Alison WebbEDCI 270

January 29, 2015Digital Literacy for Teachers

With technology being in a constant state of change, people all over the world in all sorts of professions have to fight to keep up with it. Technology advancements are important in many professions, but one of the most prominent, yet overlooked, of these important careers is teaching. It is of utmost importance for teachers to keep up with technological improvements in society and then apply them to their classroom so their students receive the best, most up to date education that they can. There are certain sets of skills teachers need in order to adapt to these changes and use them effectively in a classroom. Before teachers are able to teach how to use this new technology, they need to be digitally literate themselves. The skills teachers need to in order to be digitally literate can be broken up into the four literacies of the 21st Century. These include information literacy, tool literacy, social literacy, and instructional design literacy. Information literacy includes the ability to be efficient in collecting and evaluating information and sorting this material into what may or may not be applicable to a classroom and students. Tool literacy is all about knowledge of all the tools technology offers. From hardware to software and a plethora of computer applications, it is important for teachers to be able to select appropriate mediums for their classroom. And, even more importantly, they must know how to use this technology. Social literacy stems from sharing the knowledge obtained from tool and information literacy. With all of these new ideas and programs, teachers need to be able to communicate this knowledge to other teachers, and of course their students. Social literacy also stresses the importance of knowing how to share this information appropriately and safely. Lastly, instructional design literacy is the ability to bring the information and tools together to create an effective instructional experience for students. It includes analysis of students’ learning styles and learning objectives in order to create a beneficial classroom environment for all students. Understanding 21st Century literacies will increase any teacher’s validity because technology-based instruction creates many improvements in the classroom such as differentiation in environment, more motivated and engaged students, an increased depth of experience for each and every student, and students will get a vision of what is possible when they use what they are learning to its full potential.

Without these 21st Century skills, teachers may struggle in today’s learning environment. Although some methods of teaching that have been around forever are certainly still exceptional methods, there are some that are rather outdated. Day-after-day lectures will do very little to hold students’ attention, thus creating an environment that is severely lacking in engagement, collaboration, and creativity. Students of this generation thrive with technology, so why deprive them of it? Without the application of 21st Century skills in a classroom, teachers may see less success than they would with these skills. A classroom without these skills will struggle to build relationships and communication among students, improve their digital literacy, and keep students willing to participate. With 21st Century skills, however, classrooms flourish in these areas and not only are students educated in their basic subjects of math, writing, science, etc., but they also have a firm grip on what it means to be influential and active in a society that is

constantly changing. Students can apply every sub-category of digital literacy to not just their classroom, but in their everyday lives. These 21st Century skills help students to reach their full potential and use this new sense of motivation to do whatever they may set their minds to.

The International Society for Technology in Education created a set of standards for teachers that acted as a model to show how to implement learning experiences that improve learning for students, teachers, and the community. This will serve as a roadmap for me to develop the necessary skills to teach in the 21st Century in multiple ways. It lays out five key ideas that I need to meet in order to meet the expectation of a respectable teacher in the 21st Century. The first standard of facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity stresses the importance of how teachers should combine their knowledge of a subject combined with technology to provide a classroom experience that advances aspects of student learning including creativity and innovation. ISTE suggests I could use this in a classroom by having students explore real-world issues and solve problems using digital resources and promote student reflection and collaboration to reveal different students’ way of thinking. The second idea is to design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments. This suggests teachers develop a very technology-rich environment to allow students to fully explore their curiosities and see their own progress. The third standard is modeling digital age work and learning. This describes the importance of not only sharing this new technology with students, but parents and the community as well, and the skills that are needed to share it. The fourth idea shares how teachers can promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. This standard is extremely important because it stresses that when I am a teacher handling all of this technology, I need to keep in mind the proper legal and ethical behavior when my students or I are using it. The fifth and final standard shares how to engage in professional growth and leadership. I find this to be a crucial part of being a teacher in the 21st Century, because I do not want my students to only learn the basic school subjects, but I also want them also to grow as leaders and help them develop the skills to use this technology as a leader in their future profession. All of these standards help me understand the steps I need to take in order to have students that not only succeed in the classroom, but positively impact their communities as well.

Teachers new to all these 21st Century methods may see too much emphasis on the access and use of technology. It is a big change for many, while new teachers are more familiar with this style than anything else. The emphasis on technology is so overwhelming because it is essential in classrooms today if they want engaged, innovative students. This technology, however, does have its downfalls. Some subjects are simply much too difficult to incorporate some aspects of the 21st Century and are better off being taught in a more traditional way. High levels of math seem to be hard to steer away from paper and pencil. There are online programs for math, but it is a very concrete subject with less wiggle room for innovation and creative thinking. Aside from this handful of subjects, the use of technology is extremely beneficial as previously stated numerous times. Some see “traditional” teaching as lectures and tests, but in the near future, 21st Century teaching will be the new norm.