Some Thoughts on Digital Literacy:
•Actual reading skills like decoding remain the same and are not often the issues when using the internet.
•Struggling readers will however have more issues due to the level of difficulty of the text, attention monitoring and the sheer overwhelming amount of information.
•Reading is not naturally occurring like walking or talking it has to be learned. The brain creates circuits and connections for reading that have to be learned.
•Students must construct meaning from what they read but will need some scaffolding strategies along the way.
•Students need to practice these strategies in order to be proficient
•Digital Literacy is a must today in order to be a literate adult.
•Advantages of using digital resources are huge! Level of motivation and understanding is high when using digital text, jobs of the future will require our students to be digital literate, the amount of resources is endless, resource currency beats out books (). Get expert resources from the expert no matter where they are. Access to information 24/7.
• Ability to create, produce and respond is essential to future communications
Databases—set up classes on databases. Advantages over “googling”:
•Geared toward research
•Often display reading level or lexile level
•Limited advertising
•Limited distractions
•Organized for easy navigation
•Often data bases that have been purchases have been looked at by educators—reading level documented and age appropriate
Internet Research—set up a series of classes on:
Activate prior knowledge—see what students know—use a Quick Write on researching vocabulary.
Class on basics of searching (vocabulary)—Browser, Search Engine, Website, Webpage, URL, Domain Name, Domain Extensions
Website Class—Home page, navigation, links, using Text Structure (bold terms, highlighted terms, headings, subheadings—compare to same strategies when reading print. Compare Skimming and Scanning strategies. Show how to use “Find” feature.
Use Think-Aloud Approach/Self Talk—model your approach
Internet Results List—Use STOP, THINK, PREDICT
•Search Words and Key Words—spend time using different synonyms for search words
•What information contain in a “Results List”
•Read information under one result, think about what it is telling you, predict if you will be able to use it
•How many results are there? Can this be narrowed through Boolean Operators, changing keywords, search by site:--limiting your domain extensions
Website Evaluation Class—accuracy, reliability, validity, objectivity
•Use bogus sites for students to evaluate
•Use the Stop, Think and Predict strategy
•Lots of hands on experience
•Don’t teach in isolation—apply to some actual research
Purposeful Reading—what can we do to help students?
•Purpose for research is it clear, have student generate Essential Question, does each article Connect to essential questions
•Note taking strategies—discourage copy and paste or printing
•Use Graphic Organizers or Outlines for note taking—teach how to use a few different kinds
•Synthesize without copying (have a class on plagiarism)
•Pre-read Strategies¬—look at the big picture of the website—can I read and understand this site after using scanning, skimming etc.
•Post-read Strategies—can I Summarize what I just read? Do summarizing activities.
Research Topic—we can’t send students blindly into uncharted waters
•Students need some Background Information before researching a new topic. An introductory class on vocabulary or key concepts
•Have student form essential question and understand purpose of research (not just to write a paper—what they will be learning and applying)
•Can use strategies like OPIN, Magic Squares, Word Sorts, List-Group-Label, Concept Circles etc. prior to research
Processing Skills—construction of meaning
•Attention Monitoring—monitoring their own ability to not be drawn away from purpose of researching by: animations, pop-ups, advertising, hypertext links
•Decision Making Skills
•Inferences
•Executive Skills¬—judgments, decision making etc.
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