Running Head: Digital Literacy1



Digital LiteracyWendy EllsworthConcordia UniversityAuthor’s Note: This assignment was prepared for EDT 894 taught by Prof. David Black to show my knowledge of Digital Literacy in Educational Design and Technology.LiteracyDefinitionWhat it looks like?Real-World ExamplesDigital LiteracyThe ability to use digital technology, communication tools, or networks to find, understand, evaluate, create, and communicate information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources. It also includes a person’s ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment. Literacy includes the ability to read and interpret media, to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments.Teachers: The importance of digital literacy for teachers goes without saying. Teacher use these skills daily to create, research, plan, and carry out lessons, assign and grade assignments, record grades, attendance, behaviors, or lunch count, as well as for communication and collaboration with other coworkers, administrators, parents, and community members. Being digitally literate plays into every aspect of being a teacher. It is important to stay abreast to the latest technological advance to help facilitate learning for the students and continue to engage them in the ever-changing world of education.Students: Digital literacy is important for students as well, not only for academic learning purposes, but by a means for expressing themselves through different venues and sharing their knowledge with others. In today’s world, most students are digitally literate in most aspects of the word. My 4th graders can help other teachers in my building with technology issues or show them how to use the latest app or extension on their chromebook. Students are also great at expressing themselves and adding their own flare to a digital assignment. Students can find a venue to learn information of their interest and choice. For instance, if my son wants to learn about something in Minecraft, he will immediately go to You Tube and watch a video. However, students have a difficult time evaluating information on the internet for academic research purposes. The disseminating of informational text, comparing sources, and citing sources is one area of digital literacy that continually needs to be taught to students, because the internet is continually growing. Students need to continue to build their skills and prepare for their future.Parents: Digital Literacy is important for parents as well. Communication with teachers, the school, and even their own children requires technology skills. For parents to stay abreast on the education of their children, they need to have the skills to be able to respond to emails, listen to school messages, register for school/classes, pay lunch accounts online, view school happenings on social media. Parents also need to have the skills to be able to help their child with a homework question or review their child’s work if needed. I feel that the parents that do not even have an email address miss out on so many things that happen with their child. I believe parents have a responsibility to their child to stay digitally literate, so they can help educate, encourage, and protect their child.Visual LiteracyThe ability to both read and write visual information; the ability to learn visually; to think and solve problems in the visual domain – to think through, think about, and think with pictures. It also includes the ability to communicate graphically.Basic identification of the subject or elements in a photograph, work of art, or graphicObservation during scientific inquiryUnderstanding?what we see and comprehending visual relationships – higher level skills that require critical thinking – discussing the purpose and audienceStudents reading charts or maps.Making sense of images in texts or on the web resources.Viewing and discussing: billboards, cartoons, comic books, memes, photos, signs, videos, etc.Discerning point of view for biasViewing and analyzing advertisementsComputer LiteracyUnderstanding computers and related systems. It includes a working vocabulary of computer and information system components, the fundamental principles of computer processing and a perspective for how non-technical people interact with technical people. It is not about how the computer works, but does imply knowledge of how the computer does its work. It requires a conceptual understanding of systems analysis and design, application programming, systems programming and datacenter operations. It also implies hands-on ability to work the operating system and common applications such as spreadsheets, word processors, database programs, e-mail programs and Web browsers.**Computer Literacy will look different for every person depending on the setting or job they are in and possibly the age level (for students). The basic computer skills include:- Basic computer hardware knowledge- Knowing how to fix basic problems with a computer- Basic filesystem knowledge - how to create/delete directories, move and copy files. Being able to use CD-ROM/DVD burners, USB keys- Basic keyboarding skills- Basic word processing/spreadsheet skills - being able to load, edit, print and save files, and export these in a variety of file formats.- Basic computer communication skills - knowing how to receive, send, forward and edit E-mail. Understanding of mailing list etiquette. - Basic webpage authoring - how to create webpages with images, hyperlinks and text.For 4th grade students in my class, Computer literacy is:-Being able to log into their Chromebook-Knowing how to charge it and know when it needs charging-Proper care of device (Chromebook, desktop, iPad) used-Adjusting settings (brightness, volume, image)-Creating a Google Doc, Sheet, Presentation-Sharing a file-Using Google Classroom: opening links, opening and turning in assignments, participating in discussions-Researching information on the internet – finding accurate and relevant sources-Copying and pasting (text and images) -Using information correctly – not plagiarizing-Using the rules of digital citizenship – only using own login, not sharing passwords, using appropriate language, reporting anything that is not right, not sharing identity, rmation LiteracyThe ability to find, decode, evaluate, create, and communicate information. It also includes an understanding of a need for information and the resources available, how to work with or exploit results, and ethics and responsibility of use of the information.It is the intersection of traditional alphabetic literacy with library instruction, cultural literacy, visual literacy, media literacy, network literacy, and computer literacy.A need for information: Recognizing that information is needed; understanding why information is needed, what information is required, as well as any associated constraints (e.g. time, format, currency, access); recognizing that information is available in a wide range of formats in various geographical and virtual locations. Understanding availability: Identify what resources are available for exploitation, where they are, how to access them, the merits of individual resource types, and when it is appropriate to use them.Examples: A journal article may be available in print, as a part of an e-journal or as a record in a database of full-text articles Not all search engines offer the same facilitiesUnderstanding