How do students and teachers use digital tools in literacy instruction in K-4 classrooms?

"Using digital tools, allows teachers to use print-based literacy skills while providing students with the opportunity to learn digital literacy skills."

- Amy Hutchinson

Ways that digital literacy can be used in the classroom:

 

Steps for teachers to implement digital technology into literacy instruction:

1. Choose learning goals:  Determine which areas students need the most support.

            Examples: comprehension, fluency, vocabulary

2. Make pedagogical decisions about the nature of the learning experience:  

·         Learning by listening – Teachers can record themselves teaching material. Then students have the opportunity to listen to the material multiple times.

·         Learning by Discovery – Students search for information and discover new information by sorting through resources to thoroughly construct better knowledge. This is generally self-directed and can be assessed in multiple ways.

·         Learning by doing – Students are given the opportunity to have a more hands on learning experience. Students would complete assignments via a digital tool, and then can write about their knowledge or questions, provide feedback to peers, and provide peer feedback for themselves.

·         Learning through discussion and debate – Students have the opportunity to discuss and debate context factors. This would be a great idea for a classroom blog, in which students discuss their findings!

·         Blended Learning – Students have the opportunity to have different kinds of delivery and learning methods.

Ø  This method is my personal favorite because it is a flexible way for both teachers and learners can regulate their learning.

 (Noordink, 2010)

3. Choose activities types to combine:  What do you want the students to do?

4. Select assessment strategies: Design a response to a text that demonstrates your learning goal, and helps to develop digital literacy skills.

            Examples: Create a video or audio response to texts.

5. Select the digital tools that will best help students to benefit from the learning experience: 

  a. Be sure to become familiar with your school/school district's technology goals. 

  b. Become familiar with apps, websites, and online resources that will help you to make a final decision on determining with technological tool will be most useful in helping students meet their learning goals. 

(Hutchinson and Woodward, 2014)       

(Hutchinson, Beschorner, and Schmidt-Crawford, 2012)

Promising Literacy Apps allow students to:

·         Type on top of printed text

·         Record an audio recording as a response

·         Add pictures from the photo library

·         Insert symbols and stamps

(Hutchinson, Beschorner, and Schmidt-Crawford, 2012)

Popular Instructional Literacy Apps:

App	App   Description	Literacy   Skill    Used
Doodle Buddy	Tool used for drawing, or doodling Forces readers to reread to modify images	Visualization Main Idea and Details
Sundry  Notes	Tool used for typing text, drawing, and recording audio	Cause and Effect
Strip Designer	Comic Strip Tool	Retelling
Popplet	Graphic Organizer tool that students can modify	Sequencing
iBooks	Virtual bookshelf Users can: tap any word to access a definition, add notes, highlight text	Independent Reading ·         Also great to use during the Daily 5’s Read to Self!

(Hutchinson, Beschorner, and Schmidt-Crawford, 2012)

Question:

What are two beneficial digital tools for teachers to build comprehension skills?

Helpful Sites:

Citations:

Hutchison, A., Beschorner, B., & Schmidt-Crawford, D. (2012). Exploring the Use of the iPad for                  Literacy Learning. Read Teach The Reading Teacher, 66(1), 15-23.

Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L. (2013). A Planning Cycle for Integrating Digital Technology Into                    Literacy Instruction. Read Teach The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 455-464.

Noordink, M. (n.d.). Different ways of teaching. Retrieved June 24, 2015, from http://marlijnenoordink.blogspot.com/2010/10/different-ways-of-teaching-different.html