Tuesday, March 19, 2013

New Literacy/ Digital Literacy Project


1)
My understanding of literacy has changed since the beginning of the year. When we first started this project I understood that literacy wasn’t just about reading and writing. I had learned in previous classes I had learned about other forms of literacy such as digital literacy. After this project my knowledge of different types of literacy has deepened. I have learned about literacies that I didn’t even know existed such as geo-literacy.
Through this project I have been able to explore a literacy I didn’t even know existed. Geo-literacy has recently been added to the list of literacies so I was immediately intrigued to figure out what it was all about. When I started to explore what geo-literacy was I realized how much I could connect with it. I love looking at maps and other visuals to compare where things are and why they occur there. I realized that some students learn better when they can connect it to the world around them.  A geo- literacy learner is able to make decisions based on how it will affect the world around them. This is very different from the tradition reading and writing literacies. Geo-literacy has almost no writing involved and very little reading.
Working with Flickr has definitely facilitated my learning of digital literacies. There are so many things to learn about when it comes to digital literacy. With all the technological advances we have this literacy is constantly changing. There are so many technologies to use to facilitate learning in the classroom. In this day in age it is very important that children have experience with technology and are able to use digital literacy to learn. The things they learn will help them in the future as technology continues to improve.
2)
I believe to have effective literacy instruction one must include a variety of literacy types into a classroom.  All students learn in different ways, some may be visual learners and others could be environmental learners. It is important to make sure lessons are appealing to all different types of learners. Now that I have learned more about these new literacies I will be able to easily spot these types of learners in my future classroom. If I ever see that is struggling I can find the type of literacy that appeals to this child and use it to facilitate their learning. By furthering my knowledge of digital literacy I may also be able to help struggling students by using a platform they are familiar with such as Weebly, or Flickr. The more I know about digital literacy the easier it will be to help my students.
I have learned that literacy is not just about reading and writing. Although it could be useful to some student, not all people can learn by just reading and writing. Some people learn from visuals, maps, graphs, and connections to the real world.  By adding these other types of literacies into my classroom I can make sure that all my students are learning in a way that is comfortable for them. They will even have a better grasp of the information because they actually understand it.
For students to develop their digital literacy they must know a few things about technology. They need to know how to work a computer or similar device. Most ways of explaining information digitally involves using the internet or some sort of computer program. It is important they know how to work a computer so they can focus on the task at hand. It is important that students are given support on how to use the technology before an assignment is given. For example if you are using Flickr you could bring it up on the smart board during class and show student how to use it. You could also have them do some exploring on their own.
For students to be able to develop geo-literacy they need to have some background on how the world works. They can use this information to make informed decisions on how they can protect Earth. They also need to have good judgment.  They need to know what a good decision is and what a bad decision is. To support student’s geo literacy learning you must allow them to be put in real life situations. For example, allow them to decide whether they should recycle a glass bottle or throw it away. Allow them to go over the positives and negatives of the situation and make a decision based on that.

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