how to find information: Ability to search appropriate resources effectively and identify relevant information.Examples: Searching across several resources, Using back-of-book indexes, Using abstracting and indexing journals, Scanning news feeds, Participating in e-mail, discussion lists, Bulletin boards, etc., Using hypertext, URL’s, bookmarks, etc.Understand the need to evaluate results: Evaluate information for its authenticity, accuracy, currency, value and bias.Examine: Relevance to problem/question/task in hand, Appropriateness of style for users, Availability of index, notes, bibliography, illustrations, multimedia, etc., Authenticity and origin, Authority (ownership, reputation, coverage, scope), Bias or point of view, Error rate/accuracy, Purpose/audience, Currency/timelinessUnderstand how to communicate or share your findings: Ability to communicate/share information in a manner or format that is appropriate to the information, the intended audience and situationExamples: Understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different communications channels (e.g. web page, presentation, written report), Participating effectively in collaborative writing and publication, including use of collaborative software (e.g. student group report; internal knowledge base; collaborative blog; Wikipedia), Understanding of appropriate writing styles (e.g. for reports, essays, presentation, etc.), Knowledge of citation style, Use of footnotes/end notesMedia LiteracyThe ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media.Media literacy skills can help youth and adults to:- Develop critical thinking skills- Understand how media messages shape our culture and society- Identify target marketing strategies- Recognize what the media maker wants us to believe or do?- Name the techniques of persuasion used?- Recognize bias, spin, misinformation, and lies?- Discover the parts of the story that are not being told?- Evaluate media messages based on our own experiences, skills, beliefs, and values?- Create and distribute our own media messages- Advocate for media justiceBeing media literate also includes using media wisely and effectively, including being able to judge the credibility of information from different sources and producing effective communication through a variety of different media forms.MultiliteracyMultiliteracy is an approach to literacy theory and pedagogy, combining linguistic diversity and multimodal forms of linguistic expression and representation. Globalization has caused changes to communication through new technologies such as the internet, multimedia, and digital media, as well as the existence of growing linguistic and cultural diversity due to increased transnational migration.?Because the way people communicate is changing due to new technologies, and shifts in the usage of the English language within different cultures, multiliteracy has developed. Aspects in multimodal texts to communicate meaning:Linguistic (ex. the terms and concepts, text structure, vocabulary, punctuation and clauses)Oral (ex. live or recorded speech)Visual (ex. photos, graphs, layout and design)Audio (ex. voice-over and soundtrack)Spatial (ex. virtual space or interactive graphs)Tactile (ex. skin sensations, grasp, manipulable objects)Gestural forms (ex. pushing, swiping and blowing - the interactive and sometimes physical actions within a text)Gaming systems (Xbox, PS3, Wii, etc.) utilize these aspects to form their multimodal text encouraging the user to become multiliterate.Multiliteracy Skills: (Pelafas, 2011)-ability to apply knowledge to new situations-use of technologies to solve problems and communicate -able to examine problems and collaborate to think of creative solutions -able to gather information from multiple sources (and critique sources validity)-work productively with linguistic and cultural diversity -synthesize knowledge and become teachers and communicators; express knowledge in multimodal ways -understand the various meaning making interactions of text, images, and context -negotiate regional, ethnic, or class-based dialects New LiteraciesNew literacies encompass online reading comprehension and learning skills, or 21st century skills, required by the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs), including content found on wikis, blogs, video sites, audio sites, in e-mail, etc. They require the ability not just to "read" but also to navigate the World Wide Web, locate information, evaluate it critically, synthesize it and communicate it.“New literacies” that arise from new technologies include things like text-messaging, blogging, social networking, podcasting, gaming, chat rooms, virtual reality, and videomaking.Educators must develop these new literacies themselves –?for themselves?– before they can support students in developing them for themselves. Educators must learn to engage with new technologies and the literacy practices surrounding them (by blogging, for example, or by gaming).You may be illiterate to new literacies if you:are confused when faced with a video game, not knowing where to look for visual cues about what to do nextdon't notice the visual cues on a computer desktop that instantly draw the attention of a more literate personmiss the signs that an email or tweet is a phishing scamdon't realize that blogs are inherently spaces for dialogue in the comments sectionnever stop to consider that web designers have purposefully chosen colors, layouts, fonts, images, and multimedia elements to make viewers think and feel in specific waystry to use Facebook in ways that feel weird to those who are literate in its useproduce movies for YouTube that come across as boring, badly paced, ugly, or annoyingwrite emails without knowing the expectations of their?audience?(who, for instance, might prefer to be addressed in complete sentences)think their Twitter followers really want to know every boring detail of their livescreate graphics without carefully choosing effective fonts, colors, and layout options that will be most effective for their audienceparticipate in wikis without respecting and following the formatting and structural decisions made by those who went before themReferencesBaker, F. (2012). MEDIA LITERACY in the K–12 Classroom . Retrieved January 10, 2017, from . (2015, December 02). Information literacy - Definition. Retrieved January 11, 2017, from . (2012, June 01). Definition of Multiliteracy. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from , T. (2014, February 19). Common Core in Action: 10 Visual Literacy Strategies. Retrieved January 10, 2017, from Literacy Project. (2016). What is Media Literacy? Retrieved January 11, 2017, from , Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The New Literacies. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from , N. (2011, July 21). Skills of the Multiliterate Student. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from , K. (n.d.). What are New Literacies? Retrieved January 12, 2017, from , J., & Willette, J. (2007, March 14). What is Information Literacy? Retrieved January 11, 2017, from , M., & Walbert, D. (n.d.). Reading images: an introduction to visual literacy. Retrieved January 10, 2017, from Digital Literacy. (2016). US Digital Literacy. Retrieved January 08, 2017, from , A. (2014, November 10). New Literacies in the Classroom. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download