Blog Post 2 - How New Literacies are Relevant to Us

 

    The first reading that I decided to reflect upon was “Digital Literacy” by Jenifer Vanek. I found the section about the tips for teaching digital literacy in your classroom to be the most interesting and informative for me. For instance, prior to implementing technology into your classroom, the students need to have a foundation built of their knowledge on how to properly use the technology, the different components of the technology, as well as the vocabulary present when using technology such as words like ‘backspace, shift’ or other keyboard keys that the students are going to have to learn in order to use the technology to enhance their learning. As someone that is in the field of early childhood education, we see the use of computers in the classroom drastically increasing, so teaching the students in grades K-5^th how to properly use the computers will only help them later in life when they enter high school and college, the article states that “Teachers should use these technologies in their instructional programming so that learners can become comfortable with them and to support learners’ transition to college and careers” (Vanek, 2010), this statement implies that technology is just going to continue to become more and more relevant in the students'  lives as they grow up so they might as well learn these skills early on to benefit them academically in the present time but also set them up for success later in the future.

              The second reading that I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on was “Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice” made available by the International Literacy Association in 2018. The portion named ‘recognizing limitations and improving classroom practices’  goes through some of the aspects of learning that digital resources cannot achieve and one of those points was “Make school more interesting, engaging, or exciting for students simply by having wireless access or digital screens delivering curriculum”, although I do agree that technology should not be the only way that curriculum is presented to students, as I believe that hands on learning is very effective, but by adding technology into the classroom I have seen firsthand how excited the students get when they have the opportunity to use the computers. For example, when I was student teaching in a 3^rd grade classroom, the incorporation of the computers made the students excited to learn and expand their reading and math skills using programs such as i-ready. To make my statement clear, I think that the technology should be used in addition to hands on learning practices, the technology is there to help enhance the students' skills after they have learned the topic but can also help to make learning fun at the same time.

Improving digital practices for literacy, learning, and Justice. (n.d.). https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-improving-digital-practices-literacy-learning-justice.pdf

Vanek, J. (n.d.). Digital Literacy. https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/TSTMDigitalLiteracyBrief-508.pdf

Blog 1

 

New Media and new literacy practices being implemented into the classroom is something that is becoming more and more common. As an educator, the advancement of technology can be very beneficial for instances of creating engaging lessons that will grasp the attention of the students. In the field of education, a majority of our day is spent doing literacy in one form or another, because literacy is tied into all other subjects, so it is an important concept to practice. Also, as an educator we are in constant communication with parents, this is a somewhat newer ordeal because I remember when I was in elementary school there was not a constant report being sent home but nowadays teachers are required to give an update on practically every detail, which can become an overwhelming task for a teacher to do especially when they have so many other things on their plates. Aside from how new media is relevant in my professional life, it is also part of my personal life as well. Something that stands out to me is the increase in popularity of social media, many people my age and I spend a lot of time using different social media platforms, at times probably too much time, but nonetheless it is a recurring representation of new media and new literacy implementations within my personal life. A statement that stood out to me is that “Facing the dramatic change in economy, educators argue that the conventional literacy education may not be able to fully prepare students for the challenges in the modern working and social life” (Sang, 2017)

              Literacy however is narrowly defined as the ability to read or write in English, so this poses a question in my mind, what about the students whose first language is not English? During my student teaching placements, I have been in a classroom where students' first language is Spanish, so my mentor teacher would be sure to have materials in her classroom available for the students to feel included. She made sure to have books in both Spanish and English available so that the students had the opportunity to expand their reading skills such as comprehension because as the educator it is your job to cater to the students’ needs for academic success. I have a firm belief that there should be diverse literature in the classroom so that all students feel accepted and included in the curriculum because I have witnessed firsthand the frustration that students feel when they are unable to read and understand the material, so by having reading material readily available in their language would benefit the student not only academically but also emotionally because they will feel seen.

 

Sang, Y. (2017). New literacies and multiliteracies. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1139059.pdf