Teaching Information Literacy (Tips and Resources) & Media Literacy
The first article broke down the topics according to imporant areas of concern in most classrooms. It is so important to teach kids how to differentiate between good and bad websites. I though the QUICK site was an excellent student friendly guide to use with our students to help them understand what to look for when searching for information on the Internet. I have had a few instances of plagiarism in the past, and it just breaks my heart to know that the child had to stoop that low to turn in an assignment. Usually, they just ran out of time and thought instead of coming to me for help, that cheating would be the easy way out. It all goes back to reading comprehension. If a child is reading something that is above their reading level, then of course they will have difficulties making any common connections with the text. This article said that if students "understand what they are reading, it will help them paraphrase" the cited text into their own words. This is a crucial step that I know I will have to work more on with my upcoming class.
Reading Information Literacy: Strategies for Developing Informed Decision Makers and Independent Lifelong Learners
Literacy is constantly changing, because our use of staying informed on a daily basis has gone beyond just reading the morning paper. People not only read for information, but listen to talk radio, read BLOGS, listen to the news on tv, etc. All of these different forms of literacy require different skills. We need to teach out kids how to be "literate in a technical world". Because things are contantly changing, we must always be prepared for change, which also means we are constantly learning. I agree with Alvin Toffler's quote, "students need to be information literate, lifelong learners." In this day in age, we are learning something new every day that we can hopefully apply to our own lives (aka...this class!). Toffler also states that the definition of illiterate is changing. Illiterate is "those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." The educators in our schools who refuse to learn new teaching strategies (i.e. technology) or new ways to reach all of our learners (i.e. learning modalities) will soon become illiterate. In order for learning to be legitimate, we have to think about what it is we want our kids to know and formulate our questions (higher level: Bloom's) off of our objective. This article specifically discussed specific learning outcomes for different age bands. The outcomes always start with the basics (speaking and listening) and our goal is to get them to write and represent their ideas in a new and creative way (technology based). Because education is constantly changing to better the learning of the students, it is up to us (the educators) to continue to take professional development courses and to not become the "illiterate" bunch who have become set in their ways.
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2 comments:
I often feel like my grandfather when speaking of the "good ole' days" with my students. Our world is just not the same! We no longer live in a world where we have to get up off of the couch to turn the channel or flip the tape because the music stopped playing. Our lives are much more complicated and as a result our teaching has become more so too! I think you make a great point about kids needing different skills for different types of literacy in the techno-world. And the most troubling thing is, there are many adults out there with much less skill in the computer world department than I! And they have kids too! How are kids supposed to learn all of these skills (and be equivalent to one another in the work force) if there are no chances for exposure to technological advancements either at home or in our techno-defunct schools? It's a bit of a quandry we have on our hands, don't you think?
I think that, in the instances where a kid has plagiarized in my classroom, the student actually thought that it was totally okay for them to do that. They looked totally and completely shocked and amazed that this was not acceptable. That's when I knew that I really needed to drive it into the ground how important it was to cite information. Before we research, the students now have so much information and experience with how to paraphrase a piece of text into their own words.
I totally agree with what you said about students understanding of the text leads to better paraphrasing. So true! This is when it becomes very important for us as educators to make sure we choose age appropriate web sites for students to search.
Regarding your other article that you read, about creating informed, lifelong learners. Sometimes, I'm dragged, kicking and screaming to participate in something that I don't want to learn. It is when I am informed about the importance of learning something that I really want to make it important for me.
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