LIBE 477: Reading Review: Part B: Exploring Digital Literacy and Media Literacy

    As I began searching for sources related to the keywords and topics I had identified in my previous post, I also began to realize the vast scope of the topics I had selected, and the need to narrow down the focus of my research. In Part A: Exploring Keywords, I had identified the following keywords and topics for my initial exploration:

• Digital Literacy
• Internet Safety
• Media Literacy
• Evaluation and Critique of Online Resources
• Personal Learning Networks
• Social Media Connections

    After spending what was supposed to be a 1-2 hour search for resources (it turned into 4-5 very quickly!) I now have a much clearer understanding of these topics and their relation to student learning in the 21st-century. Although I learned that all of these topics are very much interconnected, I have selected several resources which I found to be critical to the development of my understanding of the topics of Digital Literacy and Media Literacy, and how as I as a teacher-librarian can support my elementary school colleagues and their students in the development of theses literacies.

BC's Digital Literacy Framework

Figure 1. 6 Characteristics of BC's Digital Literacy Framework. (Lim, 2020).

    I found this document to be exceptionally beneficial to my understanding of the components of digital literacy and how to integrate digital literacy activities into classroom practice. At the beginning of the document, a clear definition of digital literacy is stated, as provided by the BC Ministry of Education: the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others. (BC Ministry of Education, n.d.)

    This definition clearly aligns with my objective of helping students achieve the 21st-century knowledge and skills they require to effectively, safely and ethically utilize technology to support learning outcomes and objectives, thus reinforcing my need for further research on the topic of digital literacy and how I can foster student development of this literacy. The framework itself is composed of 6 components which highlight and further break down the specific knowledge and skills our students require to be successful in today's technological world. It even provides a breakdown of the age range at which each of these outcomes are ideally achieved, how they relate to the BC competencies and suggestions for classroom activities. Although I am currently teaching in Alberta and the BC competencies differ from those outlined by Alberta Education, there is clear overlap between the two, making it simple to adapt this framework to align with the Alberta competencies. Although Alberta has a Learning and Technology Policy Framework, which touches on digital literacy, I found the BC Digital Literacy Framework to be much more practical and specific to digital literacy with clear guidelines for implementation.

The Six Components of BC's Digital Literacy Framework

    I also found this video (scroll to bottom of page) through UBC which provides a summary explanation of each of the 6 components of the framework, as well as each of the subcategories. I found this video to be helpful as it identifies areas of the curriculum through which each component may be integrated. It also provides some real life examples of how these components affect our students personal lives, such as through social media and how we can educate our students to be safe, ethical users of technology.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE):

    After familiarizing myself with BC's Digital Literacy Framework, I decided to look at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) website, as the framework was based on the National Education Technology Standards for Students developed by ISTE. This website offers a wealth of information in regards to technology in education, including online courses and workshops for educators (which I hope to explore further in the future). For my research, I chose to look at a collection of articles and blogs under the category "digital and media literacy". These articles cover a wide range of topics in regards to digital literacy and media literacy such as digital citizenship, fact checking, fake news, online safety, navigating YouTube and podcasts for research, social media, personal learning networks and more. Each of the articles are written concisely and offer practical suggestions for educators, links to additional sources and other sites that educators can base lessons and activities on, along with ready to use materials such as the following infographic:

Figure 2. Media Literacy Infographic. (ISTE, 2017).

    One article which I found to be very helpful in developing my understanding of how to teach students about media literacy is entitled, Media literacy starts with SEARCHing the internet. This article explains how educators can use the acronym SEARCH to teach students a series of steps to follow when using the internet to conduct research. Each of the letters of the acronym addresses an important component of conducting online research, and guides students through the process of locating, analyzing and evaluating information. The article provides helpful suggestions for how teachers can help their students develop an understanding of each step, along with practical examples of how students can practice applying these steps when conducting research.

                                        Select keywords
                                        Evaluation
                                        Add quotation marks or Boolean terms
                                        Refine results
                                        Check the URL
                                        Hunt for important information

Best Practices in Teaching Digital Literacy: The Beginning, Acting, Telling (BAT) Model: A Visual Framework for Teaching Digital Literacy through Inquiry and Information Seeking

    I found a book entitled Best Practices in Teaching Digital Literacy through the UBC Library Database, as I was searching for ways that I might use inquiry based learning opportunities to help my students develop digital literacy skills. From the collection of articles included in the book, I chose to focus on the article entitled The Beginning, Acting, Telling (BAT) Model: A Visual Framework for Teaching Digital Literacy through Inquiry and Information Seeking. The BAT model described in the article uses "visual cues and mnemonic to present stages and actions of the research process [as this] helps students to better conceptualize the research process" (Nesset & McVee, 2018, para. 1). The BAT model includes three stages, Beginning, Acting and Telling. The Beginning stage is primarily instructional, and aims to prepare students for the following stages which are more self-directed. The Acting stage is student centred and focuses on inquiry and the search for information through six key actions. Each action is explained as it pertains to digital literacy. It includes helpful suggestions for selecting search engines, selecting sources, evaluating online information and how to analyze the quality and relevance of multimodal information. The Telling stage is also student centred and involves interpreting, integrating, referencing and presenting. To support this stage, the article offers practical suggestions for encouraging accountability and integrity by teaching students about proper citations and references.

Figure 3. BAT Model. (Nesset & McVee, 2018).

Edutopia: Teaching Digital Citizenship in the Elementary Classroom

    This blog post I found on Edutopia through a simple Google search, discusses our students need for online safety and digital citizenship skills inside and outside the classroom. As many students, including elementary aged students are engaging in online gaming and social networks, the author discusses how we as educators can facilitate student practice and development of digital citizenship skills through various online tools that incorporate social features. The author describes how she used several different online tools with her students to teach them how to write blogs and how to comment and use discussion forums. Through these hands on activities, her students gained valuable insight in regards to digital footprints, cyberbullying and how to deal with negativity online. In addition to explaining ways in which educators might engage in similar activities with their own classes, the author also provides a collection of links to online tools educators may use to support these activities.


References:

BC Ministry of Education. BC’s Digital Literacy Framework [Ebook]. Government of British Columbia. Retrieved 20 September
    2020, from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/teaching-tools/digital-literacy-
    framework.pdf.

Lim, J. (2020). 6 Characteristics of BC's Digital Literacy Framework [Image]. Retrieved 24 September 2020, from
    https://scarfedigitalsandbox.teach.educ.ubc.ca/the-bc-digital-literacy-framework/.

Nesset, V., & McVee, M. (2018). The Beginning, Acting, Telling (Bat) Model: A Visual Framework for
    Teaching Digital Literacy through Inquiry and Information Seeking. In E. Ortlieb, E. Cheek, Jr. & P.
    Semingson, Best Practices in Teaching Digital Literacies. Emerald Publishing Limited. Retrieved 22
    September 2020, from https://www-emerald-
    com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/S2048-0458201809.

Nesset, V., & McVee, M. (2018). BAT Model [Image]. Retrieved 25 September 2020, from https://www-
    emerald-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/insight/proxy/img?
    link=/resource/id/urn:emeraldgroup.com:asset:id:article:10_1108_S2048-
    045820180000009012/urn:emeraldgroup.com:asset:id:binary:S2048-045820180000009012-F14-
    001.jpg.