Digital Literacy and Research

LAST YEAR'S SCHOOL FORMAL DEFINITION:  DIGITAL LITERACY is an ideal framework for providing students with the 21st century life skills they need: critical thinking, self-expression, technological fluency as well as a growing global awareness.   BUT...coupled with the term RESEARCH, there is one more step - THE ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER!

 Higher Order  and Critical  Thinking  

The ability to understand information from many formats and resources.  The second part of this ingredient is: The ability to know how to use the information appropriately to write that paper.  In addition, students need to know how to negotiate online tools for online collaboration. 

Today's Conundrum:Have we accomplished, successfully, the process of writing the research/Capstone Project skills for our student?

Highlights from the 2010 Horizon Reporthttp://blog.lib.umn.edu/learninglibraries/2010/03/2010-horizon-report-faculty-preparedness-for-integrating-digital-media-literacy.html 

The five technologies to watch in 2011, as they grow in popularity for finding information are:• electronic books• mobiles• augmented reality• game-based learning• gesture-based learning 

  

Highlights of 2010 Horizon Report Abstract

One of the major points the report makes is that..."As faculty and instructors begin to realize that they are limiting their students by not helping them to develop and use digital media literacy skills across the curriculum, the lack of formal training is being offset by professional development or informal learning, but we are far from seeing digital media literacy as a norm.  This reality is exacerbated by the fact that as technology continued to evolve, digital literacy must necessarily be less about tools and more about ways of thinking and seeing, and of crafting narrative.http://blog.lib.umn.edu/

So, who assists the after-research and ready to write student ?  What LibGuide or Document do we have after the Big 6?

    The Librarian should begin the quest of Teacher collaboration for each research-driven class, addressing  the basics of ...1) Gentle teaching and reinforcement of original thought should be encouraged 2) Turn-it-in can be used as a guide for creating original thought and rewriting before being submitted to the teacher.3).  Other writing-assisted programs are also available.  BUT///Students must practice revision

Other Critical Thinking Skills

• 1) How do you teach thinking in order to learn?

• 2)  What questioning techniques do you use?• 3)   How do you enable students to reflect on

their thinking and note-taking?• 4)    What kinds of skills are required for a

student to complete their research project?'  Does it work with Question, Evaluate, Analyze, Synthesize, Collaborate and know locations/names of databases or websites?

WEBSITES AND DATABASES OF STUDENT CHOICE

 YOUTH, THE INTERNET AND DIGITAL MEDIA''  • Web Site Evaluation

o Critical Evaluation Information - From Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.html

o Fake and Spoof Websites - a nice collection. http://www.philb.com/fakesites.htm

o California's Velcro Crop Under Challenge - One example of a phony web site. http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html

o   

More WebsitesSpicy Nodes Spicy Nodes is a concept map presentation tool that allows the users to link and embed pictures, websites, and more into the overall presentation. Easy to use and fun to show, Spicy Nodes is whole new way to present your information. Conduit Enhance your online presence with a toolbar and/or apps. This intuitive website makes it easy and fun to create innovative ways to expand access to your materials from anywhere and on any device.Symbaloo Customize your own online start page with Symbaloo. Organize and access favorite links and pages easily and quickly. Symbaloo is now offering SymbalooEDU, a visual bookmarking tool that allows teachers and students to curate, organize and share the best of the web.iCyte Save all of your websites with iCyte. This Web 2.0 tool will keep all of your sites just as you found them. This is a research management tool that lets you save and annotate entire websites. It doesn't just bookmark, but lets you annotate parts of websites for your citations.

• Internet o   Stop Cyberbullying Now - Information for parents and educators

from the US Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.stopbullying.gov

Digital Media Slides (continued)

Dipity Dipity lets students and teachers create free interactive timelines. Dipity's mission is to organize the internet's data by date and time. Users can create their timelines and link video, images, audio, social media, and more. Creating timelines has never been more engaging or fun.Edistorm Edistorm takes away the idea of sticky notes on a wall and makes it virtual. Brainstorm, think out ideas alone or with friends; plan out anything you like with Edistorm. Use virtual sticky notes in Edistorm to come up with a multitude of ideas all on one site. 

Digital Media Slides (continued)

iEARN Be a part of the network and join the global community! Through International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) and an Internet connection, students and teachers from over 130 countries can transcend linguistic, national, political, religious, and social borders to collaborate

Other Research SitesMy Virtual Reference Desk A good site for all kinds of topics because of its extensive information files and easy searching capabilities. A great beginning search tool.

Seek Education - Ask a question or search a topic in this database of "trusted resources"

Google terms for educators - http://www.google.com/educators/p_cse.html Sweetsearch - A search site for educators and students http://www.sweetsearch.com/ Surfwax - Search for topics with keyword focusing http://lookahead.surfwax.com/index-2011.html