Guiding Students Along the Mountain Path of Digital Literacy – EDCI #572 Blog 2 (Assignment 1A To Be Marked)

Photo by Heidi Finn on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction: 

As I ascend the mountain, of digital learning, I am reminded of the plethora of possibilities that digital literacies can provide learners to facilitate and enhance their learning experiences, both now and in their future. Gone are the days where one simply learned skills through a textbook, pencil and paper. Today it is essential for learners to be competent in their digital skills, being aware of their digital footprint, communicate and problem solve using a variety of digital platforms. Digital literacies enable learners to become increasingly creative, innovative and empowered in their own learning. As an educator, I am keenly aware of the necessity of learners to have strong digital literacy skills that can support them successfully in the 21st century. I also recognize that as demands and education pedagogy changes, I too must work on taking further steps, no matter how challenging the trail may be, to continue developing my own digital learning skills to support my learners in their learning processes.   

The What, When, and Why of BC’s Digital Literacy Framework:

Tim Winklemans, a member of BC’s Ministry of Education, recently presented BC’s Digital Literacy Framework,  to our EDCI- 572 class, which was created in 2015, for the purpose of providing educators with “ an overview of the digital literacy skills and strategies.” scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca The skills highlighted in the document were to serve as a guide for BC educators to follow and integrate into the K-12 curriculum, thereby facilitating “the types of knowledge and skills that learners need in order to be successful in today’s technological world.”scarfedigital sandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca. The provincial government at the time created a campaign that focussed on making learners’ technology skills highly developed and ready for the digital demands in both post-secondary and the working world. The document itself was designed from basic digital knowledge, as set forth by the National Education Technology Standards for learners, now known by the name International Society of Technology in Education or ISTE. The Ministry’s document describes digital literacy as the “interest, attitude and ability of individuals to use the digital technology tools appropriately.” www2.gov.bc.ca Furthermore, it identifies that digital literacy “takes learning beyond standard tests and enables learning that embraces digital spaces, content… resources and emphasizes that the process of learning is as important as the end product.” www2.gov.bc.ca As an educator, I concur with this last statement. Much like my mountain climbing metaphor, it is the invaluable experiences between the base and the summit, that lead you to your final destination.

The Ministry’s Digital Literacy Framework focuses on six categories and provides each category with respective learning outcomes, to be implemented within the BC K-12 curriculum. The specific areas of focus include Research Information Literacy; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making; Creativity and Innovation; Digital Citizenship; Communication and Collaboration; and Technology operations and Concepts. Although the document is detailed and provides clear learning outcomes, there were some areas of downfall, that as an educator, I noticed. Five specific areas that stood out to me, include 1) not all grades were listed in the sub-topics, in fact, some were left out, 2) there were no connections to any pre-Kindergarten education (or early childhood education) or the roles those educators could or already do support, 3) there was no specific connection to First Nations Curriculum or distinction around cultural traditions that may have not been ordinarily associated with technology, 4) there was no discussion or information given with respect to supporting the digital learning development of learners with special needs, and lastly, 5) there was no discussion around the fact that not every educator and learner has equal access and or support to technology learning tools. Furthermore, I thought that the physical layout could have been improved upon, by categorizing topic headings and outcomes by grade level, in addition to including exemplars to make the document more streamlined and user-friendly. Although the document does provide a wide range of skills, I do think the missing information could have been addressed, thereby making the document more encompassing, comprehensive and inclusive.  

My Connection to BC’s Literacy Framework: 

In spite of some of the areas I felt that the framework was lacking, it pushed me to think of how I could connect to it professionally and how I could use it to develop my own skills to enhance my teaching practices. More specifically, I concentrated on how it could sync with the expectations within my final master’s project, which I will be completing with my colleagues Andrew Vogelsang and Gary Soles. The focus of our project includes the examination of cross-curricular inquiry within a co-teaching environment and the incorporation of technology, to increase student motivation. Upon brainstorming with my partners, we co-created the chart below highlighting the connections we made with the BC Digital Learning Framework. We included the six categories and their corresponding grade-specific learning outcomes and added the activities learners will be completing to master the learning outcomes. 

Upon completion of our chart, we can clearly deduce that our project meets the digital requirements as set forth by the BC Ministry of Education in their Digital Literacy Framework documentation. Furthermore, it acts as a guide that can be used to encourage the implementation of various digital skills and technology to enhance learning in general.

