Friday, August 7, 2015

The Smartboard

I have recently been exposed to the Smartboard. It is now on my wish list. How much fun would this be? Having interactive possibilities in a classroom situation. Almost makes me want to start kindergarten again. But actually the uses are unlimited, for library story times, presenting technology classes, and even business presentations.

The Digital World, Seniors & Libraries

 
This video talks about libraries helping seniors in the digital world. Libraries are important to people of all ages!
 
 

Libraries are Important to People

Take a look at this video that talks about the importance of libraries in peoples lives.

Learning Opportunities




The following paragraph taken from a course, Rethinking Digital Literacy, hit home with me. I think  it is very important that classes should be taught hands-on if at all possible. People can learn from what we tell them, and from what we show them, but when they can put it into practice right away it helps them retain what they are being taught.



"Lest we find ourselves buried under jargon, let’s keep our eyes on the prize: our learning opportunities should foster learner engagement through participation rather than through passive absorption of material through lectures, and those opportunities should be learner-centric (focusing on what learners need rather than emphasizing solely what instructors believe the learners need) and collaborative."

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Digital Natives: Myth or Fact?

Are you a digital native or a digital immigrant? This article "Digital Natives: Myth or Fact?" by Nathan Bierma may help you determine who you are.



Still More about Futurelab

Digital Literacy: Secondary
What can we do to support digital literacy among our teens?

More about Futurelab

Digital Literacy: Primary
This video shows the students being very creative with their learning and presentation.

Rethinking Ownership of Our Learning

Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum: A Futurelab Handbook may help you see what digital literacy can mean at various stages of our lives.
  • Introduction pp. 2-4
  • Why is digital literacy important? pp.6-17
  • Digital Literacy in Practice pp. 18-57
  • Summary p. 59

Who Owns the Learning?


What this man guided his students to do is amazing. His encouragement to his students made a difference in many lives. Think about the lives of people in your own community that your teaching or guidance might impact. You too can make a difference by letting others own the learning.

ETMOOC Lip Dub


Technology can be a hoot. Check this video out just for fun!

Digital Literacy: Using Cloud-based Technology in the Classroom


We don't need to master every tool we encounter.
One of the many ways we can further develop our digital literacy is to experiment with those tools that most appeal to us and that appear to most effectively meet our needs. As we continue working toward a flexible, broad-based definition of digital literacy by exploring various aspects of the topic, it’s well worth considering how specific we want and need to be in terms of explicitly including or excluding specific tools and approaches from our definition.

Crap-Detection Sites

“Factcheck.org”
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
http://www.factcheck.org/about/our-mission/
 
“Flackcheck.org”
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
http://www.flackcheck.org/about/
 
“OpenSecrets.org”
Center for Responsive Politics
http://www.opensecrets.org/about/
 
“Hoax-Slayer.com”
Owned and operated by Brett and Deborah Christensen
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/about.shtml
 
“Politifact.com”
A division of the Tampa Bay Times
http://www.politifact.com/
 

Net Smart--Anne Hill Interviews Howard Rheingold

 
 
Rheingold encourages us to be skeptical about information sources. He also tells us to assume the best when we are interacting with others in digital environments. Don't assume comments are intentionally bad and avoid flamewars which are usually misunderstandings rather than intended attacks.

Recognizing the Good and the Bad

Howard Rheingold wrote an article called "Crap Detection 101." This article can help us learn to decipher the good from the bad. Many people have been fooled by unreliable information sources. Mr. Rheingold helps us find reliable sources with numerous resources to add to your toolbox.

21st Century Skills - Building Digital Literacy

This video shows what some schools are doing to enhance digital literacy for their students.

The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies

Created by Doug Belshaw
 
Doug also wrote a 225 page thesis on "What is 'digital literacy'?" If you don't want to read the whole thing you might want to concentrate on three sections:
  • pp.13-17 of the introduction
  • pp. 220-224 of the conclusion
  • pp. 169-199--Chapter8: "What are (digital) literacies?"


Another Definition of Digital Literacy

After asking a few of our Tech people what they thought digital literacy was, I came up with a second definition.
"Digital Literacy is gaining knowledge in a wide range of varied electronic technologies, encompassing the many different levels of learning one needs to use and adapt technology into their own life."
If someone wants to learn how to use email and he succeeds, he has become digitally literate in that area. That does not mean he knows everything there is to know about it, but he knows enough to use it and work on getting to the next step.

Rethinking Digital Literacy

When asked to define digital literacy, what would you say? My first definition was "Digital literacy is the realization that one never fully attains it. One must be willing to keep reaching for the next step in their digital journey, moving forward to continue to learn more than they now know. The only way one can fail to be digitally literate is to stop trying."

"The more you know, the more you know you don't know."
                                                                                    --Aristotle