EDUC-6712I-4 Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

The most striking revelation I had about teaching new literacy skills as a result of this class is the one sentence that keeps coming back to haunt me. "We are preparing our students for jobs that don't exist, using technologies that haven't been invented, to solve problems we haven't begun to think about." That is such an overwhelming revelation. I always knew, in the back of my mind, that it was true; however, to see it spelled out so completely is a bit intimidating.

That revelation, along with the knowledge and experience gained in this course, will drive how I teach technology and other subjects. Knowing that there is no way to specifically prepare students for what awaits them tells me that it is even more necessary to make them “generally” prepared. Students need to be comfortable with technology to such an extent that they are able to generalize their skills onto the new skills to come. Teaching them the basics (and ethics) of researching on the internet and how to synthesize the information they find will always be a worthwhile skill. This course has also shown me how necessary it is to integrate the new literacy skills across the curriculum. These skills are not simply meant for “Computer Time.” They need to be used in all subject areas.

While it is easier said than done to say that I will integrate new literacy skills into all subjects, I know it is necessary to make that a reality. Let’s face it, we are in hard times and nobody will argue that the schools across our nation seem to be a few steps behind the rest of the country when it comes to technology. My state, California, is in the midst of a budget disaster that is very quickly turning technology in the schools into an afterthought. While it would be so easy to hide behind this reality, this class has taught me that if I do that I am failing my students. I need to be creative in discovering ways I can move these students along into the 21st Century literacy skills with what I have available to me now. I would love to say that I will be taking all kinds of Professional Development seminars, etc. to help me along with the goal of “making do with what I have,” but really, it is unrealistic. Any “professional development” will come from this Masters program and research I do on my own. I think we are in uncharted territory. To move the students along I will need to have help. This help may come from parent volunteers, student volunteers, or simply from behavior management plans that enable me to give students technology time with just a few computers. I am fortunate in that there are four of us going along this Masters journey together. We are all at the same school and can support each other and push each other to continue along this route with our students. I think it would be so beneficial to have a Master Plan along grade levels. For instance, 1st grade can introduce key concepts such as Search Engines. By third grade, we can work on evaluating the websites and introduce synthesizing the information. Fourth grade can continue where we left off. The ultimate goal would be to send our elementary students on to Middle School (grades 6-8) with the new literacy skills necessary to carry them through high school and beyond. Elementary schools should give them enough time and create enough comfort level within our students that when the new technology and skills come at them they won’t blink an eye, but instead, dive right in with the enthusiasm that we have helped to create in them.

References:


Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Jukes, I. (2007). 21st century fluency skills: Attributes of a 21st century learner. Retrieved from: http://www.committedsardine.com/handouts/twca.pdf.