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Hi, this is Shelby Arnett, and I'm talking about supporting digital literacies, or how
to support students in their ongoing digital learning.
Digital literacy is defined as "using digital technology, communication tools, and/or networks
to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and communicate information in order to function
in knowledge societies." So breaking that down item-by-item...
First, students need to access information, and access should mean more than just Wikipedia.
Students should know how to expand or restrict searches using advanced operators, boolean
searches. They should use more than one search engine; Google's fine, but how about Bing,
how about Dogpile, how about any number of search engines? They should also know how
to do image searches and deep web searches, and by deep web searches, that would be databases
or non-textual resources. Amazon also has a feature called "Look Inside," where students
can pull up a work, such as Mark Twain's "Huck Finn," click on the Look Inside button, and
then enter content into a search box to find that information within the book.
Once students gather information, they should be able to evaluate it, and they should be
able to evaluate websites using the REAL and RADCAB methods. REAL being an acronym for
"Read the URL," "Examine the site's content," "Ask about the author or publisher," and "Look
at the links." RADCAB being "Relevancy," "Appropriateness," "Detail," "Currency," "Authority," and "Bias."
So is the information on the website useful for your topic? Are additional resources and
links provided? Is the site current? Do you think the information is accurate? Does it
seem to have a political or personal bias, based on who wrote the information?
Information also needs to be managed, both as students are gathering and using the information.
Students should use extensions and plug-ins effectively, such as Adobe Reader or Apple
QuickTime. If they don't use these, they may not be able to open the documents they need,
or view the videos they need. Tab management is also useful when working on a project,
to keep your information organized so that you don't have multiple windows open.
Integration is interpreting, summarizing, contrasting and comparing the information.
Students should use tools such as Google's Academic Search, or Wolfram Alpha, for information
on computational facts. Academic Search also has an interesting way to look at connections
between authors, and then students can look at different perspectives on a topic.
Creation. This is the fun part! This is where students can take all the information they've
gathered and use it to create an essay, a Prezi, a podcast, a video, or a combination
of those. But they need to avoid plagiarism. They also need to avoid copyright infringement,
and a way to look at that is to use the Fair Use doctrine. Fair Use means that you're not
taking too much of someone else's work and using it as your own. Common Sense Media has
some very good resources in teaching about Fair Use and digital citizenship. Creative
Commons also offers a database, as it were, of images that people have given their permission
to use, and works that students can access without plagiarism.
Communication. I look at the communication aspect in a couple of different ways. From
a scholastic standpoint, student work should communicate their information persuasively,
but students also need to learn to communicate among themselves responsibly. Common Sense
Media has a very effective set of lessons and videos that cover cyber-bullying and digital
citizenship. Teachers and students should also use technology for more effective communication.
Teacher websites can offer students a place to ask questions for clarification, collaborate
on assignments, and to give and receive feedback.
So to summarize, digital literacy isn't just knowing, it's doing. It means being a responsible
citizen, being able to gather information efficiently, judge the quality of that information,
use that information to create something new and original, and communicate it effectively.
That's my presentation. Thank you very much for your time!