Blog Post 2 - How New Literacies are Relevant to Us
How New Literacies are Relevant to Us
I decided to read the second article, 'Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning and Justice' and the third article, 'Digital Literacy'. One of the biggest take aways I pulled from both of these readings is the idea that we're preparing our students for their futures. I think so often we view our students as children that will stay children forever and the idea of preparing them for life, especially in the younger grade levels can be lost a bit. It's always in the back of our minds as educators but have we all really sat with the gravity of the statement that these children are our future doctors, lawyers, business owners, teachers, farmers, salespeople, etc.? Both of these readings also talk about the impact of technologies outside of the schools and in the workplace. In virtually any job, there is going to be some sort of technological requirements - are the students we're putting out into the world to become professionals able to meet those requirements? 'Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning and Justice' and the third article, 'Digital Literacy' talks about how students need to have competency within technology in order to be productive and reliable members of society. These students are entering a future that even for us as adults is unknown. Have we given them the skills to problem solve and practice metacognition in their daily lives? Honestly, as I was reading these articles, I found myself questioning my own practices and if what I'm doing with my middle schoolers is truly enough to prepare them for the realities they face. Which is good, education and educators need to be constantly evolving with the world in order to provide our students with the tools they'll need in our modern world. Question for my fellow educators - how are you evolving and what technologies are you utilizing in your classroom to keep up with the changes?
As I was reading, I couldn't help but relate a lot of what I was reading to what I'm currently studying in Critical Pedagogy. In my readings from that class, I have discovered more about how the media and the internet can work to keep the status quo as is. Big companies and the rich are profiting from the cycles of oppression and the probability of those people trying to change those patterns is highly unlikely. 46% of current jobs on the market, that don't even require a Bachelor's Degree, involve the usage of basic technologies. 82% of them require mastery in specific online applications. Yet, homes without internet access tend to contain peoples that are impoverished. (Vanek, 2020, p.3) Meaning that the world is moving forward and in order to sustain a livable wage, technology and fluency within it is crucial. Still, students who are already at a disadvantage and are already behind other students their age solely due to their economic circumstances are placed even further behind. School might just be the only place where these students are exposed to technologies that they'll spend the rest of their lives being surrounded by. If students are not provided with equitable access of technology and explicitly taught how to use it, they'll fall behind in school and subsequently in society.
Although a lot of these readings frightened me and made me panic quite honestly, I also gained insight on how I can embed these ideas into my own teaching practices and classroom environment. I teach 6th grade reading and English. My students are still in the early stages of learning applications and navigating the internet. The students I have encountered in my four years of teaching have also been leaps and bounds behind where they're supposed to be due to the negative impacts of COVID on their education. My current group of students missed 1st and 2nd grade due to the world shutting down; arguably two of the most crucial years for literacy development. Some of my students can't read, can't write. I constantly grapple with closing those educational gaps and making my students efficient readers, writers, and ultimately members of society. Reading these publishings, I was afraid that due to their areas of need, I would be unable to provide them with a rich education that involves being technologically fluent. The third article, 'Digital Literacy' talked about how even adults with stunted educations can be taught skills that will set them up to live fruitful lives. This reading explains that Digital Literacy is similar to building blocks. First, students need to be explicitly taught how to use the physical technologies we utilize in the classroom. I'm always shocked when 6th graders get to my classroom and they can't copy and paste, highlight a text, use the undo button, send an email, use the Google search bar in an effective manner. I spend a lot of my time as a teacher showing students and having them practice these skills. Before these readings, I was almost frustrated by how much time it takes up for me to go over these skills. I always felt like I was wasting time and I needed to rush to get to the content and standards I need to check off before State Testing. Now I'm realizing that taking the time to teach these skills is essential for my students' growth and development in society. "Instead of continually try- ing to disrupt inequality through expensive devices, investing in teacher knowledge of the contexts of literacy learning makes more sense." (Garcia, 2018, p. 4) This rises another key take that I can apply within my career. I see so many of my colleagues, myself included, struggle to keep up with the new physical pieces of equipment we have to use. It seems like every year I have a new board, new laptop, new diagnostic testing cite I don't know how to use. Teachers need adequate training on how to turn these pieces of metal into real life learning opportunities. This year, I was chosen to be on the LINKS committee in my district. We set goals and implement plans to enhance the education of our students district wide. I could suggest meaningful training to teachers that enhance our own Digital Literacy skills that can then be taught to our students. Education needs to grow with the times and embrace the changes that they bring.
