We have all be told “Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet” but when is this statement true and when is it false.
The idea of digital literacy, plays an important ole both inside and outside the classroom for students to be able to find reliable resources and information that is accurately represented.
Personally, as an educator I think it is extremely important to work on digital literacy skills throughout the whole school year, not just as a small portion throughout one lesson. A few ways that I think are essential in helping students navigate through the digital world.
A lot of the time children will look online for answers of questions they may have but not necessarily feel comfortable asking a trusted adult, or they may not even have the luxury to ask an adult even if they wanted too. So, the next best thing for them may be asking google.
Due to this, teaching digital literacy is an extremely important task to teach. Finding reputable sites to teach this, is just as important as teaching it in the first place. This can be done through a couple different multimedia ways.
Looking at this through a grade 4 perspective, I would take the advantage of the different media strategies, hopefully this will help all student, in taking away some information in regards to digital literacy.
A few of the links I would use in my own classroom would be…
- SweetSearch – search engine for students
- You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you – Comic
- 7 Types of Mis- and Dis-Information (Created by Claire Wardle) – model/checklist
- How to choose your news – TedED Video
Most likely followed up the Worksheet: Bias in the news (Created by Katherine Koskie), to gage if most kids are understanding the content, or if they are missing some key components along the way.
Intertwining this through the curriculum, with outcome within the English language arts strands such as;
Comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-level texts (including contemporary and traditional visual, oral, written, and multimedia texts) that address:
- identity (e.g., Expressing Myself)
- community (e.g., Building Community)
- social responsibility (e.g., Preserving a Habitat) and support response with evidence from text and from own experiences.
Focusing on the community and social responsibility aspect of the outcome, further helping students investigate the digital world around them. As NCTE states, that for students to “consume, curate, and create actively across contexts;
- Do learners analyze and evaluate the multimedia sources that they consume?
- Do learners examine the credibility and relevancy of sources they consume?
- Do learners consider the author, purpose, and design of information they consume online?”
With the amount of readily available information that is only a few clicks away from our students’ minds. Giving them the upper hand, when it comes to digital literacy is by far one of the most important tools and tricks that will help them learn.
Thanks for reading!