Like many of my fellow classmates, for
my READ 411 class I was asked to find an article that focused on the
integration of technology within the Language Arts classroom. After some browsing, I came across the
article “Overcoming Digital Literacy Challenges in the High School English
Classroom.” The article introduces the
benefits of incorporating such technologies as Wiki Spaces and Google Apps
within the classroom setting by focusing on the importance of embracing digital
literacy. According to the article,
“literacy ‘no longer consists solely of interaction with the one-dimensional
written page’…because society is moving in a technologically driven direction”
(St. John and Von Slomski 21).
With the increasing technological demand in society, younger generations
of students are not only encouraged but expected to be digitally literate. The article proposes two options, the Wiki
Spaces and Google Apps, in order to help “create pedagogy around digital
literacy” (St. John and Von Slomski 22).
The Wiki Spaces are designed to
appeal to students who are not engaged in school work on a regular basis. It grants the students the opportunity to express
themselves freely and gives them a sense of responsibility for their work because
they know they will be evaluated by their peers and teacher. Furthermore, the Wiki Spaces encourage
collaborative learning and writing as each student is expected to substantially
contribute to the online discussion.
Similarly, the Google Apps are
introduced as a way of enhancing the peer-editing process. According to the article, Google Apps is
beneficial for both the student and the teacher because it improves
assessment. With these particular
programs, students will be able to share their documents with their teachers as
well as their classmates. In addition,
the apps allow the teachers to comment directly on the documents, thus giving
the students the opportunity to improve and revise their work.
Although both options provide great
methods for incorporating technology within the classroom setting, as future
educators it is important to keep in mind the challenges we may also experience
with regard to digital literacy. One
challenge the article brings up is the fact that “digital literacy standards
are not mandatory or standardized in many school systems” (St. John and Von Slomski 24).
As future teachers, we need to find alternatives that will not only
benefit our students but also cater to this digital literacy phenomenon.
References:
The article is named “Overcoming Digital Literacy Challenges in the High School English Classroom.” I wonder what particular challenges the authors chose to address. The solutions seem viable, but which needs validate them? It seems as though “digital literacy” takes on a vague definition: to use digital technology. WikiSpaces seems like an interesting application. On its homepage, it says “Social Writing for Education.” I really love that: social writing, the idea that writing is a collaborative effort instead of an individual endeavor. Perhaps we can integrate reading into this? For example, in Dr. Nicosia's class, we were discussing the activity of passing a book around to students and having each of them annotate as they read. This could absolutely be achieved on WikiSpaces! A teacher could post an article online, and each student could underline and directly comment on the text. This, I am assuming, would give students visual, concrete evidence of their peers' cognitive processes. They would see that different students mark up different passages in their reading, and if a teacher asks the students to examine their peers' comments critically, it could be a wonderful exercise in perspective and interpretation.
ReplyDeleteI think you make valid points in your comment. With regard to the definition of digital literacy, the article goes on to specify that it is “the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers” (St. John and Von Slomski 21). The only part of the definition that I would argue is that digital literacy is not just limited to texts presented on a computer. There are other forms of technology that foster digital literacy. As for the challenges presented in the article, the authors chose to focus on the limitation of hardware supplies within the classroom, particularly when full-class computer labs are unavailable. Overall, I agree with you that WikiSpaces are an interesting and effective way of incorporating collaborative work within the context of writing.
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