References
Garcia, A. (2018). Improving digital practices for literacy, learning, and Justice. Literacy World Wide. https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-improving-digital-practices-literacy-learning-justice.pdf
Vanek, J. (2020). Digital Literacy. LINCS. https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/TSTMDigitalLiteracyBrief-508.pdf
This post was a really good read. It’s hard to think about the reality that many students, some that come from disadvantaged backgrounds, are falling behind due to a lack of access to different forms of technology. I teach fourth graders but the part where you mention how your 6th graders need to be taught how to use the physical technologies that you use in your classroom really hit home with me. I do too have students who come in with a lack of technological understanding of things like how to copy and paste as well or even today I had to teach students how to open a google doc for a writing assignment. Do you have any strategies that work effectively for you when teaching these students how to use technology effectively in your class? This year is the first year we have NYS testing online and I am looking for anything to help get these students understand what technology they need for that test. I am also a building technology liaison for my building which means I have to help out a lot of teachers who struggle with technology. I do feel that as we progress with new things coming out every year that it is important to review these with teachers. I do notice a lot of teachers who really struggle to use technology effectively in their classroom.
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling so much empathy for you with State Testing. It is 100% something students struggle with to begin with. It's so much pressure and so anxiety provoking for them. Now with it being online, I feel like some of the younger students are at more of a disadvantage than ever. My first year teaching was 3rd grade and I felt so much pressure being a new teacher and with it being their first time taking a State Test. It sounds like you're already taking lots of proactive steps to prepare them. Also, being an advocate and a helping hand to your struggling coworkers is so awesome! How do you feel like that's working for you? Are other teachers being receptive to this help?
DeleteIn my classroom, I try to explicitly teach these helpful tools during real time instruction so that students are practicing the skill in a situation where it is useful. I'm hopeful that this will transfer into utilizing the skill on other occasions. This week, I spent time with my 6th graders teaching them how to highlight, underline, bold, and italicize text. I showed them multiple ways they can do it. They have touch pads on their Chromebooks, so I had them practice drag and drop using one hand and two. I also explicitly told them about why I'm teaching them how to do this and why it's important to learn multiple ways to do these things. The first day, it took a lot of time to get the 18-27 6th graders in my room to do each of those skills successfully. We're on day 3 of using these skills and for the most part, they're pros at it. It was a struggle and it was time consuming at first. But now, students can do this quickly and they'll be able to for the rest of the year. Eventually being able to translate those skills into other areas.
I'm so glad you pointed out the fact that being a parent gives you a different perspective on teaching! I'm a teacher that does not have children and you absolutely have insight that I would not. You're able to see education from the inside and out. I had an administrator that would always remind us that these kids are someone's baby! Although I don't have children of my own, I do see these kids as mine in some way! It's hard to see them grow up. My first class ever was 3rd grade. Now those 3rd graders are 6th graders and it's just astonishing to me watching them grow. I completely agree with you, we as educators (and parents!) need to provide children with the tools they'll need to participate in society in a meaningful way. We never want to tell them who to be, we just want to make sure they're well educated, independent and critical thinkers, and empathetic people. We definitely do not have all of the tools or the knowledge ourselves but, hopefully those seeds we plant will grow into useful skills!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me that you bring up screen time with the younger kiddos. You're right - it probably is assumed that children get this in the homes. Honestly, sometimes maybe too much of it. In 6th grade I see students that can't keep their eyes or hands off devices. I see students that are easily distracted and caught playing games during lessons. I wonder if technology was introduced in the classroom at a younger age and boundaries with it were taught if we would see less of the addiction to technology in the classroom. Not to be judgmental either but, some parents utilize technology, especially at young ages, as a babysitter. I can tell with some of my 6th graders that they go home and have zero other human interaction outside of school because they spend hours on games. I have students skip school because they were up all night gaming. Just to stay home from school and game some more. There has to be a balance with digital literacy. Students need these skills but when and how can we integrate this component of education into student lives? This is where the training piece you mentioned comes into play. If teachers were trained on this in our specialty areas, these questions might be answered!
Hello Samantha! I enjoyed your commentary on the inequity surrounding digital tools in schools. I used to work in a building that couldn't afford to buy shiny new computers for its students. As such, students were rarely exposed to the process of publishing a reaction to a text or the idea of digital discussion groups. However, I really enjoyed the example the ILA (2018) provided of allowing students to use their phones to write reflections and show meaning through photography. Sometimes, teachers are so consumed by the potential distraction phones can cause that they forget to see the educational value they can give to our lessons. If you are in a district where devices are scarce, you can always expose students to writing a reaction to text by using the notes app on their phones. Moreover, if some students feel more comfortable using photography, you can show them how to compile images into their phones and put them into an album about the text. It is still possible to build our students' Digital Literacy skills without the big and shiny MacBooks. Even their own devices can serve as tools for learning how to find, evaluate, and present information.
ReplyDeleteHey! I completely agree, students need to be able to use their phones and personal devices in ways that are productive and allow them to express themselves. I love the ideas of working with images and writing reflections. Both of those examples of utilizing personal technology in a meaningful way allow the students to look back on and reflect on those images/writings. That is 100% something I see myself doing in my high school elective class. From the time I've spent with middle schoolers - they cannot handle using their phones in productive ways in the classroom. I am constantly walking around the room during a lesson that involves Chromebooks and I see kids playing games or emailing one another. For some kids, it get so bad that we have to take away their technology privileges. For a lot of students, it seems like an addiction. After interacting with and reading other blog posts from educators at all different levels, I'm realizing that there must be a ladder or stepping stones to Digital Literacy. My question is, what should students be able to do at what ages? When is implementing the usage of personal technologies going to be meaningful and not distracting?
