Critically Digital (Media)
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| Schanz, Thomas. (2013, November 16). Early Computer Workstation [photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2djidGX |
Many years later, I’ve found myself on the other end of the spectrum. As a teacher candidate, I will be the one watching young students’ faces light up as I introduce technology to their educational experience. Luckily I will not be constrained to the use of Pentium II desktops. Technology readily presents itself in the form of digital readers, laptops, smartphones and tablets. Although many educators argue over which device or infrastructure is best for pedagogical use in her “More Verbs, Fewer Nouns: A Mission for Mobile Learning”, Julie Evans stresses that educators ought to be just as concerned about the learning goals associated with the use of technology, rather than just the devices and their usage.
I agree that technology needs to be fully embraced in today’s elementary and high school classrooms, as it is an important aspect of Media Literacy. Students already use various forms of technology every day to complete projects and homework, and it would only serve to benefit students further by having access to tools like Google in the classroom. Today’s youth were born with technology in their hands, and it makes little sense to take it away from them.
Safety First
However, it must be said that for all its benefits, technology can have disadvantages as well. Julie Evan’s article More Verbs, Fewer Nouns glosses over one very important noun: safety. If technology is going to be readily available to students from kindergarten to Grade 12, then it is our job as educators to make sure that students are equipped with the all the skills an Internet savvy digital citizen ought to have. Safety is paramount, and we cannot ignore the fact that it is often left by the wayside when technology is involved.
Imagine you’re teaching a classroom of fourth grade students, each equipped with a smartphone. As you lead your students through an Internet search of animal adaptations, one of the children in your class (we’ll call him Bobby) notices an ad at the bottom of a webpage. He can’t resist clicking “Find out what animal you most relate to!” and excitedly answers a quick online questionnaire. To Bobby, the questions seem harmless enough, and he quickly reveals his age, favourite pet, favourite food … and his email and corresponding password. Within minutes, half the students in your class are receiving spam emails from Bobby’s account, and several have inappropriate pop up ads dominating their screens. A seemingly innocent class Google expedition has turned into mayhem! How can we, as teachers, prevent this?
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| B, Tom. (2010, January 2016). How A Botnet Works [illustration, modified]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dlLgIB |
Critically Thinking Digital Citizens
Teachers must first educate their students on Digital Citizenship. Students need to be taught the skills needed to avoid falling victim to spam, falsified information, phishing scams, and other forms of online predatory behaviour. Luckily, many pedagogical blogs have spoken out about the issue of online safety and offer various tips for helping students navigate through the treacheries of the Internet.
Take the blog langwitches, for example as it points out various means for illustrating social media literacy to students. In one particular blog post titled, Don’t Believe Everything You See Online, author Silvia Tolisano urges educators to persuade students to employ the use of critical thinking when searching for information on platforms such as Google, Yahoo Search, etc. The Ontario Curriculum outlines the need for students to “develop skills required to understand, create, and critically interpret media texts” in its Media Strand (page 14). Don’t Believe Everything You See Online address the understanding and critical interpretation of online web sources. As the Ontario Curriculum notes, “information literacy” is essential for students, particularly with respect to information found on multimedia platforms.
One suggestion offered by the blog is for teachers to deliberately lead classes to websites peppered with false information. By guiding the class through the exploration of an unreliable website, students will learn what to look out for when checking a website’s credibility online. The blog also suggests watching YouTube or commercials online as a class, and then leading a class reflection on these videos, in order to foster critical thinking. The blog post specifically points to Dove's Evolution commercial, in order to highlight the ways in which the media easily manipulates images found online and on television, and how students must be critical of the images and videos they see online.
I would like to lead a class through a spoof website, and seeing how quickly the students are able to discern fact from fiction. I personally favour a spoof website called The Dog Island and have even created a short YouTube video (see below) concerning the false-fact website that I think would be helpful in illustrating concepts of digital reliability and trust to young students.
For Every Threat The Internet Poses, It Also Offers A Little Help
Luckily, the internet is full of handy resources that teachers can use to enhance Media Literacy in the classroom. Two helpful websites I discovered are Stay On The Path: Canada's Centre for Digital & Media Literacy and Safe Kids. Stay On The Path is a Media Smarts website that bookmarks links to lesson plans, e-tutorials and tip-sheets that teachers can use to ensure that all aspects of Media Literacy are covered in the classroom. The e-tutorials are particularly helpful, for showing educators how to become familiar with Applications and websites that are popular with youth, so that expertly address issues that students may face when using these platforms online. Safe Kids focuses primarily on Digital Citizenship, online safety and civility. It provides useful tools that teachers can direct students to, such as an Online Safety Quiz that students can take to see if they are employing critical thinking and caution online.
