As I reflect upon what I have learned about teaching the new literacy skills to my students, the most striking revelation I have had is just how important it is to actively and purposefully teach these skills. As I observe so many of my students navigate the web naturally and confidently, it is easy to assume they are using literacy skills. Even if they are able to find relevant information, they need strategies to evaluate and determine website credibility, such as the REAL strategies (November, 2008). I plan to incorporate pre assessment strategies to identify my students’ greatest areas of growth. I have been amazed at the volume and depth of skills necessary for success.
The knowledge and experiences I have gained will guide my future lessons with my students. Now that I have identified the numerous literacy skills needed, I will provide modeling, practice and opportunities for my students to use them, as students must have opportunities to become fluent by using the skills (Jukes, 2007). Additionally, I need to link the new literacy skills to the traditional skills. “This concept of connecting the old with the new is important because teaching Web literacies is not about teaching totally new concepts or adding on the currently overloaded curriculum (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p. 29). The traditional literacy skills my students have and are developing can serve as stepping-stones to the new literacy skills. Incorporating an inquiry project would serve the dual purpose of supporting and extending the curriculum while providing students with the setting in which to learn and use the new literacy skills I will be teaching them.
A professional development goal I have is to take part in a collaborative project. If chosen carefully, this project will support the curriculum and provide real world applications for what they are learning. I would begin by choosing an established project for my first experience and I am especially interested in the “Bucket Buddies” project found at http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/bucketproj/. In this particular project students collect pond water and use the scientific process to determine what organisms live in the water. Students from all over the world add their data to the website and then participate in discussions based on their findings. To accomplish this goal I will need to follow the timeline and procedures listed on the website. This project not only correlates to science standards, but it is well organized and manageable. Richardson 2009) explains, “We must guide students in sharing their real world efforts with world-wide audiences helping them understand the efficiencies and ethics of publishing in meaningful ways” (p. 30). By participating in this project, students would use the scientific process for a real purpose, as part of a global project and have the opportunity to use the new literacies first hand.
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press
Jukes, I. (2007). 21st century fluency skills: Attributes of a 21st century learner. Located at http://www.committedsardine.com/handouts/twca.pdf.
November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousands Oaks: Corwin Press.
Richardson, W. (2009, March). Becoming network-wise. Educational Leadership, 66(6), 26-31.
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