Refelctions on My Wiki Experience

Reflections on Wikis:

*Great for collaborative learning
*Allows students to take ownership of learning
*Sets the stage for cross-curricular projects
*Can be used by professionals as a "best practices" platform
*Clearly a great way to integrate technology
*Teaches students the importance of reviewing and reflecting on their work
*Can jump start an attitude of global awareness (if used on a wide scale)
*Strict guidelines and AUP's must be put in place

View my first Wiki!
Another Wiki!

Wonderful World of Wikis

I am new to Wikis and I am already learning there are major benefits to using them in the classroom. I generally searched for articles on Wikis in the classroom and a good general description can be found here.

A great quote from this article reads: "One benefit of wikis that Wales sees is the willingness of kids who use them to try to understand views that may differ from theirs. Wikis, he says, are helping young people develop “writing skills and social skills by learning about group consensus and compromise—all the virtues you need to be a reasonable and productive member of society.”

A Summary in Wordle Fashion!

www.wordle.net

An Interesting View on the "Literacy Revolution"

In the following video, Angela Lunsford discusses the "Literacy Revolution" and the myths of digital literacy. Angela is the director or writing and rhetoric at stanford University and she shares the findings of a study conducted on Stanford students. The video is a little lengthy but her discussion is very interseting. I do not believe anyone in my discussion group mentioned digital literacy as it pertains to college students. Angela discusses Twitter, Facebook, and blogging among other topics. She proposes the idea of "life writing" that bridges web tools and writing skills. *Note - the video is from YouTube so it may be prevented from showing at school.

Continuing with Digital Literacy & ICT

After a group discussion on digital literacy and ICT I can tell that we are all on the same page. We all defined digital literacy as a skill and ICT as a mechanism for developing and increasing digital literacy in our classrooms. My group members were diligent in expanding our discussion of digital literacy as a underlying factor within the NCSCOS. We all agreed that these digital literacy skills and information communication technologies span the curriculum. Kevin and Vanessa even discussed the importance of digital literacy for EC students. Vanessa stated that her students enjoy PowerPoints as a way to share their thoughts and ideas. Because I teach mostly honors students, I do not automatically think about EC students in our discussion board posts. I appreciate my group members providing insight on this topic.

Digital Literacy & ICT

So what is digital literacy and ICT? According to Educause, digital literacy "represents a person's ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment and the ability to read and interpret media. Also, ICT refers to information and communication technology. Educause also defines this as pairing learning skills and 21st century tools. The included diagram shows how digital literacy affects all curricula. I think it is important for teachers to realize that students are given opportunities to read, interpret, and reproduce digital information and data. It is undeniable that digital literacy is part of the NCSCOS as well. In my experience, students who excel in computer and technology skills also excel in higher-order thinking across the curriculum.

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to record facts, thoughts, and images that reflect my learning in EDTC 6070: Digital Literacy for the 21st Century Classroom and in other courses from ECU. Look for new posts every couple of days!