Just as we teach literacy in terms of writing and reading, we must also teach literacy in terms of digital information. Once students master information literacy, they will be able to distinguish reliable Internet sources from harmful ones. When our students are given the tools to be smart and safe digital citizens, bringing technology into the classroom can only enhance their natural learning experience.
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| Altmann, Gerd. (2016, January). Tablet Online [illustration + photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2cUrKng |
Beyond The Page (Reading)
When I was a student in elementary school, PBS's cartoon Arthur was a widespread favourite amongst kids in my age group. It was not uncommon to hear children singing "having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card!" a la their favourite anthropomorphized aardvark during time spend in the school's reading centre.
It's been many years since I was a student in an elementary school classroom, but Arthur is still a fairly popular show for children ages 6 to 12. The character still manages to instill a love of books and reading in modern audiences; a feat that is by no means insignificant in today’s society. As the internet, television, mobile apps and gaming consoles all compete for the attention of modern children, it is increasingly challenging for the humble book to find its way into a child’s hands. Yet reading is one of the most important and beneficial activities for a child to master. Teachers are responsible for embedding this love of literature into students, because “the love of reading is among the most valuable resources students can take with them into adult life”, as noted by the Ontario Curriculum for Language Arts (see page 10). Yet in order to be successful with this challenging task, teachers must learn to utilize every tool they can.
Make Reading A Social Event
Children, by their very nature, are social creatures. One way teachers can encourage students to read and explore literature is by inviting them to do this together in groups. In order to socialize the reading process, Literature Circles can be introduced to the classroom. The website Teach Learn Lead has a variety of different resources for teachers, but one in particular focuses on said Literature Circles, in which students read the texts together and then collaborate in teacher facilitated or peer-led discussions about said text. The benefit of introducing these Literature Circles is that it strengthens core aspects of Language outlined in the Ontario Curriculum.
The Reading portion of the Ontario Curriculum states that students will "read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning" (page 10). It also states that students will learn to "recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning" (page 10). In a Literacy Circle, students will be introduced to different forms of text, including novels, online texts, newspaper articles, etc. While practicing collaborative learning and social skills, students will also develop their oral literacy. This aids students in clarifying their own ideas about a text, and then building on those ideas and constructing new meaning after listening to their peers' interpretation. Students are often each other’s greatest aids in terms of making sense of challenging texts and concepts.
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| TheUnquietLibrary. (2010, April 3). Literature Circle Meeting [photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2frt6IS |
Beyond the Classroom
Literature Circles need not be confined to the classroom. Teachers can easily set up online forums where students can post about literature that they are reading together and share ideas via the internet. In fact, online Literature Circles, and blended learning techniques in general, are the future of Literacy in education. In Beyond the Sticky Note and Venn Diagram: Comprehension Strategies for 21st Century Schools, Styslinger, Walker and Lenker argue that modern teachers must employ blended learning techniques when covering the strand of Reading in the classroom. The online frontier must be utilized by students in their meaning-making process. Reading comprehension can be supported through various websites and applications found online. Summarization, visualization, and questioning can be accomplished through technology in a way that is not only engaging to students, but also promotes collaborative learning as well. This kind of outside-the-box approach to literacy opens up hundreds of possibilities for blended learning in the classroom. For example, students can use newspaper generators such as Fodey to restrict their summary of a text to a short 65 words. This will help students to summarize what they have read in a concise manner that focuses on only the important components of a text. Additionally, students can learn to visualize their reading, by using Comic Book apps like Make Belief Comix, which will help them create graphic interpretations and summaries of their readings.
Technological aids for reading comprehension can also be used to support students who are struggling with literacy due to various learning disabilities. For example, the website Rewordify allows students to import a text with which they are having difficulty. Rewordify's software locates words in the imported text that are difficult to understand or language that is likely to present problems at the student's reading level. Rewordify then changes difficult vocabulary into simpler language that students will be able to understand. Students can choose from different reading levels so that text can be translated to a simple format that is best suited to their level. Text-to-speech functionality is also offered so that students can hear the original text and the simplified version, for further clarification. This kind of tool would be great for students who have dyslexia, ESL challenges, or for students who wish to read texts that are written above their reading level.
