Mbostic's List: Misinformation Debate Assignment 2.4

• ut where does one begin? Teaching digital literacy is about more than just integrating technology into lesson plans; it’s about using technology to understand and enhance modern communication, to locate oneself in digital space, to manage knowledge and experience in the Age of Information.

  • Purpose of digital literacy.
• Train students to react skeptically when they read the phrase, “Research says…” or “A recent study revealed…” People are obsessed with data, and quick to believe dramatic figures when they see them. Be sure that whoever claims to back your facts is a credible source, and that the facts themselves are not skewed to manipulate your perspective.

  • How to be digitally literate properly.

• Discussing the possibility that electronic texts eventually will take precedence    over the printed page, Birkets (1994) laments the repercussions for young readers.    He denotes the comfort and connection in physically handling and slowly reading    a printed book, and says that these qualities are lost when text is instantly    transmitted electronically by the click of a mouse.

  • Example of disadvantages of using technology to enhance reading and writing.
• Educational    technology is nudging literacy instruction beyond its oral and print-based tradition    to embrace online and electronic texts as well as multimedia. Computers are    creating new opportunities for writing and collaborating. The Internet is constructing    global bridges for students to communicate, underscoring the need for rock-solid    reading and writing skills. By changing the way that information is absorbed,    processed, and used, technology is influencing how people read, write, listen,    and communicate.
• The ability to attain deeper understanding    of content by using data-analysis tools and accelerated learning processes    enabled by technology.
• The ability to accurately and effectively    use computer tools such as word processors, spreadsheets, databases, and presentation    and graphic software.
• A traditional use of technology is skills reinforcement; for example,    students who need additional practice in reading might work individually on    computers equipped with reading-comprehension software. An authentic use of    technology is using it as a tool to accomplish a complex task; for example,    students who are creating a written report might use the Internet for research,    word-processing software to write and format the text, and hypermedia software    to add images. Therefore, it makes sense to consider the variety of uses as    they illustrate best practices.
• Audiobooks. Audiobooks, sometimes known as books on tape, are professionally    recorded, unabridged versions of fiction or nonfiction books. They are available    on regular audiocassettes or four-track cassettes that require a special cassette    player. Audiobooks promote students' interest in reading and improve their comprehension    of text, notes Beers (1998). They also have been used successfully by students    who cannot read traditional printed books because of visual or physical handicaps.

  • Example of digital technology media that can aid in literacy.
• Children can listen to the audio version of a book and follow    along silently with the printed version. Also, they can gain practice in reading    aloud the text in conjunction with the audio.
• Electronic Books and Online Texts. Electronic books, also known as e-books,    are electronic texts that are presented visually. Whether available on CD-ROM,    the Internet, or special disks, electronic books always provide the text in    a visual component. Some electronic books incorporate text enhancements, such    as definitions of words or background information on ideas. Others offer illustrations    that complement the story. The downside of electronic books is that they can    be viewed only with a computer or a special palm-sized digital reader; often    the text resolution is poor. In terms of their advantages, Anderson-Inman and    Horney (1999) note that electronic books are searchable, modifiable (for example,    font sizes can be increased to meet the needs of the reader), and enhanceable    with embedded resources (for example, definitions and details).

  • Example of digital electronic media that aids in literacy.
• Word Processing. Word processing is the pioneer application of educational    technology used in writing instruction. Although it requires the mastery of    basic keyboarding skills, word processing allows many students to write and    edit their work more easily. In addition, word-processing tools such as spelling    checkers are useful aids that improve the quality of student writing. Research    indicates that students who are comfortable with word processing write longer    papers, spend more time writing and revising, and show improved mechanics and    word choice (Lehr, 1995). Nevertheless, research also indicates that using a    word processor does not by itself improve student writing. Rather, the teacher    has a critical role in guiding the writing process, providing feedback, and    encouraging revision (Reinking & Bridwell-Bowles, 1996).

  • Examples of how technology can improve writing skills.

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• WINSTON-SALEM, NC – A new research study reports that pre-K students who used age-appropriate technology with progress monitoring over six months made significant improvements in both math and early literacy skills on externally-administered, standardized tests. The study investigated the effectiveness of the iStartSmart™ educational technology system by Hatch® in urban early childhood classrooms.
• Results
   The studyexamined test results from classrooms with a high proportion of low-income children; 55 children in nine classrooms using iStartSmart and 70 children in nine classrooms who did not use educational technology as part of a standard preschool program. Children who used the iStartSmart system on a consistent basis from October through March scored significantly higher than control children. Their standard scores and percentile scores on two tests that measure school readiness in literacy and math were both considerably higher. Study results also show that children’s improvement on literacy and math scores directly correlated with higher levels of competency on literacy and math activities in the iStartSmart system.

