Digital Literacy vs. Digital Fluency

The rapid emergence of modern technologies had drastically changed the way the world works and the way in which information and knowledge is acquired. The internet generation (net geners) have begun to absorb information in new ways and have a limited tolerance for absorbing information which they could easily find through a Google search. Growing up digital “has encouraged this generation to be active and demanding inquirers - not passive consumers of media created for a mass audience” (Tapscott, 2008, p.18). The development of of these skills has been a coping mechanism to handle the information overload in the digital age.

"If it were possible to define generally the mission of education, it could be said that its fundamental purpose is to ensure that all students benefit from learning in ways that allow them to participate fully in public, community, creative, and economic life” (New London Group, 2000).

Effectively preparing students to be successful in the twenty-first century involves a development of digital fluencies that go beyond just being able to use digital tools - they must become producers of content and be able to take advantage of peer-to-peer learning opportunities, have a changed attitude toward intellectual property, develop the skills valued in the modern workplace, and have a more empowered conception of citizenship.

So what does it mean to be digitally fluent? There seems to be much discussion about digital literacy in schools today, but I don’t hear as much chatter about digital fluency. While literacy refers to knowing what tools to use and how to use them, to be considered fluent one must be able to reliably produce a desired outcome. Just like most students arrive knowing what a book or pencil is and have some idea how to use them, they still need guidance to become fluent with the tool.

Source: SociaLens Blog

An effective way to imagine the difference between literacy and fluency is to consider language. Developing fluency is like learning a foreign language: to be literate in that language means that you have learned some phrases and can share some basic ideas. However, to be fluent means the ability to create your own story and proficiently use the language in varying situations. Digitally fluent people are able create, re-mix, and share ideas through the use of technology. 

"The key idea is the ability to produce content rather than simply use technology" (Crockett, L., Jukes, I., & Churches, A. (2011).

It is important to remember that literacy occurs on a spectrum and students don't simply become fluent after a single lesson. It takes time, practice, and continuing feedback much like the acquisition of most other skill sets. The Global Digital Citizen Foundation divides digital fluency into five categories: Information, Solution, Creativity, Collaboration and Media. The organisation has developed a structured framework to model the critical skills that today's students require to become digitally fluent.

Source: Global Digital Citizen Foundation

Great - yet another set of criteria I must integrate into my teaching. 
Teachers are already juggling an array of criteria that must be covered through their programs. I currently must satisfy the demands of the MYP concepts, objectives, ATL skills, a national curriculum and the ISTE Standards. The last thing I need is another set of criteria that must be infused into my program. However, what I like about The Global Digital Citizen Foundation is that the fluencies listed are easily integrated into already existing programs. Instead of restructuring my units, I simply reviewed my program with these standards in mind to see which areas I deficient in.

There are many large and small scale educational activities which can be integrated into current teaching practices to promote technology competence and digital fluency. The following is a brief collection of classroom activities and technology tools I collected to encourage the acquisition of digital fluencies using the five categories identified by The Global Digital Citizen Foundation:

Curated alongside: Costello, J., Hamilton, D., Langford, C., Stigall, J. (2016)

References

Briggs, C. (2012). The Difference Between Digital Literacy and Digital Fluency. Retrieved from http://www.socialens.com/blog/2011/02/05/the-difference-between-digital-literacy-and-digital-fluency

Costello, J., Hamilton, D., Langford, C., Stigall, J. & Turple, C. (2016). Digital Fluency in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://digitalfluencyintheclassroom.weebly.com/toolbox.html

Crockett, L., Jukes, I., & Churches, A. (2011). Literacy is not enough: 21st century fluencies for the digital age. Corwin Press. 

Jukes, I. (2015). Global Digital Citizen Foundation. 21st Century Fluencies. Retrieved from https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/21st-century-fluencies

New London Group (2000). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures in Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures, ed. Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis. London: Routledge, p 9-38.

Copyright: The War against Piracy is Stifling Creativity

As an educator who utilizes technology in her teaching, I had so many questions about copyright that no one seemed to be able to answer: 

What does copyright mean?

Where can I find free-to-use content?

Do Fair Use principles cover me as an educator?