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| Natalie Cowie. (2014, March 11). Rewordify Example [screenshot]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2eHqmG7 |
Reading is a strand of the curriculum where the use of technology can shine. Teachers should not hesitate to introduce online literacy to the classroom; pedagogical horizons must be expanded, both in terms of methodology and in terms of where learning takes place! Discussion of a text does not have to be limited to within the classroom. Simple adjustments to classroom learning, like adding Google Docs as a platform for discussion of a novel, can be a great way for teachers to introduce blended learning that is accessible and free for all students to use.
The more tools we give to students to help express their comprehension of a text, the more students will fall in love with reading itself. Modern teachers must not shy away from using technology to complement literacy. The classroom and the novel are no longer the limits of literacy and reading, and as teachers, we must be ready to lead students into these new frontiers.
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| semslibrarylady. (2014, August 17). Kids Reading Harry Potter Books [photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2eHj4lL |
Get It Write (Writing)
As a young girl, I kept a diary and wrote my own stories in my spare time, hoping to take after the authors that I admired so much. One of my favourite activities in elementary school was "bell work", a quick morning activity, which often involved creative writing, that was designed to focus students at the start of the school day. Bell work usually involved a journaling activity, and I thoroughly enjoyed summarizing the events that I had already chronicled in my personal diary at home. However, many of my school mates despised their morning journals. "Not knowing what to write about" was often cited as a common woe.
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| SEO. (2012, June 27). Stop The Writers Block [photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2fLCVPe |
Writing can seem like a daunting task, especially to those who are uninitiated with its processes. The dreaded "Writer's Block" can occur even before a student considers his or herself a writer! When teachers ask their students to write in a daily journal, students can feel a sense of panic when coming to terms with their creative carte blanche. One of the first steps teachers must take in the Language Arts is to introduce students to writing in a way that fosters their creative control, rather than overwhelms them with it.
Inspire Creativity
Asking students to write about their day can often leave students feel uninspired and unsure of what to focus on in their creative writing. One way teachers can combat this early manifestation of Writer's Block is by guiding the topic writing in student's journals or creative pieces. Teachers can provide writing prompts that narrow the focus of writing. Many resources are available to help teachers select original, fun and imaginative writing prompts. The blog known as "The Teachy Teacher" provides one such way of guiding the writing process, by promoting the Emoji Dice Game. In order to play the game, a teacher would cover jumbo die in emoji stickers, and have students roll the emoji dice to determine the setting, characters, theme, or objects of found in their writing. For instance, if students rolled a cactus and a guitar emoji, they would have to ensure that their writing includes a desert setting and said musical instrument. Students can have fun exploring original combinations of emoji subjects, while determining topics that focus their creative writing.
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| Beth Van. (2016 June 6). Emoji Dice [photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2g582sA |
Scaffold First
Literacy and Writing Instruction Professors, Sylvia Read, Melanie Landon-Hayes and Alicia Martin-Rivas promote the IMSCI method of scaffolded writing in their article, Gradually Releasing Responsibility to Students Writing Persuasive Texts. When teachers instruct students in terms of persuasive writing, the gradual release of responsibility has been proven to benefit younger students, such as those in grade 5 and under, who are not fully acquainted with the writing process.
IMSCI refers to 5 steps of scaffolding. The I represents immersing students into a topic of inquiry. M introduces modelling in the form of a concept map, or other prewriting strategies. S describes shared writing, as teachers can first model their own monologue and invite the students to share their input. C and I refer to collaboration and independent work, as students can use either strategy to produce a similar piece of persuasive writing.
