I was browsing the internet and came across the article titled “Literacy Technology in the Elementary Classroom, A Quick Look at the Possibilities” by Ira Socol. The article talks about how literacy is extremely important and schools in America need to put more emphasis on it because many students are not learning as much as they should. Socol explores technology as a possibility for boosting students’ proficiency in literacy. Teachers can use software and websites that read to children at different levels. These computer games and websites can help with skill-building and comprehension as well. ESL learners can also benefit from these programs because stories can be read in different languages as well as half English and half Spanish or another language. Check out the article here.
Posts Tagged ‘literacy’
Literacy and Technology Linked
According to Cynthia L. Selfe in her article “Literacy and Technology Linked: The National Project to Expand Technological Literacy,” technological literacy–meaning computer skills and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance–has become as fundamental to a person’s ability to navigate through society as traditional skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic. If this is true, technological literacy needs to be taught in schools as aggressively as language arts and mathematics. Along with aiding traditional literacy instruction, computers can reduce unnecessary labor associated with writing and alleviate teacher workloads as well.
Students working with laptops in the Classroom
In 1993, an official national challenge to expand technological literacy was launched in America’s schools, homes, and workplaces, called the Technology Literacy Challenge. If students’ technological literacy becomes strong and more advanced, they will have a greater opportunity for good jobs with higher incomes in the future. Rather than being stranded with only traditional literacy training, they will fit into a world that runs on technology.
“Literacy instruction is now inextricably linked with technology,” says Selfe. The solution is simple, right? If computers are integrated into school curriculums, students will be given the technological instruction they need to survive in a world that cannot function without computers. If only it were that easy. Although 98 percent of all schools own at least some computers (Coley, Crandler, and Engle 29) there are many minority and low socioeconomic educational institutions that cannot afford any or enough computers for their students. Also, the more computers are integrated into schools and curriculums, the more students will have a need for computers in their homes, another costly expense for families.
It seems to me that the problem with the Technology Literacy Challenge, is that it is not hitting the places that need the most help. Although some Americans have benefitted, it has not benefitted all students, such as poor students or colored students who do not have sufficient text books, let alone computers in their schools. I believe this project to expand technological literacy should benefit those with the most need first, before those students who may already have access to computers in their own homes. My suggestion…work from the bottom up.
Above picture was taken from http://edseminars.apple.com/seminars/event.php?eventID=11
Inevitable Technology
If you are planning to be a teacher, that is great! Maybe you dream of decorating your classroom, or making countless lesson plans, or bringing in 3D models made of Styrofoam for your class to ponder over. This is all well and good. But if you are planning to avoid technology and the use of computer and video games in the classroom, then it is probably best that you rethink your classroom dynamics. Just breathe in and take the news bluntly from Cynthia Selfe:
“For teachers, literacy instruction is now inextricably linked with technology.”
Moreover,
“Technology has become part of our responsibility, whether we like it or not.”
(4-5, Literacy and Technology Linked)
As future and current educators, we all have to face our fears and hardships on the computer and overcome them. Things are only going to become more complicated as technology advances. Because children are exposed to so much stimulation from television, video games, computer games, cell phones, and internet activities, we have to compete for their attention while they are sitting for hours in our classrooms. One way to do this, as James Gee explains in What Video Games Have to Teach Us, is to use interactive computer and video games in the classroom. He argues that such games are not a waste of time if the children/students are lead to participate in and master the arts of critical learning and thinking. A game example he used was called Pikmin. In the game, the player has to overcome monsters and other various physical obstacles while looking for pieces of his wrecked spaceship. The player has to remember and apply the different strengths of the native creatures, Pikmin, that have agreed to help the player through his journey in order to overcome the challenges presented. Gee mirrors this gaming process with the science learning process in schools-
“Such learning-just like Pikmin-encourages exploration, hypothesis testing, risk taking, persistence past failure, and seeing ‘mistakes’ as new opportunities for progress and learning.”
(37, What Video Games Have to Teach Us)
Teachers have to get their students excited and involved by reaching into their worlds. Using technology is an easy way to do so because it is usually so readily available. But there are some underprivileged students who do not have computers or such games at home. We then have a further responsibility to utilize class time effectively, because some students may not be able to practice certain tasks at home. Regardless of any situation as Selfe explains in Literacy and Technology Linked, we fail if we do not introduce and teach all children about technological literacy (7).
by Linsey Snyder
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