Week 5 (2) - Learning from the module

 Summarise your own significant learning from this module. Identify its implications for your future role as an English or IT subject leader. Make links to any relevant readings.

Engaging in this module has highlighted the importance of incorporating a wide range of technologies into literacy lessons, as well as other areas of the curriculum. I have learnt that it is vital for teachers to keep up-to-date with technologies, as they largely impact the way in which literacy can be taught in the primary classroom (Halsey, 2007). Introducing a wide range of technologies into the classroom is a form of popular culture, giving children access to a broader section of texts to support the literacy curriculum. In turn, this has a large impact on children’s ability to recognise and be familiar with a range of different genres of text, their comprehension of texts and overall engagement with a given text. Using technology allows children to be involved in creating their own version of certain texts and present their work in an interactive manner, which ultimately engages them in their learning. This will have significant impact on my future practice in school, as I will introduce a range of technologies into the classroom as a means of encouraging children to read a wider range of texts, including online articles, comics and novels. By doing this, children will have more freedom to choose and explore a range of texts and media to support their early reading ability.

This module has also educated me that children are exposed to different forms of technology in their day-to-day lives (Merchant, 2007), and it is important to have high expectations of children when they are working with different types of technology and media. The day spent at Shirley Warren Primary School demonstrated that children already have a solid understanding of how to operate different technologies, and it is the role of the teacher to scaffold their learning and reinforce ideas of how to be safe online (Hudson 2013).

In addition, this module has highlighted the benefits of keeping a record of useful websites and apps that can help to facilitate children’s learning in literacy and other areas of the curriculum. I have already witnessed the use of apps such as ComicLife and BookCreator being used in the classroom, and I am aware of useful interactive websites such as TES and Education City. I feel very confident using these in the classroom to engage children in their learning and I wish to discover more and make myself familiar with these. Using programmes and apps as such, has allowed me to identify that children respond incredibly well to activities that are interactive, hands-on and allow children to work collaboratively, share ideas and problem solve to extend their knowledge. As a result of my key learning in this module, I hope to include interactive activities in most of my lesson plans in order to give children a short relief from pen and paper, and introducing a 360 degrees approach to learning involving, books, teachers and digital services (Hudson, 2013).

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and the combined element of it. I have learnt how technology can have a very positive impact on literacy lessons and I feel inspired to include technology and popular culture into my future literacy lessons as a means of giving a different dimension to children’s education.

Bibliography

- Halsey, S. (2007)   ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for  literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching; Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp 99-107

- Merchant, G. (2007) ‘Writing the future in the digital age’ pp 118 – 128

- Hudson, A. (2013) Angry Birds game fires into the classroom. BBC News Magazine, Friday 27 September 2013

Week 5 (1) - Should teachers care about digital literacy?

Why should teachers care about digital literacy?  

In this blog entry, I will be referring to several BBC articles to support my discussion concerning whether or not teachers should care about digital literacy.

Mark Ward (2013) argues that online computer games, however much time children spend on them, ultimately have a large contribution to children’s increasing computer skills and control. This idea is supported by Hudson (2013) who states that interactive computer games help children to build their understanding of giving a computer basic instructions to follow. Research (Ward 2013 and Hudson 2013) outlines that having frequent contact with computers and similar technologies educates children to be able to appropriately use the internet, search for information, open and send e-mails, download and install new software, upload and edit videos and pictures and communicate with others on software such as Skype. All of these skills are essential in the modern age, as technology is a large part of every-day life.

Teachers should give serious thought to including digital literacy in their classrooms as it gives a different, more practical dimension to education and provides an enjoyable relief from experiments and textbooks that are commonly associated with the classroom environment (Hudson, 2013). In addition, children are presented with an opportunity to solve various problems using their knowledge of programming, which teaches children to continuously save their work and keep back-ups. In turn, children learn a variety of issues that can arise from managing server-type systems. As well as this, using technology in the classroom can help children that are lacking confidence both academically and socially, to build relationships online and produce work that they would not write down.

However, many parents are highly concerned that their children are spending a great amount of their free-time engrossed in a computer screen, tablet or mobile device, which is believed to not be massively educational (Ward, 2013). Another concern that parents have is that their children have a decreasing desire to explore new environments and play outdoors. Being an active user of the Internet means that children can be contacted by millions of people from across the world (Harrison, 2013). This means that teachers, parents and guardians need to be fully aware of what children are doing when they are online and should be sure to inform them of the dangers of the Internet, whilst also educating children about Internet safety.

In every primary school that I have worked in, the teacher outlines the safety precautions of using the internet to the children, before allowing them to use a computer. This was particularly effective, as all children knew and understood how to appropriately use the internet and what to avoid. As well as this, there were posters displayed on the walls around the computer rooms to remind children of the rules that they were asked to follow, in order to protect themselves online. Research (Hudson, 2013) explains that different forms of technology at home surround children, as a result of their parents using certain devices. As a result of this, teachers should make sure that children are aware of Internet safety, so that they are careful online in school and at home.

To conclude, teachers should encourage children to be digitally literate, as this presents them with plenty of opportunity to develop their computer skills and work in a different media. As well as this, children learn that cognitive skills which can support the learning in the classroom across the curriculum.

Bibliography

- Harrison, A. (2013) Cyber-bullying: Horror in the home. BBC News Magazine, Saturday 17 August 2013

- Hudson, A. (2013) Angry Birds game fires into the classroom. BBC News Magazine, Friday 27 September 2013

- Ward, M. (2013) Why Minecraft is more than just another video game. BBC News Magazine, Saturday 7 September 2013