BC Digital Literacy Framework	Learning Outcome	Student Activity
Research and Information Literacy	Locates, organizes, analyzes, evaluates, synthesizes and ethically uses information from a variety of sources and media. (Gr. 10-12) Integrates, compares and puts together different types of information related to multimodal content. (Gr. 10-12) Understands the different purposes and contexts of digital image editing. (Gr. 10-12) Integrates, compares and puts together different types of information related to multimodal content. (Gr. 10-12)  Structures, classifies, and organizes digital information/content according to a certain classification schemes or genres. (Gr. 10-12)	Learners complete an Inquiry Project on Truth and Reconciliation using various research sources (website/articles).  Upon completion of Inquiry, learners create a hand-drawn motif on paper (via knowledge from inquiry project), then transfer their design to Adobe Software then finally to Aspire.  Learners will then transfer their files via memory stick to the carpentry shop to upload the G-Code to the computer numerically controlled router (CNC machine).
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making	Creates complex models and simulations of the real world using digital information. (Gr. 10-12) Can program ranging from using block building code tools to a high-level programming language. (Gr. 10-12)	Learners will have a defined workspace in which to print their reflective motif. They will have to measure and design their section of the feather in both the carpentry shop and in the Aspire software.
Creativity and Innovation	Remixes different existing digital content into something new. (Gr. 10-12) Understands how meaning is produced through multimedia (text, images, audio, video) and how culture is produced through the Internet and social media in particular. (Gr. 10-12)	Learners will have to respect and attain permission to use any Indigenous symbology.  Learners will have to design around the artifact, if used, to make sure that the representations of the symbol are used correctly.
Digital Citizenship	Understands the legal and ethical dimensions of respecting creative work. (Gr. 10-12)  Distinguishes between taking inspiration from the creative work of others and appropriating that work without permission. (Gr. 10-12)	Learners using digital images will have to either design the images themselves or use creative commons licenced images.
Communication and Collaboration	Uses digital media to be part of a community. (Gr. 10-12)  Makes valuable contributions to the public knowledge domain (e.g. wikis, public forums, reviews). (Gr. 10-12) Is familiar with the meaning of terms commonly used in user manuals for the operation of hardware and the installation and configuration of software. (Gr. 10-12)  Troubleshoots systems and applications. (Gr. 10-12) Has a reasonable knowledge of available technologies, their strengths and weaknesses, and is able to make informed decisions about whether and how to use technologies to pursue personal goals. (Gr. 10-12)	Learners will be using digital media to create a permanent community project, that will represent the growth of our knowledge of Truth and Reconciliation as a community. Learners will have to troubleshoot both digital and technical issues that arise throughout the project.   Learners will have to evaluate the proper tools, both digital and physical, to create their vision.
Technology Operations and Concepts	Solves a theoretical or practical problem, of individual or collective interest, through or with the support of digital tools. (Gr. 10-12)  Solves technical problems and knows what to do when technology does not function. (Gr. 10-12)   Transfers current knowledge to learning new technologies. (Gr. 10-12)	Learners will have to collaborate collectively and work in a unified manner using the tools prescribed.    Learners can work around malfunctioning software and adapt by using similar yet different software.   Learners will be required to use the base functions of computer literacy from one program to another.

Chart Co-Created by Deirdre Houghton, Gary Soles and Andrew Vogelsang following the BC Digital Literacy Framework as our guideline.

Conclusion: 

As an educator, I am excited to see the growth of my learners being able to learn new skills that will be connecting and crossing over into three very diverse course areas, including Social Studies -10, Visual Arts and Computer Technology – 10, and Carpentry 10. The digital literacy skills that I will be developing throughout my course work and project, and in turn, bringing to my classroom, will hopefully encourage my learners to continue to develop their own skills, and further empowerment for them to use their new knowledge and carry it forward in their learning journies.

The video below is a brief introduction and explanation of the Truth and Reconciliation wall art project that our students will be creating in our cross-curricular, co-teaching environment that will be employing a variety of digital literacy skills.

References 

BC Ministry of Education. (2015). Digital Literacy Framework. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy-framework.pdf

ISTE Standards. (n.d.). ISTE. https://www.iste.org/standards

The UBC Digital Literacy Framework. (n.d.). The BC Digital Literacy Framework. Scarfe Digital Sandbox. https://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/the-bc-digital-literacy-framework/ 

By Deirdre Houghton