My pursuit of answers that led me down a rabbit hole of information, contradictions, and legal jargon. Unfortunately contemporary copyright laws are convoluted and full of “grey areas”. The hypocrisy of how most laws have been established (through large corporations looking to cash-in) has stunted culture and put limits on creativity in the digital world. While I do believe direct copy and paste piracy should be illegal, today’s restrictions may be crippling today’s Creative Class of learners.

See original slides with image / music sources here.

Digital Literacy is Crucial for Reading and Writing Instruction

Literacy is known as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently, and think critically about a language. The emergence of new technologies has brought about a need for the addition of digital literacy which refers to the ability to select appropriate technological tools and use them effectively. Though digital literacy goes beyond the use of specific tools to encompass a whole set of skills needed to flourish in today’s technology rich environment. 

The Future Lab’s report Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum defines digital literacy as having “access to a broad range of practices and cultural resources that you are able to apply to digital tools. It is the ability to make and share meaning in different modes and formats; to create, collaborate and communicate effectively and to understand how and when digital technologies can best be used to support these processes.” (1) It’s about collaborating, staying safe and communicating effectively; it’s about cultural and social awareness and understanding; it’s about being creative.

Digital literacy can be envisioned as a number of interrelated components:

The Components of Digital Literacy from Futurelab report

However, the education systems - and schools on both sides of the digital divide - have been slow to adapt this new type of literacy in reading and writing instruction. Troy Hicks (Central Michigan University) and Kristen Hawley Turner (Fordham University) offer a passionate plea for teachers to incorporate technology in more meaningful ways in their article No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait (2). They offer some examples of how teachers commonly integrate technology tools in the classroom in an ineffective manner:

Hicks and Turner claim that educators should not just focus on students learning how to use specific technology tools, but we should be teaching students how to be literate across multiple forms of media and in a variety of contexts.

Students should be able to:

• critically consume information and share across time and space
• co-create and collaborate to solve problems
• persevere in light of setbacks
• maintain flexibility

Understanding how technologies enable new literacies and meaningful communication should be a core curricular and pedagogical function of English education (3). Henry Jenkins (MIT Media Lab) calls this ability to function in online networks a “participatory culture” which has a relatively low barrier to artistic expression and civic engagement (4). Benefits of this digital culture include peer-to-peer learning, a changed attitude towards intellectual property, diversification of cultural expression, modern workplace skill development, and an empowered conception of citizenship. Jenkins further claims that participatory culture is the new “hidden curriculum” in schools.

Digital literacy is a crucial component in modern literacy instruction and is necessary for today’s students to be productive members of a digital world. Teachers should focus on the skills related to digital literacy, not specific tools which will soon be obsolete in the ever changing world of technology.

1. Hague, C. & Payton, S. (2010). Digital literacy across the curriculum. Bristol, England: Futurelab.

2. Hicks, T. & Turner, K. H. (2013). No longer a luxury: Digital literacy can’t wait. National Council of Teachers of English. English Education, 102(6), pp 58-65.

3. Grabill, J. T. & Hicks, T. (2005). Multiliteracies meet methods: The case for digital writing in English education. National Council of Teachers of English. English Education, 37(4), pp 301-311.

4. Jenkins, H. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media Education for the 21st century. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

21st Century Teaching Means Collaboration

The information age has broadened our accessibility to information and people. As technology and consequently approaches to education advance, the roles of the teacher and learner in the 21st century are drastically altered too.  

My emphasis as an educator has always been about collaboration. Even the most dedicated and hard-working teacher is not as effective and resourceful as two teachers collaborating. Working with others increases productivity, encourages critical brainstorming and problem solving, increases professional learning and offers a different perspective of the content to be taught. 

I have consistently pushed cross-curricular projects within my school and modelled my instruction after what the Ontario Ministry of Education has coined Teaching-Learning Critical Pathways (TLCPs). It is through working closely beside others teachers that I have learned the most about teaching.

When it comes to collaboration in my classroom, I foster a cooperative learning environment for my students through group activities and exploration of topics. I strongly believe that all people learn more in a social setting where they are encouraged to questions and test their ideas instead of a more traditional rote-style learning setting. Learners are encouraged to interact with one another, share ideas and work together to complete tasks and solve problems. 

