Developing Critical thinkers: Literacy in a Digital Age

Developing Critical thinkers: Literacy in a Digital Age

Although I have experience teaching a variety of grade level configurations between grade 1-5, I have spent the better part of my career in Grade 1 and 2. In thinking about this age group and the fact they are in their “spongy knowledge years”, I see the importance in teaching digital literacy. At this stage of the game, teaching students to use technology as a way to obtain information and build upon their skills is key. Here are some ways to specifically connect technology in an age appropriate way. Keep in mind, a lot of these activities would rely heavily on teacher modeling, think alouds, and whole class experiences.

  • Guided whole class Inquiry/research projects where teacher models how to obtain information on the Internet (ex. Google searches).
  • Virtual Field trips
  • Vocabulary- looking up the definitions on Wikipedia or similar source
  • Demonstrations of silly news stories and discussions about how they make us feel. Does this seem strange? Is this possible? Are there experts reporting on the topic? Source check. 
  • Accessing literature such as Storyline Online or Epic
  • Demonstrations of silly news stories and discussions about how they make us feel. Does this seem strange? Is this possible? Are there experts reporting on the topic? Source check. I found an age appropriate site, similar to the Troll Quiz we completed together in class, that could be used to meet this outcome. Check out Fact or Fake

All of the above examples would touch on the following goals of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Participate effectively and critically in a networked world;

  • Explore and engage critically, thoughtfully, and across a wide variety of inclusive texts and tools/modalities;
  • Consume, curate, and create actively across contexts;
  • Advocate for equitable access to and accessibility of texts, tools, and information
  • Build intentional global and cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought

Digital Literacy teaching would align with many health outcomes as navigating technology leads to positive self concepts. Information Literacy also fits with the ELA outcomes. It directly supports the outcomes with the Comprehend and Respond strands.

As shared in The Smell Test: Educators can counter fake news with information literacy. (Jan 01, 2017), Laura Gardner’s (Jacobson) CARS method—which stands for credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, and support would be an acronym I could use in my classroom. Adding some visuals to support each term would further support students in the early years, but also beyond. As long as the vocabulary is explicitly taught and students could practice them individually, creating body or picture symbols to represent their understanding, I think early years students could use these terms to help them be more digitally aware.

Being able to use technology as a way to obtain knowledge and advance skills, in my mind, is one of the biggest uses. This requires critically examining sources and fake news sources and unfortunately, there are just so many companies and people out there willing to throw out any old thing for some likes and views. Critical thinking skills can and should be developed always, in any classroom and not specifically focusses on technology, but in every aspect. If students are able to effectively view situations with a critical lens, they are less likely to be taken advantage of.

3 thoughts on “Developing Critical thinkers: Literacy in a Digital Age

  1. I love the activities you have connected with digital literacy. You have made some great points, I still have to read The Smell Test. The link was broken, so I skipped it for the time being, but the name intrigued me. I also agree that students should be taught to view everything through a critical lens.

  2. thanks for showing some practical exercises for teaching digital literacy in the classroom! it really helps to see different methods for different age groups on the topic. Keep up the great work!

  3. Hello Kaelyn,

    I really appreciated the fact that you provided ample information on the applicability of digital literacy in the classroom, especially by providing some great activities. I noticed that you are applying it to grade 1-2 which is very good for their development.
    Thank you for sharing!.

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