The Use of IMSCI
Introducing the IMSCI model of scaffolding to students' literacy could provide several benefits to students who are first finding their grasp on creative writing. For example, the inquiry stage can not only help young students decide on a topic for a persuasive piece, but it can also help to reinforce decoding abilities, as features of the text are looked at in depth with a teacher (such as tone, genre, structure etc). Additionally, asking students to write a persuasive essay using C (collaboration), allows them the freedom to experiment with their writing, while still maintaining an element of the scaffolding via their peer writer (which also increases confidence!). Because students must read a source first before they can write a persuasive text, their understanding of said text will influence their argument. In this way, IMSCI simultaneously enhances reading and writing skills.Literacy and Writing Instruction Professors, Sylvia Read, Melanie Landon-Hayes and Alicia Martin-Rivas promote the IMSCI method of scaffolded writing in their article, Gradually Releasing Responsibility to Students Writing Persuasive Texts. When teachers instruct students in terms of persuasive writing, the gradual release of responsibility has been proven to benefit younger students, such as those in grade 5 and under, who are not fully acquainted with the writing process.
IMSCI refers to 5 steps of scaffolding. The I represents immersing students into a topic of inquiry. M introduces modelling in the form of a concept map, or other prewriting strategies. S describes shared writing, as teachers can first model their own monologue and invite the students to share their input. C and I refer to collaboration and independent work, as students can use either strategy to produce a similar piece of persuasive writing.
The Use of IMSCI
Not So Fast...
Once students have produced a piece of writing, they must learn to edit and proofread. Students often wish to skip this step, in a bid to label their work as complete, but these final stages can not be overlooked. Luckily, Pinterest is a bountiful site of resources that can help teachers to illustrate the importance of each step of the writing process. In fact, literally using illustrated found through Pinterest pins can be quite helpful! Take for example Editing VS Proofreading: Heavy-Weight Fight.
This pin links to an infographic image that explains to students the advantages of editing and proofreading pieces of writing, by likening the these two steps to a boxing match, making the revision process of writing fun and accessible to students. By dividing the steps of editing and proofreading into "rounds", the infographic pin illustrates the important steps and advantages that each aspect of revision features. Content, clarity, tone, mechanical mistakes (such as spelling and grammar), and sentence structure are all explained clearly to students, emphasizing what conventions to look for when revising their writing.
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| Scribendi. (2015 January). Editing VS Proofreading [infographic digital image]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2fpBM1q |
This pin links to an infographic image that explains to students the advantages of editing and proofreading pieces of writing, by likening the these two steps to a boxing match, making the revision process of writing fun and accessible to students. By dividing the steps of editing and proofreading into "rounds", the infographic pin illustrates the important steps and advantages that each aspect of revision features. Content, clarity, tone, mechanical mistakes (such as spelling and grammar), and sentence structure are all explained clearly to students, emphasizing what conventions to look for when revising their writing.
Revision Is Just As Important as Writing!
These are all essential principles of teaching writing, as outlined in the Ontario Curriculum. The Curriculum's Writing Strand states that students will "draft and revise their writing" as well as learn to "use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively" (page 12), all of which Editing VS Proofreading: Heavy-Weight Fight addresses. The illustrative aspect of the infographic pin helps students to clearly visualize these important steps and incorporate them into their revision process.
Printing out or creating infographic images to hang as posters in a classroom would be extremely beneficial for budding writers, especially if they are visual learners. Having a visual representation of editing and proofreading, along with a description of the important steps in these processes will help students to know what to look for when perfecting their writing. The poster could even function as a checklist for students, reminding them to look for common writing mistakes, such as spelling errors, run-on sentences, incorrect verb tenses, etc.
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| USDA Blog. (2015, October 16). Two Kids Writing On Paper [photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2f7x59v |
All Write Now
Students will find themselves eager to express their thoughts and feelings through writing, whether it be in a journal, persuasive writing piece, or an essay, as long as they are given adequate support while they first navigate the waters of creative writing. If teachers provide necessary scaffolding, engaging writing prompts and promote the importance of all steps of the writing process, students will have a strong foundation on which their love of writing will grow.
Speak Up! (Oral Communication)
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| MPG. (2016, April 3). How To Master Public Speaking [infographic, edited]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2fqxgRs |
As a child, I was almost painfully shy. Though I was sociable, I often preferred silent reading over classroom chit-chat, hated being the centre of attention, and remained ever soft-spoken. Though I knew the answers, I hardly ever chose to raise my hand in class. While other children clamoured for a chance to volunteer during class, I hung back quietly. I was the token quiet girl in a boisterous class of extroverts.
However, a curious thing happened whenever the annual Public Speaking season reared its head at my elementary school. The majority of my extroverted classmates shied away from the podium, suddenly viewing speaking out as an exceptionally tasking activity. I, on the other hand, excelled in Public Speaking. Each year, to the astonishment of many, I was chosen to represent my school in regional and city-wide Public Speaking championships. In grades 5 and 7, I won silver medals in the finals. Classmates and teachers alike often commented on the irony of the quiet girl becoming the school's Speech Queen.
