Hi everyone, Cody here, I think as my title implies that we should ALL be involved in digital literacy. The statement from NCTE.org article that was shared with us is “Are learners critical, savvy producers and consumers?“. If you know me, I don’t go around bolding and italicizing just any old thing that I write. This little phrase speaks to my ethos as an educator, my goal is to produce critical students overall. In regards to digital literacy, being both savvy producers AND consumers is paramount. We are all producers and consumers of digital content, and if we are not careful on both fronts we
may accidentally absorb inaccurate information, then if we believe it, propagate that inaccurate information into our friend groups. If you are as well-liked and respected as me(ahem) then people will trust your word and share it. Before you know it, the whole world believes there are tree octopi!!!!
Ideally, i would like to be in grade 5-7 classroom, I think the best 
approach would be to open with a game, maybe like the ones suggested(Can you spot the fake headline or, I would make my own on Google classroom, like make an escape room. The only way out is to determine what is real and what is fake! From that intro, I would have the students do some research and presentations of the research they did on digital literacy. Peer-to-peer is some of the best learning out there, furthermore, they are probably all way more tech savvy than I.
From the article The Smell Test, that was shared with us by Katia, I got taken to a great resource called The News Literacy Project which had great lesson plans for students
articles for educators. I tried one of their quizzes titled Should You Share It, I got 1 wrong! It is great because you can pick your political leaning (Republican(right) or Democrat(Left)) and then decide weather you would share it on your socials or not. I think quizzes like these that are formatted in a way which our students will immediately recognize are great.
Overall while I find the fake news discouraging, what I find encouraging is all of the people out there trying to empower all of us internet normies! What are your go to sources for untainted information on the web?
Hi Cody,
I love that escape room idea, that sounds like it would be such a fun way of learning digital literacy. Also The News Literacy Project is such an amazing website with so many tools. Can’t wait to try out some of the stuff it shares!
-Carson Sombach
Agreed. I have always enjoyed them, so i figure things I enjoy, my students well as well
Cody,
Middle years is the perfect age to discuss digital literacy because many of these students may have devices (with possible less supervision than they did when they were younger). They can quickly fall into trends and are creating social media platforms of their own. The great thing about teaching digital literacy is that it can be used in several subject areas for assessment. It would be great to share a lesson plan around digital literacy in your future!
Hi Megan,
Yes, I hope to build a learning community in whichever school I land. This goes beyond my classroom and my students and extends to all of the educators and students in my school. I would like to see it extend further into the division and the province, that goal may be lofty though.