Entering the Digital Universe

The Universe. Retrieved from IMAX.

            The universe is vast and constantly expanding – sometimes it is far too overwhelming to even grasp how tremendous it is. As much as we try, humans will never fully be able to understand each planet, star, and crevice that exists within space because it does not fit nicely into a set of boundaries that can be easily explained. So, you are probably wondering: How does the universe relate to the digital world? It is simple really: the digital “universe” never stops growing. People are constantly creating new digital innovations and adding to the expansive digital world, whether it is through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Blogger, or any other website thats sole purpose is to share – this recognition can cause fear in people, and in the context of this blog post, in teachers. A core part of being a teacher is being able to provide the opportunities for their student’s to be able to constantly grow and to learn about the world, with one aspect of that including becoming digitally literate. Many teachers fear that they are not capable of providing their students with the proper skills to properly navigate and use technology or to teach them how to create using various digital tools, and this fear is only amplified with the fast changing nature of the digital universe.

            Luckily for you, reader, the purposes of this blog is to not make you afraid or back away from creating classrooms of students that are capable of being digitally literate – I am here to provide some insight into questions, such as: How can a teacher, who is afraid of technology, become digitally literate? And, how can I keep up with the constantly changing digital universe? Becoming digitally literate and being able to teach your students to be digitally literate does not have to be a terrifying endeavour, nor do you need to understand every crevice and aspect of the digital universe – just like the actual universe, people have been able to learn a lot about its vastness and what it encompasses, but humans continually are not put down by the fact that it is always growing, but rather, their willingness to learn is what allows them to grow as learners.

            The video above, created by the University of Derby, provides a comprehensive description of what digital literacy is and why it matters, briefly discussing from topics about why we need to be able to navigate technology and the importance of being a good digital citizenship.

Beginning with the first question: How can a teacher become digitally literate? In order to help students become digitally literate, you first need a foundation of developing your own digital literacy skills because you cannot teach your students something that you do not know – and if you pretend that you do, your students will know you are pretending.  The three key aspects that I personally believe can help any teacher become digitally literate is by having true enthusiasm to want to learn new skills, engaging in professional development, and the willingness to collaborate (with colleagues and students). These three aspects provide a solid foundation for learning any of the literacies because it means you: 1) Want to grow professionally and you are okay with straying away from traditional teaching approaches, and 2) are going to have a solid support system that will make becoming digitally literate a lot less scary. Speaking with your colleagues should be the first step you take in learning about digital literacy – it is likely that at least one of your colleagues is digitally literate and will have some tips for you, such as a list of resources, that can be a good start for you to learn about what digital literacy is and have concrete examples of it. 

Digital Literacy Umbrella. Retrieved from Media Smarts.

Furthermore, learning with your students can be one of the most beneficial ways for a teacher to become digitally literate (Campbell & Parr, 2013) since it is likely that your students will understand how to use digital tools far better than you can – implementing an activity such as Allies and Aliens: A Mission in Critical Thinking, where students are meant to explore through a digital tool how to recognize bias and prejudice thus, providing them with a foundation to recognize the perspectives that they may encounter in the digital world. This type of activity teaches your students important skills that will allow them to be digitally literate and navigate the digital world critically, but it also works as a learning activity for the teacher – working together with your students in digital activities allows for discussions around why digital literacy is important and the skills that both the teacher and students need to develop in order to become digitally literate. 

The end of this blog is going to address the second question of: How can teachers keep up with the constantly changing digital universe? Well, in a surprising turn of events, the answer is essentially the same to the last question. There is not one single teacher that can simply become digitally literate about every aspect of the growing digital universe, but through professional development activities, collaborating with your students and colleagues, and being enthusiastic about always learning, you are encompassing the multiple variables that will allow you to successfully keep up-to-date on important digital concepts that will allow you and your students to continue learning. Ultimately, through your passion to learn and teach, you will never be afraid to jump into the constantly expanding digital universe and neither will your students.

References:

Campbell, T. & Parr, M. (2013). Mapping today’s literacy landscapes: Navigational tools and

            practices for the journey. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(2), 131-140.

            doi: 10.1002/JAAL.203

Dismantling Multicultural Literacy: Escaping Eurocentrism

           Before delving in and deconstructing the problematic aspects of multicultural literacy, you must first address the question: What exactly is multicultural literacy? Ideally, it is a type of literacy that creates an environment where the differences that exist between people are valued, understood, and appreciated – rather than trying to limit various cultures and people to the similarities that exist between cultures, it allows for their differences to be fully embraced. Furthermore, this quote from the Ministry of Education (2009) provides insight into the importance held in regards to implementing multiculturalism within the education system:

“To achieve an equitable and inclusive school climate, school boards and schools will strive to ensure that all members of the school community feel safe, comfortable, and accepted. We want all staff and students to value diversity and to demonstrate respect for others and a commitment to establishing a just, caring society.” (p. 10).