• Social networking allows for meaningful contribution in class and at home. It opens the door for quieter, less confident students to have their voices heard and creates a level playing field on which all students can interact. Furthermore, it allows for parents to be involved in their child’s work. By extending the classroom to the internet parents can easily access blogs, twitter feeds, etc. and know what their kids are doing at school.
• Advantages: like mentioned before, it is an important literacy in our current society. By teaching students how to use it they learn appropriate conduct and methods of effective use. Also, as mentioned before, it extends the classroom and allows for collaboration outside of school. Students can share interesting articles and videos that compliment their school work which leads to a richer understanding and meaningful learning. Using it in school will encourage students to maintain a standard for traditional literacy in their online communication - more appropriate and correct use of spelling and grammar

• From creating school Facebook pages to connecting students with experts via Twitter, social media has taken root as a legitimate classroom learning and communication tool. The highly linguistic nature of social media allows us to create and consume ideas and information unlike ever before.

• Visual literacy is the ability to: 

   
  1. Process and make meaning of information presented in an image.
   
  2. Communicate our own ideas through principles of design.
   
  3. Create our own messages that capture our visual thinking in a way that conceptualizes problems to given solutions.
• As a photo editing and sharing network, Instagram offers much to the educational process simply in its ability to allow students to create and publish original content. But when considered from the context of instructional design, it takes on new dimensions that would otherwise be nonexistent.
• Similarly, Emoji, or ideograms often used in text messaging, have incredible potential in directing our students to effectively communicate through visual designs. At the most basic level, people use Emoji to illustrate their emotions through minute smiley faces and faces with tears.
• Recently, I saw a meme created with this image that read, "What if math teachers were really just pirates who wanted us to find X just so they could locate buried treasure?" Understanding the humor inherent in this meme not only requires a basic comprehension of algebraic variability, it also asks us to process the demeanor of the Philosoraptor to identify the rhetorical sarcasm in the image.

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• However, in 2012, nearly every occupation requires some level of technological proficiency. Though indicative of the times in which we live, this dynamic prevents tens of millions of minorities from participating in the ongoing digital revolution. Children raised in unconnected homes lack easy access to a computer and high-speed Internet connection during their formative years, thus perpetuating the existence of a digital divide that has left more than half of all black and Hispanic households unconnected to broadband. The result of this cycle is a minority workforce lacking in the digital literacy skills necessary to succeed in the 21^st century.

• The good news is, watching developmentally appropriate programming with your children can have many positive benefits (bonding between caregiver and child, the introduction of new vocabulary words, exploring new places together, etc.)

• In our media-rich culture today, with children spending more and more time looking at screens of all sizes, parents are likely to find themselves concerned that so much "entertainment" from such an early age will impact their children's overall development in a negative way.
• Further, if parents are particularly careful about program choices, research shows that they may even improve their young child's future literary development.

• Sundius
• Second, having print and reading materials at home helps kids learn to read. And, the more they read, the better they read. Unfortunately, more than 30% of city children live in poor households which tend to have few books or reading materials.  One study found that poor families had, on average, less than one book per household.
• But, parents, teachers, and caregivers, given that most children are watching TV every day, why not turn on the captioning and let them “see” the words as they hear them? And for older children who can read, how about also turning off the sound so that they can follow along by reading the dialogue?

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• • They are not familiar with medical terms or how their bodies  work.
   
  • They have to interpret numbers or risks to make a health care  decision.
   
  • They are diagnosed with a serious illness and are scared or confused. 
   
  • They have complex conditions that require complicated self-care.
• Adults at all levels of health literacy used multiple sources to obtain  health information; no one source clearly predominated. Adults with the most  limited health literacy rarely use digital resources for health information.
• • Fifteen percent of adults with below basic health literacy used the  Internet "some" or "a lot" for information on health topics, compared with 31  percent of those with basic health literacy, 49 percent with intermediate  health literacy, and 62 percent of those with proficient health literacy.
   
  • For all levels, no single type of print materials was as important as  non-print sources, including broadcast media such as radio or television.
   
  • Adults at the below basic level were the least likely to use any  written material to obtain information on health topics. Among those at the  below basic level, 43 percent indicated that they used written information  infrequently, far less than those at the intermediate and proficient levels. 
   
  • Information from health professionals was one of the most important  sources of information on health topics for all health literacy levels.
• Promote universal access to health information.  
   
  • Consider setting guidelines about information access and  design. Just as there is universal access to buildings (e.g., ramps) and  the telecommunications infrastructure (e.g., closed captioning), information  can be designed to be more accessible, even universally accessible. Guidelines  that define what constitutes accessible health information could be developed  and widely disseminated. Adherence to guidelines could be tied to funding  decisions by public and private organizations.

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• Scientists discovered that rather than destroying their use of English, texting improves children's ability to recognise rhymes and speech patterns.

• 'We were surprised to learn that not only was the association strong,  but that text use was actually driving the development of phonological  awareness and reading skills in children.'

   

  The study also showed that children were subconsciously practising their spelling by regularly sending text messages.