(1) At what age can online/digital literacy activities be integrated into the classroom? Please provide supporting details in your response, and
I believe that online/digital literacy activities can be integrated into the classroom at almost any age really. Very young children (ages 0-4) can be exposed to cause/effect online books with an adult. One can utilize the picture dictionary and the parent can point to different pictures and describe them to the child, in much the same way as a parent might use a printed book or magazine. There are a variety of special computer mice out there that can be used with small children to teach them to interact with online books and other activities such as www.starfall.com and Scholastic web based activities that go with their magazine, Clifford, for young children. The following link provides information about ordering a variety of computer devices that have been adapted for children’s use. http://www.tinyeinsteins.com/kids_computer_products.html My oldest daughter had computer classes at her daycare when she was 18 months old. They used cause/effect programs and websites that were available back then along with adaptive equipment such as a red round single switch mouse that looked like a giant M&M!
In Kindergarten, the teacher can use a variety of ebooks, picture alphabet books, and specialized websites geared towards children as young as 4 or 5. The teacher can begin to conduct simple communication lessons using specialized monitored email programs such as www.epals.com and using simple wikis such as wikijunior. Visitors and members can add to pages that are sorted by curricular area. There is a section for pre-readers. As you can see, digital literacy is appropriate for any age, even the very young.
If you would like to continue exploring the concept of digital literacy at any age I recommend Rachel’s Blog (http://youngandreckless326.blogspot.com/). Like me, she agrees that digital literacies can be integrated at any age into the classroom by saying "digital literacy activities can be integrated into any classroom, regardless of the age of the students”. She also gives an example of how you can use digital literacy. In her example she connects us with a teacher website in which a flip camera was used to record a math activity in just a few minutes. This demonstrates a way of integrating digital literacies inside the classroom. If you want to see the
(2) What is a 21st Century Learning Environment? A 21st Century Learning Environment is an environment (often though of as a physical space) that supports collaboration and interaction among students and adults on real life applications and problems. As stated in the white paper published by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, “21st century learning environments address the multiple and interconnected learning needs of the whole child.” http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/le_white_paper-1.pdf
and (3) How can you cultivate at least one of the 21st century skills in your current/future classroom? Please be specific and provide examples.
In my own classroom, I can do more to cultivate collaboration among my kindergarten students. I now see the benefits of wikis and blogs to facilitate collaborative learning. Students can work together on varied I-Search projects, seeking out relevant information to answer their own questions. Then, the students can work together to determine the best format to use to present their findings. Collaboration is an important life skill with a basis in cooperation. Students learn to work together on projects collaboratively so as to develop social skills that are necessary for the real world. Many work environments are much more collaborative now than in the past. Workers must develop interpersonal skills so as to be effective within the work environment. Look at teaching. We are more collaborative now within our field than ever before.
My students could utilize a wiki to have a mini discussion online that pertains to a particular topic. They can outline their agreed to responsibilities regarding a project through online communication. This type of collaboration mirrors web-based collaboration on a topic, a skill often used in higher education and the work place.
Epals can also be used to develop collaboration with my young students. We can become pen pals with a class from another country and work together on a project. Perhaps a sharing of cultures from each country would be a great first project. Year round, students can talk to each other through email about the varied holidays that are celebrated throughout the year. During this activity, students would notice that different cultures had different holidays or celebrate the same holidays differently that we do. This type of collaboration would foster global citizenship skills with our youngsters.
Resources:
Author, L, D., & Author D. D. L., &Author J. G., New Literacies for New Times. Teaching With The Internet K-12 (Ch. 10). Retrieve from http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~djleu/fourth/ten.html
Carlos, I agree that online/digital literacy activities can be integrated into the classroom at any age, but the younger the child, the more challenging it is to capture the attention of that child. I believe that learning first takes place in the home and from the last few weeks throughout this class I have learned how important and relevant it is for my small children at home to begin to learn via online digital literacy activities. My two children are 6 years old and 4 years old and they are two very high energy children. Most of the time we will go outside and explore the natural world for example, we planted a vegetable garden in the spring as well as a flower garden. We do a lot of physical activities too like bike riding, hiking, and sports. Now that it is wintertime, I needed a new outlet for my children besides sitting in front of the television slowly vegetating. From other class blogs and my own searches, I have discovered pbs between the lions, jumpstart.com and abcmouse.com for my four year old son (pre-school). He absolutely loves going on these sites and playing learning games. He lights up, he gets really excited and really enjoys the digital activities offered by these sites. This is great time that we spend together learning. My six year old daughter (first grade) loves her computer time as well. She comes home, we do her homework together and then she asks for her computer time. I think it is great. Her favorite site is funbrain.com. She enjoys playing the math games and will sit and play the games until I literally have to pry her off the computer. She loves the language arts games such as grammar gorillas where she is strengthening her skills in recognizing nouns and verbs.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the positive benefits of online digital learning I have experienced at home with my children should definitely be experienced by children in schools. My question is, at what age does this type of learning start in the classroom? At what age are these learning experiences relevant to a child’s development?
As stated, A 21st Century Learning Environment is an environment that supports collaboration and interaction among students and adults on real life applications and problems. I believe that just as your students at the kindergarten age learn valuable skills from these types of digital activities, my eighth grade students learn valuable skills and standards from these types of learning experiences as well. The 21st Century Learning Environment consists of students working and learning together in order to increase knowledge and specific skill sets. In my classroom, I have students working in groups and responding to poetry on a blog. My students, I can say are certainly attracted to the idea of learning through digital literacies in the classroom. I agree that these are relevant life lessons that will certainly benefit them throughout their lives in the “real world” and hope that my classroom will evolve into more of a 21st century learning environment.