Both of these definitions and understandings of multicultural literacy seem to be ideas that people can get behind: creating an educational environment that promotes and encourages diversity. So, what is the problem? Why is the way multicultural literacy implemented into the classroom problematic? Well, the answer is complex – the major issue is that the way multiculturalism has been applied into the education system is based off of Eurocentric values and beliefs, creating a system that does not bother to truly integrate other cultures into the classroom environment. Boutte (2008) describes clearly the issue with how multiculturalism has been applied in the school system, “Multiculturalism is often valued conceptually versus practically and efforts to address diversity issues are frequently superficial.” (p. 169). This quote provides a valuable addition to the discussion of multiculturalism within schools – when schools do attempt to implement a multicultural aspect into the curriculum, its through events such as “Diversity/Culture/Country Day!” where students are made to create bulletin boards or some other type of project showing a limited perspective of a specific culture. The reason these types of events are questionable at best, and ignorant at the worst, is that it is not truly integrating multiculturalism in the curriculum; instead it is taking one day out of the entire school year to put on a façade that the school cares about other cultures – when in reality, every other day of the year is dripping with Eurocentrism in each topic students are made to learn, and does nothing to actively implement different cultural ideals into the curriculum.

What's wrong with a Diversity Day? Retrieved from Portland State University

From my experience within the education system in Ontario, the curriculum itself needs to be re-written. No longer should it be acceptable to have a curriculum that solely has Eurocentric ways of understanding the world embedded within it – this does nothing to benefit children from different cultures and ignores the vital importance that multicultural literacy has within the classroom. Furthermore, referring back to the example about Diversity Day’s – it is not good enough to solely just discuss diversity through a one-dimensional perspective, only focusing on the different foods each culture has or very few cultural practices, schools need to go beyond this and unpack the heart of the issue. The purpose of multicultural literacy is to thoroughly engage with the differences of the students and the world, looking at systems of oppression, and fighting for ways to change it. How can we expect our students to become literate in multiculturalism if we do not provide the opportunities for them within the classroom and if their teachers are not able to be reflective on their own biases and perceptions? Redefining the way we implement multicultural literacy will allow students to thrive in ways that were not available to them before. As a women who is white and born into a middle class family from Canada, my understanding of multiculturalism may have biases that still need to be unpacked and changed, yet I do take the time to reflect on my beliefs and the questionable biases apparent within those beliefs - an action that all teachers should participate in order to create a truly multicultural environment within their classrooms.

References:

Boutte, G. S. (2008) Beyond the illusion of diversity: How early childhood teachers

            can promote social justice. The Social Studies, 99(4), 165-173. 

Ministry of Education. (2009). Realizing the promise of diversity: Ontario's equity

            and inclusive education strategy. Retrieved

            from https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/equity.pdf

What Does Critical Literacy Reveal?

            As a future teacher, becoming literate is vital – in reference to 21^st century literacies, a teacher should be literate in each and every one. By doing this, a teacher will be capable of developing the most optimal and engaging classroom environment for their students to learn in. The reality of the situation is that becoming literate in a multitude of ways is not as simple as stating, “I want to be [insert 21st century literacy here] literate!” Instead, in order to develop into a literate teacher and be able to have an in-depth understanding of each of the literacies, you must be able to reflect on who you are, what you know, and where your beliefs stem from – you must learn to be critical.

Retrieved from East Georgia State College

Critical literacy is only one of ten 21^st century literacies, yet from my own personal view, it is one of the most important ones to be able to engage with – as both a student and a teacher. A quote that accurately describes and pinpoints the purpose of critical literacy is written by Jones (2006):

“Critical literacy allows a person to see beyond the familiar and comfortable and involves an understanding that language, practices and texts are always informed by ideologies, beliefs, and perspectives, whether conscious or otherwise.”

This quote undresses the intricacies of critical literacy – it tells us that in order to be critical, you must be capable of reflecting on who you are as a person and, within the context of this blog post, as a teacher. Every part of the world that we engage with is shrouded in certain biases, beliefs, viewpoints, and perspectives. By ignoring the underlying messages that exists within everything that is created and anything that a person does, we are doing an injustice to others and ourselves. As critically literate teachers, being able to help students unwrap the true meaning of a text provides endless opportunity – by getting students to recognize that biases exist in everything, we are giving them the chance to engage with information on an entirely new level that differs greatly from what we see at the surface.

