Why should
teachers care about digital literacy? FutureLab (2010)
FutureLab
(2010) takes the view that ‘digital literacy is an important entitlement for all young people in an
increasingly digital culture’. Therefore
with the current digital culture growing vastly it is the role of teachers to
ensure children are prepared for society, taking interest and implementing
digital literacy in their teaching to ensure young people have the ability to ‘take
advantage of the wealth of new and emerging opportunities’ (FutureLab, 2010).
FutureLab (2010:3) also defines digital literacy as
the “‘savvyness’ that allows young people to participate [...] safely as
digital technology becomes ever more pervasive in society”. Children have wide
access to digital media through television, computers, games and tablets outside
school which are indispensible in children’s lives. Therefore it is important
we as teachers equip children with the understanding to use media safely. Marsh
(2005) supports this view that the focus should be on encouraging and
scaffolding pupils to participate fully in the world outside the classroom in
ethical and effective ways.
However
FutureLab (2010:9) also makes a valid point that many
young people are not the ‘digital natives’ they are expected to be, ‘all young
people need to be supported to thrive in digital cultures’. This was apparent on
school placement where a child was unaware of how to control the mouse and
keyboard of a computer. It is our role as teachers to ensure all children can
access upcoming digital culture as ‘we
are not simply preparing them for adult life but for now’ (Marsh, 2005). Technologies such as the internet can offer extensive
opportunities for informal learning and for expanding where, how, what and with
whom children learn. ‘It is teachers who have experience in the higher order
critical thinking skills that can support young people’s use of digital
technology’ (FutureLab, 2010:10).
Developing digital literacy is also about addressing
the changing nature of subject knowledge (future lab, 2010:12). The Primary Curriculum reform (2009) increased significance
of ICT, this as an explicit recognition of the increasing digitalisation of the
world in which young people are growing up and which “will require
digital literacy of all children for their full participation in society” (FutureLab, 2010:15). Technology
delivers engaged, inquisitive children in place of the passive, disinterested
children of years past (McDougall, 2010:5) thus supporting children’s learning
styles. Prensky (2001:4) supports this
view ‘Their attention spans are not short
for games, for example, or for anything else that actually interests them’.
This is an aspect I viewed when on placement, children whose turn it was to engage
in mathematics through the computers were excited, motivated and engaged
throughout their learning.
In conclusion the implications for teachers are that learning
through digital literacy can both engage children and ‘allow them to critically engage with technology and
to use it well’ (FutureLab, 2010:17) thus making them prepared for the digital society
which is rapidly growing.
FutureLab (2010) Digital
Literacy Across the Curriculum: (Sections to be read: Introduction & The
Importance of Digital Literacy)
Marsh, J. Brooks, G. Hughes, J. Ritchie, L. Roberts, S.
Wright, K. (2005) Digital Beginnings:
Young children’s use of popular culture, media and new Technologies University
of Sheffield
McDougall, S. One
Tablet or Two? Opportunities for change in educational provision in the next 20
years. FutureLab:
Prensky, M. (2001) ‘Digital Natives, Digital immigrants,
Part 11: Do They Realy Think Differently?’ In On the Horizon 9 (6)
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ReplyDeleteThis is really very interesting it sounds as if we as teachers will have to use technology to engage learners or they won't bother to learn, I do really wonder if this is the case?
ReplyDeleteThe view of new technology preparing the children for the future and developing their skills was a shared view of my parent survey, who believed using new technology in the classroom would benefit her child.
ReplyDeleteOn my previous placement the children were given a research task using new technology, the children found it difficult to find relevant information using the internet. The idea of teachers scaffolding children’s learning may have benefited the children to be able to find relevant information. When the lap tops were given out for the task, all children seemed engaged in the lesson and asked for help when needed, as it seemed they were motivated to want to complete the task. This supports the Future Lab’s idea of new technology increasing motivation.
This is very interesting. There was clearly engagement and motivation, but was the motivation to complete the task in hand? I have found on school placement, ICT can become quite hectic and the teacher spends most of their time reverting children back to the task.
ReplyDeleteOn placement, I observed an ICT lesson where the teacher had the children filling out a quiz, in which they had to use google, to find the answers. This helped children understand the difficulty of how to 'sift' through information to find appropraite sources as well as tips on how to do this effectively and efficiently.