Source: http://langwitches.org/blog/2013/02/18/skilled-literate-fluent-in-the-digital-world/
Types of Digital Information
Many different types of digital information are used in the
classroom, and students need to become literate in most of these
to fulfil even the most basic tasks required in the curriculum:
- Word processing
- Desktop publishing
- Presentations e.g. PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi
- Making videos and podcasts
- Spreadsheets
- Data management and presentation
- Making graphs and tables
- Web searching
Web searching and Boolean logic was taught when I was in high school however it seems to be a lost skill for many students who are used to being able to type in plain questions into Google, without an understanding of keywords and Boolean logic. I expect to be also scaffolding students on these skills and found a couple of resources which are useful for this.
Evaluate
Teachers must evaluate digital information for relevance, applicability, security and accessibility, as well as credibility. (Howell, 2013)The use must be appropriate for the outcome, but teachers also have a responsibility to help students become not just consumers but active and critical users of digital information. Digital fluency is more than just being digitally literate, and to develop fluency in students they should be exposed to a range of digital technologies and programs and have the opportunity to play with them and see what can be done.
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| Source: https://au.pinterest.com/kmakice/digital-fluency/ |
Curate
We are fortunate to live in an age where a world of freely
available information is so accessible, however this glut of
information can make it challenging to keep track of what is useful. Content
curation using tools such as Pinterest, Trello, or Diigo help keep track of found content and provide a platform for sharing
it. I personally am using Pinterest and Trello, and also have playlists on
YouTube which I use to curate resources used for my classes.
Create
Digital fluency is more than just being digitally literate,
it also requires knowing which tools to use and when to use them appropriately
to be most effective. To develop this in students they should be exposed to a
range of digital technologies and programs and have the opportunity to play
with them and see what can be done.
This week I had the opportunity to play with Scratch, and I
made a thing. Click here to view.
As a free online program for creating animations, students
and teachers can use Scratch to create content for presentations and games. It
is very basic, and probably a good first step for students with limited
experience, or year 7s, and does teach some logic involved in programming, but
I would probably encourage students to use something like Stencyl which has
more options and applicability- where they can create content that can be
published across platforms and played on iOS, Android, Windows and Mac, and is
mobile and accessible.
While I can see possibilities for these applications in
Science and HASS classrooms through creating interactive lessons and games, or
giving students the opportunity to create a work for communication, I would be
wary of using them in my regular classes due to the fact they are
time-consuming, have compatibility issues due to use of JavaScript and Flash,
and questionable applicability and relevance to the curriculum except as a
creative outlet.
Curriculum Link
Represent multi-variable data in a range of
appropriate forms, for example scatter plots, tables, field sketches and
annotated diagrams, with and without the use of digital and spatial
technologies (ACHGS065)
References:
Howell, J. (2013). Teaching with ICT:
digital pedagogies for collaboration and creativity. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com