Self-Reflection. Retrieved from The Creative Organization

            Even though critical literacy refers to being able to identify the biases that exist within text and be able to see what they are really saying, we need to take a step back and recognize what is needed in order to be critical. Being critical of the world around you first begins by being critical of yourself. By acknowledging our own privilege and/or oppression allows us to put our beliefs and values into perspective – for example, I am a white middle class woman living in Canada in university to become a teacher. All of the aspects of myself I have just listed provide me with varying privileges that I would not recognize unless I look at my life critically, such as the benefits that being white, middle class, and able to go to university provides me with. In contrast, being a woman interacts with the privileges I do have by potentially lowering the value of that privilege as a result of common sexist beliefs that exist within society. Ultimately, all of these factors influence who I am and inform my worldview, and to be critical of yourself is to first, be able to recognize this. As a teacher, it is vital to be able to recognize where my privilege lies because as someone who may one day become an authority figure to children, I will be influencing a certain generation of students and would do a disservice to their learning if I did not recognize where my weaknesses and biases lay. How are you able to teach students to be critical of different texts and literature if you are not able to be critical of yourself?

            Another aspect of critical literacy I want to delve into is the principle that being critically literate provides you with the opportunity to be able to identify varying perspectives that are apparent within a piece of information and to also recognize those who are silenced and ignored in the process. For example, when examining a book that is read in English class such as Lord of the Flies, you can view it from multiple perspectives. What is this book saying? What perspectives is it including? What voices are not being heard? What is the underlying meaning of the story? By posing problems for students to think about when reading a text beyond surface level aspects of a book such as characters and setting, students will be able to reveal the intricacies of what the book is actually saying and allow them to understand what the authors intended goal was in creating this book.

            Overall, being critically literate as a teacher provides a whole new dynamic to the classroom that has not been readily available for students for as long as education has existed. The traditional dynamic of the classroom reflects a relationship that is based off of power imbalances – the teacher knows best/everything and the students need to understand everything just as the teacher does. This view is problematic in a variety of ways, as has been discussed throughout this blog post, and by emphasizing the importance of being critical of oneself and of the information that surrounds us in this world, the traditional way of teaching can be changed to something that acknowledges the biases that each individual has and creates a form of learning that forces us to look deeper into everything we do instead of taking everything at face value.

References:
Jones, S. (2006). Girls, social class, and literacy: What teachers can do to make a difference. 
             Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

21st Century Literacies: Now and in the Future

            I have not posted a proper introduction on my blog since making it back in September, so hello! My name is Christina and currently I am a teacher in the making – being in my fourth year of my teaching degree has taught me a lot and also made me realize I have plenty to learn before getting into my own classroom.   

            A new term that has been popping up in my education classes recently is one that has not been around for an overly long period of time – 21^st century literacy. The development of new technologies and having new ways of understanding the world calls for a shift in understanding what education is and what it looks like. By letting education stagnate and not grow alongside the needs of the 21st century learner is doing a great injustice to students – deeper learning is vital for students and developing their 21^st century literacy skills is where progress within the educations system needs to begin. Before implementing and teaching 21^st century literacy skills in the classroom, the first step we need to do is understand what 21^st century literacies are and the skills attached to it.

            The main issue with 21^st century literacy skills is that having a concrete definition of it is quite a complex problem that has not yet been solved. Since it is a relatively new term in the world of education, there is no single definition; rather, it encompasses a range of multiple things that can potentially encompass what 21^st century literacy skills truly are. The best definition I was able to find comes from the writings of Drake, Reid, and Kolohon (2014):

“Various frameworks define the skills considered necessary for life in the twenty-first century. These skills include complex interdisciplinary skills such as communication, higher-order thinking skills, design and construction (creativity), as well as disciplinary

literacies and new literacies.” (p. 175).

The reason as to why I believe this definition does a great job on explaining the intricacies of 21^st century literacy skills is because it integrates being able to use skills such as communication and creativity, but delves deeper into acknowledging that 21^st century literacy skills encompass various forms of other literacies that are placed under the umbrella term of 21^st century literacy.

21st Century Bicycle - Retrieved from Trilling and Fadel (2009)

Students are learning in unique ways that differ greatly to how they used to learn with the develop of the internet and new technology that helps facilitate deeper learning – no longer is literacy simply understanding how to read and write, but 21^st century literacy involves a plethora of new ways of understanding and accessing information. Several new literacies that have developed as a result of 21^st century literacies include: critical literacy, media literacy, financial literacy, and mental health literacy. All of these new forms of literacies are a necessity for 21^st century learners to understand because they all come together in different ways that being able to interpret these multiple literacies allow us to live out our daily lives with the ability to understand the information that we have access to.

New Literacies. Image made by myself on Canva.

For myself personally, gaining a more in-depth understanding of 21^st century literacies and being able to become a 21^st century teacher who is capable of helping students become 21^st century learners will be an exhilarating process and also be a huge learning curve for me from the way I recall traditionally being taught. 21^st century literacy is a new term that over time will develop a concrete meaning, but for now, is a term that both teachers and students alike need to delve into together and create meanings that reflect the values of what it means to be someone living in the 21^st century. Throughout this next semester of my degree, I hope to be able to understand more thoroughly what 21^st century literacies are and be able to unlock the value that new literacies hold for myself as a future teacher and for the students I will teach in the future.

References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom

            Assessment: Engaging the 21^st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University

            Press.