- using online sources to network, collaborate and innovate
- managing personal and professional aspects of life
- publishing expertise
- writing in diverse styles based on audience
Teachers must scaffold for students as they read, write and research using informational resources by encouraging students to produce and publish works, interact and collaborate with peers, gather information, assess credibility and accuracy of online materials, and integrate the materials without plagiarism.
To do this, students' prior technology knowledge and backgrounds must be identified. Access to technology and digital texts must be addressed. Above all, the teacher must provide opportunity, be sensitive to students' cultural models and build meaning while at the same time fostering skill fluency.
At this point in the school year, I am still assessing my students' prior knowledge and cultural models. My goal is not to bring everyone up to the same, concrete playing field, but rather acknowledge that learners will progress at their own pace and that my role is to provide opportunities for students to take risks and learn from each other. We have worked on several short-term projects thus far to get our feet wet. Fifth graders have practiced using Tagxedo, Popplet, Padlet and Google Drive to become familiar with browser navigation, collaborative work, brainstorming and content creation. Sixth graders have begun blogs in Blogger to document projects and reflections while discussing purpose and audience. I am primarily using my school blog as the Hub for the students' learning structure. The Animoto movie below gives a glimpse into some of the products the students have ownership of; the process and metacognition is more difficult to document but is perhaps even more significant than the published work.
Allen, Rick. "Dawn of the New Literacies." Education Update:Reading the Blueprint:Dawn of the New Literacies. N.p., Aug. 2010. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.
Davidson, Cathy. "What Are Digital Literacies? Let's Ask the Students." Http://dmlcentral.net/blog/cathy-davidson. N.p., 21 Apr. 2011. Web.