Despite everyone else's surprise, I knew that my unlikely success as a public speaker stemmed from nothing more than a personal belief that Oral Communication was no different than any other skill learned in school. Presenting a speech was just like learning to write or solve a mathematical equation; it was something that could be improved upon with practice and an open mind. Later, I would realize that I had adopted a "Growth Mindset" which allowed me to flourish in areas that may have intimidated me otherwise.
Practice Makes Perfect
Introducing students to podcasts is a great way for students to practice their oral communication skills without the additional strain of anxiety that a live performance often entails. Teachers may wish to ask students to create a podcast of their own, similar to educational podcasts like Math Mutation. For example, students could record short auditory clips that feature descriptions of how an area of mathematics (such as adding, subtracting, geometry, etc) applies to their own life.
Creating such educational podcasts will address the aspect of the Ontario Curriculum that states that students must learn to "use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes" (page 9). By creating their own podcasts, students will practice effective oral communication skills and thus be able to "reflect and identify their strengths as listeners and speakers" (page 10).
Of course, podcasting can extend beyond that of Math Mutation or book reports, and branch into a wide variety of subjects. Students could be asked to create podcasts that verbally explain any topic through the use of anecdotes and practical applications. Once students are comfortable broadcasting their voice via podcast, teachers can encourage students to take their verbal communication a step further and add a video element to go along with their audio component. Students can create their own TED Talks as an alternative to presenting in front of a class. Podcasts and TED Talks give students a chance get comfortable conveying information through speech. They allow students to hone in on their ability to orally communicate information and make others listen.
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| Sarja, Sarah. (2012, July 10). Students Podcasting [photograph]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2gABJhL |
Up For Debate
Once students feel comfortable expressing ideas and information orally, they need to practice doing so in front of an audience. Luckily, audiences need not come in the form of crowded gymnasiums. Students can practice their live oral communication skills in small groups or in front of their classmates.
Dee Burek and Carol Losos' Debate: Where Speaking and Listening Come First promotes the use of classroom debates as a tool for improving the live Oral Communication skills of middle-school aged students. Burek and Losos believe that debates can "easily be adapted across the curriculum", and that debates leads to "student-centred learning and the development of critical thinking skills". Using debate in the classroom will result in students who are comfortable speaking publicly, and who can communicate complex ideas via argumentation.
Burek and Losos recommend that teachers break classroom debates into two steps. Lesson One is Argumentation: Assertion, Reasoning and Evidence. Students select a topic of debate and choose sides. Students are asked to provide reasoning for their chosen side of the debate, and to back up with reasoning with factual evidence.
Lesson Two is Refutation: Answering the Argument. Here, students learn to voice respectful disagreement with conflicting points of view. When disagreeing with a fellow debater, students must restate the point they are refuting, and then state a counter-agreement, why they disagree, and explain the implications of their argument. Students are also asked to take notes during these debates.
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| Commin, Jane. (2012, February 27). Classroom Debate [drawing]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2gNz736 |
By the end of the lessons, students will be able to "listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes"; a critical skill listed in the Ontario Language Curriculum's Oral Communication expectations (page 9). Public speaking skills, along with listening skills, organization of written and verbal facts, and persuasive writing techniques are among the many aspects addressed by debate. Debating can be beneficial to both extroverted and introverted students, as extroverts can improve their listening skills, and introverts can work on their comfortability in terms of public speaking. Strong work ethic, team-working and analytical ability are strengthened when students become familiar with proper debate technique. But best of all, verbal communication skills are enhanced, as students practice speech and refutation in front of their peers, in a public setting.
Give Every Student A Voice
Palmer suggests providing all students in a classroom with a poker chip that they must spend by the end of the school day. The chip can only be spent when students raise their hand to share an answer or idea aloud with the class. The spending of poker chips normalizes the event of an introverted student speaking aloud, as it necessitates that all students will speak at some point during the day. The Poker Chip Discussion provides extra support for students who struggle to verbally contribute to the classroom.
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| Palmer, Erik. (2015, November) Poker Chip Discussion [illustration]. Retrieved from http://pvlegs.com |
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