To be successful beyond the walls of the classroom, today's students must be exposed to traditional literacy practices meshed with new literacies of the 21st-century. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), 21st century readers and writers need to:
- Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
- Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
- Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
- Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
- Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts
- Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments
So...we invest in a new pair of running shoes and acknowledge that using technology to support literacy is a wise first step--crucial in preparing students to be college and career-ready.
The benefits of students publishing on-line are becoming increasingly more evident--even in the face of potential issues and concerns. Teaching with digital tools can spur student engagement and creativity and can, perhaps most notably, expand and provide authentic audiences for even our youngest writers. The purpose for writing, then, becomes not just to "publish" but to connect and even collaborate with others. Because of the inherent motivational benefits, students typically devote more time and effort and produce projects of higher quality than when they are only traditionally engaged.
Sure...around the bend there are cramps to be worked through, but as educators we must keep our eyes on the prize and press on.
In the elementary classroom, e-mail correspondence and blogging are just two ways that new 21st-century skills and literacies can be integrated in age-appropriate ways. Blogging, in particular, broadens the audience for student writing and thinking and provides a space for collaboration and problem solving. Student bloggers are able to share and collaborate with others and are challenged with higher order thinking skills like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Teachers, likewise, benefit from the collaboration that blogging offers.
So...the race has just begun--(and it isn't a sprint!!) Looming ahead are twists and turns we can't foresee. Our challenge is to get UP and get moving--before we are deemed ineffective and get left behind!
Being a recreational runner, I love how you compared using technology to teach literacy with running a race. I think it is also important to mention that runners must train in order to be successful during races. We need to remember as educators to not get overwhelmed with the big picture - perhaps the half marathon looming over us. If we have to start small integrating technology, like a new runner might start with running a mile, that is okay! The point is to be motivated to get started and continuously build up to what you need/want to be doing. Just as a runner needs reliable running shoes, appropriate clothing, and a cheerleader, teachers need teacher collaboration and technological training and support to achieve their goals.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about being left behind if we don't hop on board with the technology that we are given. Students are interested in technology and it seems like if we can find something that students are interested in and motivated toward, we should be on that bandwagon and technology sure is it.
ReplyDeleteYou have some great ideas on how to get technology into a classroom. Thanks!
ECV
I coach track so I could relate to your running blog :). It takes a lot of conditioning to be a runner, and it takes conditioning to be a good teacher. Even if you are starting off on a treadmill, you are still starting. For teachers afraid of technology, even one small step at a time will make a difference in the classroom and make learning so much more interesting!
ReplyDeleteWe do need to make sure our students are college and career ready. Linking traditional skills and technology skills is essential. Our students are digital natives, but they need guidance in using technology to further their knowledge and skills. This made me think of a funny thing that happened to my sixth grade daughter this year. She was typing a story that she had written for writing class. It was taking a long time so my husband went to check on her. She said "It would go a lot faster if I didn't have to double space" My husband asked why that would take so much longer. She said "Well, if I didn't have to put two spaces after every word, it wouldn't take so long!" We got a good laugh out of it and shared it with her teacher as well. She didn't understand that double spacing meant lines! So, our students know a lot about technology, often more than we do, but we have a lot to teach them as well. :-)
ReplyDelete"Because of the inherent motivational benefits, students typically devote more time and effort and produce projects of higher quality than when they are only traditionally engaged."
ReplyDeleteCouldn’t have said it better! I know as a student I would have been more motivated with blogging then with typing a paper on a book. Lets face it, when I did get to college, I was more interested in Facebook and a little blog with old high school friends then I was with my homework! :) With that being said however, I go on to your next comment:
Teaching with digital tools can spur student engagement and creativity and can, perhaps most notably, expand and provide authentic audiences for even our youngest writers.
I again agree with this and love how you worded it. The only thing that I still can’t figure out myself is how to engage my little kindergarteners in this and make it meaningful to their writing without worrying about the "logistics" of using the internet, keyboard, or the computer in general.
Writing blog entries and commenting on other blogs are authentic ways to address critical thinking skills that the Common Core asks us to do. Of course, with young children we would want to use closed blog environments, such as EduBlog. Children are very motivated when they believe their work will be read by a wide audience that includes their peers, parents, and others.
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