Part 2 Digital Literacy Standards

 1 //  Having an iPad and a Smartphone on you are two incredible tools. But, with Great Power there must also come Great Responsibility (sorry couldn’t resist). Finding information is great, but that is someone else’s thoughts, work, product. We need to be able to give credit when referencing that work. We also must be able to know how to find these things, and when we do, are they reliable/correct? Make sure this is not an opinion site and is trustworthy. I like the idea in step #2 where you can search on a particular site for something if you know you want to use that site (maybe the actual site does not have a search bar). 

In Step #3 I instantly thought of when I am teaching a concept and we are about to start a practice problem, I ask students what are things we should ask ourselves. It is no different when you are looking for information online. “What’s the point of view?” or “What would an opposing point of view look like?” are huge questions that need to be asked. 

Step #5 is increasingly important as more and more things are done online. In Financial Algebra we look up a lot of financial concepts and knowing that you should not provide any personal information when we are not applying for anything is a huge red flag on a web site. We need to keep our personal information PERSONAL and private.

 2 //  DL-4. Having students create their own products, but allowing them to choose what tool they want to create it with and what resource they want to use to explore is a huge step towards them being self sufficient online. This is a Digital Citizenship skill and is one that could be brought up (shared on the screen) as the teacher is explaining the task.

1. When teaching the rise of the two party system and liberalism and conservatism in AP USH, I have a lesson where we all go to twitter and explore one topic/new event and compare FOX News coverage to CNNs coverage of the same story. COVID- 19 coverage and January 6th coverage were two really interesting topics to explore and analyze with the kids. Then we went on to discuss point of view, reliability, bias, and read the comments! We also discussed instances where politicians have made controversial statements via twitter and discussed the ethics of deleting tweets. In the age of social media, this is an important life skill.
2. In social studies, we often complete collaborative research endeavors. Our students use technology on a daily basis.  In September, for AP USH I had the kids research indigenous Native American tribes by region. They conducted research and worked in small groups to create digital story books using google slides to showcase their research. This task allowed them to collaborate in real time and asynchronously. They shared their stores digitally and commented on each other’s stories as well. 

The biggest area that I can immediately apply to my students is the first step in learning how to find reliable information from a Google search. This is something that I know I learned in high school how to do and I still have to practice it in my daily life. I often see students doing Google searches for a project in school and are often times clicking on the first available link or even just scrolling down to the section where Google answers the question for you and you don't even have to read any further. It is truly a life skill to know how to search on Google to find reliable and true information and to be able to sort through "fake news" or even pages that have entirely fake information. This would be a highly important step to teach on and make sure students know how to comb through results appropriately. 
Another important step to integrate in my instruction is the ability to think of critical thinking in terms of online search results. Again, in looking at search results, students may start to read pages that they come across and start to think that these results are true and the opinion of this article must be correct, but we have to teach students to sometimes think a little more critically about the information that the internet can give us. It's important to recognize that the information on the internet might be someone's opinion and while we can always take that into account, if we need facts or details about a research topic then we might need to continue researching. If we are looking for opinion statements then we can utilize that area of the internet. I think the overall lesson is to teach our students how to be critical thinkers of all information that they come into account with! 

In looking at the Grades 4-6 standards, I can easily see myself implementing DL.2 ("Select appropriate digital tools to communicate and collaborate while learning with others"), DL.3 ("Conduct and refine advanced multi-criteria digital searches to locate content relevant to varied learning goals), and DL.4 ("Use a variety of digital tools and resources to create and revise digital artifacts"). In the elementary classroom where we primarily use Lucy Units of Study, we have become creative with how we sometimes do final project, often putting them on technology platforms where all students can collaborate and share each other's final pieces. In my stand-alone ENL time I need to do a better job in integrating some of these digital literacy standards and just making it a more natural part of my curriculum. This would also give students a portfolio to build upon so that in their Google Drives by the time they are in middle or high school, they can look back on all the work that they have done and see the growth themselves in their learning. 

The six essential steps to teach digital literacy build on each other. With teaching social studies, we stress to students reliability of sources, identify bias and perspective. Step #3 asking key questions mirrored many of the document skills we currently ask our students to do. Students must analyze the pov, determine if the author is trying to persuade or convince the reader of something. Similar to our social studies skill of asking “whose voice is missing?”, the article suggests students question what opinions or ideas are missing. 
I really liked the 2nd step of having students use the search bar. Adding “or”, endings of site:edu or docs:example.com can filter through many potential sites that are unreliable. We ask students to sift through material they see on the news or on social media platform. By allowing students top practice their skills to determine if these sources are true and legitimate, their critical thinking skills will also grow. 
After viewing the matrix, DL 3 & DL 4 could be incorporated in our social studies lessons. We often have students create and publish using apps such as google docs and google slides. This allows for collaboration and a safe space to share their work. In research projects even in my criminal justice elective, I could teach my classes to find reliable sources using the suggested search filters (previously discusses). The standards could even be added to the rubrics we are currently using. Both DL 3 & 4 build on digital citizenship skills. Students can practice their skills with their peers when creating projects. If students respond in a negative way on a board, packet page or discussion post, the teacher will be able to address these negative behaviors immediately. 

After viewing the “6 Essential Steps to Teaching Digital Literacy”, I found what I would incorporate most into my instruction would be a lesson on doing a proper google search for reliability of resources.  In my content area of history, we rely so much on understanding the past by relying on primary documents and understanding the potential bias embedded in it.  Students need to act and research properly to know the telltale signs of misinformation and bias in our current world too.  The suggested lesson of “fake news” sounds interesting.  I do similar things with perspective lessons and apply them to why certain people in history have taken certain actions.  But I like applying it as well to the dangers of believing everything online in today’s world, and how it can have a ripple effect of negative consequences (ex: covid misinformation). 
I teach Global 10 so I dove into the digital literacy matrix 9-12 for the second task.  After examining this matrix I feel I would use it most often in the areas of 9-12.DL.6 And 9-12.DL.4. The #6 element of the matrix deals more with digital citizenship and responsibility.  It talks about actively managing a digital presence and understanding the permanence and potential consequences of online interactions.  I would start using this element of the matrix as a discussion piece to begin a lesson where we use the blog feature and comment on eachothers posts/work.  I will now also start incorporating that as an element of the grading rubric on pieces like this as well.  The #4 element of the matrix that stood out to me was more geared toward digital use.  This I could see myself using again in the creation of projects where students have to create some sort of final piece, publish a product, or demonstrate learning in the form of an artifact.  This matrix element helps to hone in on my lesson design in that it will help students think more thoughtfully on the mode of technology that will appropriately suit the task at hand.  Again, this is all teaching with the end in mind.  Thinking about the final product, what we want the reaction and legacy to be, and what implications could arise from it.