Digital Literacies

I found the articles about Digital Literacies and HOT blogging to be very interesting to me. I found that I agreed with most of what the authors had to say. In the digital literacies I agree that using technology within the classroom is meant as a benefit to our students. Today most students are using those same technologies outside the classroom, however they are not be utilized in the classroom. I believe this does have a lot to do with the fact that many teachers do not know how to use these technologies and they do not have the resources to do so. Teachers, if they could be taught how, I believe would use these technologies in the the classroom. 

I also agree that when using the internet a whole different concept of reading is brought up. Students do have new challenges when reading online. They are not able to physically touch and hold what they are reading so I think that, that does play a role. However there are many online resources to help students read and I think that if teachers were able to better tap into that more students would be successful. 

Lastly with the digital literacies article that ties into the HOT blogging as well. I agree that using technology does equal the playing field between students. If we teach students to use technology, no matter what their home life is, they will all have the skills they need to succeed in todays society. In the HOT blogging article I agreed that if we use things like blogging students can learn many skills like reading, writing, typing and how to use the internet. All of which are useful 21st century skills. 

 

Developing Literacy for Learning: Digital Literacies

Developing Literacy for Learning: Digital Literacies: "Please discuss the two articles about blogging and digital literacies here..."

I thought that the articles on digital literacies and HOT blogging were very interesting. In the Digital Literacies article the authors stated, “It behooves each of us to seriously consider how best to weave together old, new, and future literacies so that young people leave school literate in the ways of school and in the ways of the world.” I think that this idea is crucial. Today’s society is constantly changing and growing more and more dependent on technology. While I think that it is important embrace the digital age I also think it is important to continue educating students with traditional print literacies. We should provide students with the opportunity to explore both practices and to intertwine them in order to create the most meaningful learning experiences. The authors also discussed the idea that digital technologies in schools should be driven by educational purposes. I completely agree with this idea. The purpose of a school is to educate students therefore practices within the school should reflect that. I enjoyed the article on HOT blogging. I was first introduced to blogging in my Children’s Literature class and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I thought it was confusing at first and if I couldn’t figure it out, how could I expect my students to? After more experience with blogging and reading the article I think that this is a tool that I will use in my own classroom. I think that it is a great way for student to express ideas and opinions and to communicate with others in a way that provides a meaningful learning experience. I think that students would have fun blogging about their own ideas and responding to those of others. I really liked the idea about a showcase blog. This is a great way to acknowledge student’s accomplishments and expose students to a wider audience.