However, traditional teaching methods do not often incorporate collaborative learning and often it is viewed as ‘cheating’. Yet 21st century teaching requires a re-imagining of what learning should look like. If students are unable to share information with one another and discuss their ideas, then perhaps it is the assignment that is flawed and not the cooperative nature of the students. Teachers must re-evaluate where assignments lie on Blooms Taxonomy. If the sharing of answers between students defeats the purpose of the assignment, the task itself needs to be changed so students have the opportunity to analyse, synthesize and evaluate topics instead of simply regurgitating facts and ideas. 

Source: http://juliaec.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/blooms_taxonomy.jpg

For me, 21st teaching and learning is all about collaboration. Collaboration among teachers (in-person and online) and collaboration between students.

Pedagogical Reflection

I am a strong believer that students should play an active role in their education. I also agree with the pragmatic understanding that there are no absolute or eternal ideas in the world, but rather concepts which can be altered over time through experience. Similar to existentialist thinking, it is my opinion that people continuously make choices which define who they are. Thus, an education system which employs the idea of individual freedom and curriculum consisting of experience-based activities would be beneficial to students in finding a personal identity. 

Students collaboratively created their own
classification systems for various leaves. 

My time spent in my first practicum placement solidified many of my education beliefs I have developed over the past five years spent in the concurrent program. I implemented my concept of experimental learning through hands-on work and exploratory projects which enable my students to construct their own knowledge. I strived to implement the process of gradual release, coupled with tiered lessons to scaffold individual students’ understanding. Collaborative learning and group work was also very prevalent in my classroom, as I believe humans learn best in a social setting.

Furthermore, a strong emphasis on problem-solving and inquiry was a major focus when lesson planning, as well as student-centred learning to ensure an equity-based learning environment. As I do not feel memorization necessarily ensures understanding, I attempted to move away from rote learning and the regurgitatation of facts by giving students the opportunity to construct their own meaning. Through project-based culminating tasks, I encouraged students to link new information with their existing knowledge in meaningful ways.  

Students applied their new knowledge of classification systems to create 
a whole-class taxonomy of the animal kingdom.

For the most part, my lessons included a de-emphasis on textbooks in favour of varied learning resources. The use of math manipulatives, visual mind mapping, educational technologies, and kinesthetic activities aided students in problem-solving and inquiry in the classroom beyond what traditional texts could offer. I was fortunate enough to have a SMARTboard installed in my class, which enabled me to easily integrate a plethora of learning tools and software into my lessons, and provide students with an interactive digital tool to collaborate with their classmates.

However, despite being equipped with the professional knowledge of child-centred learning, I did find myself reverting back to a teacher-directed teaching style at first. My inexperience implementing my education theory in an actual classroom led me to teach the way I was once taught. In my future practice, I must be conscious of this pattern, and try my best to not slip into this comfort zone. Although I do recognize the value of explicit and direct instruction, I do not feel it should be the basis of my teaching model.

Another challenge I faced during my practicum placement was related to classroom management. Since I believe students should be able to roam and explore new concepts throughout the classroom, the environment became much more complicated to govern than a traditional classroom setting. This type of cooperative learning environment also fosters an increased noise level, which seemed to be bothersome to some of the students. I will be better prepared to navigate such dilemmas in the future, to best suit the needs of my students. Classroom management, specifically the idea of management versus discipline will be key areas of focus for me in my upcoming placement.

I need to always remember that my personal ideals, beliefs, and personality are who I am, and will come out in my teaching. I need to be aware of and eliminate my biases and stereotypes, to provide an inclusive schooling environment for my students. Furthermore, just as I bring personal baggage into the classroom, I must consider that my students will also bring with them experiences and opinions of their own.

I will attempt to constantly challenge and alter my worldview of teaching to best aid my students. Following the misinterpretation of his earlier work on progressive education, John Dewey wrote that educators need to think in terms of education itself, and not an ‘ism about education, even one such as ‘progressivism.’ For any movement which holds itself to any particular ‘ism becomes controlled by them (Experience and Education, 1938). I want to adapt educational theories and concepts to my own style, and not let one particular idea be my absolute guideline in the classroom. I hope to constantly question my approach to teaching as well as the common practices found within the education system.


Through ongoing reflection, I hope to solidified my values and intentions as a teacher to inform and refine my professional practice.

“Of all the teacher knowledge need to draw on, self-knowledge 

is most important (and least attended to)” (Ayers, 2001)