Using Technology in My Classroom
I wanted to share the article What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom from Education Week (@EducationWeek). This article connects to our readings in Chapter 1 of Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson. In one way students are so use to technology because they were born with technology in their lives from day one but do our students know how to use technology safely and correctly. I am always struggling with the idea of how to use technology in my classroom effectively without just letting students play games on the iPads. The article talks about how we consider children to be born into technology as "digital natives" and their parents are "immigrants." My 3 year old cousin can slide the iPad and find his game and we say "Wow! He is great with technology." But my 60 year old mom can do the same thing and we do not say she is good with technology.
To become literate with technology students need to learn how to use technology safely and with common sense. Being literate in technology you also must be a good digital citizen and students need to learn how to use technology. My school's technology teacher is using the Common Sense Media curriculum that was discussed in the article and it made me realize that I need to become aware of what students are learning so I can use it in my classroom as well. Students are learning about using technology safely and not sharing information. Also, third graders learned about Creative Commons! This was very impressive to me.
To become literate with technology students need to learn how to use technology safely and with common sense. Being literate in technology you also must be a good digital citizen and students need to learn how to use technology. My school's technology teacher is using the Common Sense Media curriculum that was discussed in the article and it made me realize that I need to become aware of what students are learning so I can use it in my classroom as well. Students are learning about using technology safely and not sharing information. Also, third graders learned about Creative Commons! This was very impressive to me.
Read this definition from the New York Department of Education: Definition
This quote from the New York Department of Education really stood out to me that students need to be able to "find and evaluate information, connect and collaborate with others, produce and share original content." It's not just about turning on a computer or tablet and being able to find the app. Now, we need to focus on having our students use the tools and to work with other students either in your class or other classrooms. This article talks about using twitter in your classroom but I feel that blogs are great ways for students to connect and share their work. Parents can access blogs to see students work. I have seen some blogs in classrooms where they have a blogger a day who writes one thing that happened that day. I also saw Nicholas Provenzano at MACUL and he talked about how he does 20 time and students blog once a week. Here is a link to his blog The Nerdy Teacher. When he talked he said that once students had a purpose for writing they were so concerned about making sure their spelling and grammar was correct. This is why I want my students to blog so that they have a reason and purpose. They know that other people will read the blog and they have an audience. This is very powerful for students to know that their writing is meaningful.
Here is my PSA! Twitter is one of the best things for educators. I have been able to connect with so many people. I can ask a question and have a response to it in minutes for some of the best teachers in the country! I highly recommend looking into chats that are related to your fields.
Great people to follow on Twitter:
Nicholas Provenzano
Enhancing Digital Literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://schools.nyc.gov/community/innovation/ConnectedFoundations/EDL/default.htm
Crowley, B. (2014, October 29). What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom. Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/29/ctq_crowley_digitalliteracy.html
Enhancing Digital Literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://schools.nyc.gov/community/innovation/ConnectedFoundations/EDL/default.htm
Crowley, B. (2014, October 29). What Digital Literacy Looks Like in a Classroom. Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/29/ctq_crowley_digitalliteracy.html
