used in the making of this post.

It might seem like a silly program, but Wordle is an excellent metacognitive tool that can be used to better understand the role of Digital Literacy and technology in classrooms and in education in general. Image taking one of Shakespeare's plays and processing it through Wordle. You then get to see what terms, phrases, or ideas most often occur in that Shakespeare play. From there, Wordle gives us the opportunity to judge importance, value, and other questions that arise over the use of these terms. It's also interesting to take a board or ministry approved document and give it the same treatment. By using this digital online tool, we give ourselves the opportunity to evaluate literacy, this case Digital Literacy, in new ways.

**Strategy #3:**
This is going to sound obvious (or maybe it won't) but have you considered making active and creative use of [|YouTube]? Most schools work to shut this site down and call it a 'time-waster' rather than realize it's potential. I'll admit that more often than not when a student uses Youtube it isn't for educational work, but it is Digital Literacy in one of it's most potent forms.

In looking at our practices in the library, YouTube is both a tool to be used and a method in which we present our ideas. Let me break down what I mean by each method:

By using YouTube to show videos or brief clips, we're able to communicate quickly and effectively with our students. There is no need to struggle with the VCR or DVD player as often what we want has already been made available. If you want to focus on speeches as a unit and look at effective ways of delivering information, go to YouTube. Here's a famous example:
 * Useful Tool:**

media type="youtube" key="PbUtL_0vAJk?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

Next, if you want to take a look at the frustrations that a librarian goes through in coming into the digital age and practicing Digital Literacy itself, then I think this short video does an excellent job of highlighting the then-versus-now approach that many educators are struggling with. Show this to your staff! They'll love it and you can use it as a tool for discussing the finer points of digital literacy.

media type="youtube" key="pQHX-SjgQvQ?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

While doing research, I came across a number of video essays on Youtube that dealt with the questions and thoughts arising out of what Digital Literacy is. By making it an assignment, you can have students create and upload videos to YouTube that are information and formative at the same time. Take a look at some examples.
 * Instruction/Assessment Tool:**

media type="youtube" key="_XqRR5WJ85k?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

media type="youtube" key="6ILQrUrEWe8?fs=1" height="385" width="640"

In the end, if we use YouTube responsibly and effectively, it can not only be a tool for regular use but a communication device and hub of Digital Literacy learning.

=Resources on Digital Literacy: =

To find out more about Digital Literacy, what it means, and what impact it can have on your learning and teaching practice, take a look at some of these sources and articles.

[|1. The Mandate of Digital Literacy]
//"Digital literacy is a means for ascertaining the computer skills competency of an individual to function in the workplace. It will become increasingly necessary to be digitally literate to function in a digital, Internet-connected economy."//
 * Excerpt:**

While not riveting for a student who likes to fly through the internet at break-neck speed, I found some of the thoughts and reactions in this article interesting, particularly as I got the feeling the author was struggling to identify with the concepts he was talking about. Worth checking out.
 * Comment:**

[|2. Microsoft Digital Literacy]
//"The goal of Digital Literacy is to teach and assess basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities. Whether you are entirely new to computing or have some experience, this curriculum will help you develop a fundamental understanding of computers. From using the Internet, to sending e-mail, to creating a résumé, the Digital Literacy Curriculum helps you develop the essential skills you need to begin computing with confidence."//
 * Excerpt:**

Not really a surprise that the software giant has jumped on the train, but this is a free resource that should be taken advantage of. Some sifting through the available resources is required but it's nice to know we have outside support from the experts in digital literacy.
 * Comment:**

[|3.Students Google Competitively for cash]
//"Knuckles crack around the room as he takes his place among the 40 or so competitors. All share a common goal with Bergmanson - to search and destroy. Search the Internet, that is, and destroy the competition; Bergmanson is a competitor in the Digital Literacy Contest - "a high speed battle of the minds to find information online."//
 * Excerpt:**

//Using the computer as a "cognitive prosthetic," says contest developer and Purdue University graduate Daniel Poynter, competitors scour the Web to answer obscure questions chosen by Poynter for the cunning strategies required to solve them. "If Napoleon Dynamite were here," Poynter says, "he'd say something like, 'Chicks dig Internet skills.'"//

This is a great article to share with other teachers or your students on practical and surprising uses of Digital Literacy as not only a skill, but an area of potential profit as well.
 * Comment:**

[|4. Making Sense of Digital Literacy Education]
//"What we learned was that it was incredibly important," said Linda Burch, chief education and strategy officer of the nonprofit, San Francisco-based online education advocacy group, during a meeting at this week's ISTE 2010 ed-tech conference in Denver. "The issues of a cyberbullying or a bullying situation ... can get amplified on Twitter. It moves on to MySpace, people organize, and then it ultimately, in one case, led to youth violence. So [those teachers] see a very direct link between needing to educate their kids early about the basics of digital citizenship and how the technology amplifies all of that behavior."//
 * Excerpt:**

I like this because it looks at the plus and minus side of the Digital Literacy coin. It allows for a broader perspective on some of the issues and challenges that we, as educators, are going to be facing with this new technology.
 * Comment:**

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