DeleteHave you tried either of those strategies you mentioned with your students? If so, what age groups are they and how did they go?
Samantha - it was clever to make a connection to our Critical Pedagogy work, as I agree that the educational system is a responsible stakeholder in our historic (and continuing) widening gap across social classes and equitable opportunities. It is disheartening to hear that many of your students are reading below grade level, yet it's not surprising when reviewing our national reading data, especially for students in marginalized communities.
ReplyDeletePre-K through grade 2 is a pivotal stage in a student's educational journey in regard to skilled acquisition of reading, writing, and language development. I found myself on a bit of a pendulum swing while reflecting on the readings because though technological tools are imperative in our digital era, there is a vast body of science which informs of the interconnected brain processes necessary for reading development. This rewiring of the reading brain, including language, orthographic, visual, and executive systems, is actually changing due to the digital world we live in. Executive function is central to attention, working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, problem solving and planning, to name a few. Research demonstrates a correlation between increased screen time and weak brain development in the EF region of the brain in young children.
With that said, I do not think our poor national reading report is due solely to little hands swiping touchscreens. I believe educator proficiency in reading development is paramount, ensuring instruction is in alignment with evidence. The notion you highlighted in Garcia's article regarding teacher knowledge is crucial. A deepened awareness could affect purposeful digital implementation, curriculum enhancement and student learning, 21st century skills acquisition, and global interconnectedness.
If there a specific topic, concern, or wonder that you're eager to voice through participation on the LINKS committee?
Hey! I'm so glad you appreciated the connection I made to Critical Pedagogy. Like you said, the proof is in the numbers. A concerning amount of children are already below grade level and in marginalized groups of people, that gap is even larger. Another great argument you make is that there's a lot of research that highlights the negative impacts of too much screen time for the little ones. Unfortunately, I think we're living in a world where screens are handed to babies and toddlers as a means to distract them when they should be engaged in hands on opportunities that allow them to explore the world around them. In my readings and commenting on other posts, I've come to wonder if there's a timeline of teaching these Digital Literacy skills? There has to be some process to implement this in a developmentally appropriate way.
DeleteAs for my hopes with the LINKS committee, I have lots of ideas I'd like to implement. One in particular that relates to this class is training teachers in the areas of literacy and the technology/applications we are expected to use. In our district this year, there's a huge push on the Science of Reading. It's basically saying that literacy is made up of many different components, much like Digital Literacy. As I mentioned previously, there's a huge percentage of my students that are under grade level in reading, comprehension, and writing. I have students that still struggle with letter sounds. We're implementing REWARDS district wide in hopes to close some gaps and provide students with the tools they need to be successful readers and writers. However, this also comes along with training the teachers! We've accomplished getting two full training days for staff and we have a MTSS administrator that's piloting all of this and helping us when needed. We were also able to get training for teachers on how to use the new board we were given this year and training for the new communication application that we're using. I'm hopeful that being proactive about struggling readers across grade levels and providing teachers with the proper training to do that job will manifest into students that grow into competent, productive members of society!
Hi Samantha - thank you for your thorough response. I would certainly like to circle back with you in regard to what we're learning in this course alongside your analysis of current and potential improvements concerning digital integration and practices within your district and work on the LINKS committee.
DeleteThe trending science of reading movement is definitely a hot topic, though this vast body of research has been around for decades. You mentioned having students struggle with letter sounds which is alarming unacceptable (criminal) that students would get to middle school in the US education system without unlocking the alphabetic principle.
There is a lot out there being stamped as "science of reading" material and resources which is unfortunate because a comprehensive, interconnected body of evidence wouldn't be a worksheet you can purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers. If you or colleagues are looking for an insightful read that will deepen understanding of the science behind skilled reading acquisition, please consider Proust and the Squid by Dr. Maryanne Wolf. You won't regret it!
Hi again!
DeleteI'm truly hopeful that the REWARDS program will help to close some of those gaps. I agree, it's absolutely criminal that students get to middle school not being able to decode. Unfortunately, I believe that has a lot to do with the fact that the pandemic shut down the world and education. The workshops I've been to and the research I've done about the REWARDS program shows that it is based in the real studies of the Science of Reading. In LINKS, we're also looking at a few different books for an optional book study. We're taking votes on books such as Shifting the Balance by Kari Yates and Jan Miller Burkins and Explicit Instruction by Anita Archer. I'll have to suggest adding this one to the list for later this year!
Hi Samantha - I think the pandemic slightly lifted the veil on inequitable educational practices in our system, but national reading data has been depressed, especially in marginalized communities, for decades. I've read both Shifting the Balance and Explicit Instruction, and you can't go wrong with either! I'm not familiar with REWARDS but you've piqued my interest, so I'll be sure to explore.
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