Digital Literacy

After plotting my use of digital technologies over the week, I have found that I don’t use technology for much other than communication, school, and reading news. My technological resources include a laptop computer, an I-pad, and a smart phone, each of which I use on a daily bases. I have learned that when I am using my laptop, I am checking mail, reading news from NPR, visiting blackboard for any updates on class information, and doing homework. Most of the time spent on my computer is spent reading the news. The I-pad I use is very convent for email communications. In fact, I find it so convent that it has become my main source for email. I occasionally play games, check out some new apps or surf the web, but email is my main use of this item. Even though I have a smart phone, I have noticed that I really don’t use it form much. I make phone calls to family, and answer texts from family as well. Occasionally checking my bank account information or an email is the entire web I use.

After considering how I use the web, and assuming my students will be more excited about the use of social networking, which I do once a month maybe, I have come up with some ways that my students and I can use the web. I plan to encourage students to peruse reading news articles related to science in my classroom. A group on Facebook can be utilized so that students can communicate with one another about any homework questions and comments they may have. The students will also have access to one of my emails for any questions on homework or the class that they might have.

Required Synthesis of Course

Over the time I have spent studying literacy education, I have come to terms with the importance of literacy and literacy education outside of the traditional language arts classroom setting. As a science teacher, I find it important to have a focus on science literacy in my classroom. This includes knowing how to read and write scientific papers, how to discern bias in scientific news articles, how to communicate scientific information orally, the functions of professional scientific communities, and how to locate information as needed. I plan to incorporate this learning in my classroom by using the IMSCI model to teach students how to write scientific papers. I will model and allow students to work themselves to identify biases in scientific articles, and I will incorporate frequent classroom discussion in order to build students oral language skills and encourage the use of content specific vocabulary. I will use various texts in the class to present the diversity of the scientific community, and to address the diversity of students (interests, cultures, and background information levels). Students will be able to experience the field of science through inquiry labs designed to model and recreate the work and trials scientists do, but with a guide (teacher) to help the students along the way.