"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
