LIBE 477 Reading Review Blog #3
In my last post where I focused on finding and
examining resources for my inquiry, I have found 5 sources. These sources are
relevant to the topics I will be examining further in this course: digital
literacy and inquiry, social media accounts for schools, and social media for
student learning. In each paragraph that discusses the inquiry topic, I will
describing how particular sources are relevant to the topic, how these pieces
of literature discuss the topic, and if there are any absence of topics in each
literature. At the end, I will reflect on my key learnings from these sources
and what I will take away for my future inquiry.
Digital Literacy and Inquiry
Dwiyasa’s article,
“Analysis of information Processing Capabilities and Digital Data on Digital
Literacy Skills of Elementary School Students,” is very relevant to this topic
since the main subject focuses on digital literacy. The article defines digital
literacy and how important it is to teach such skills to students as young as
elementary grades. Dwiyasa states, “ Digital
literacy is important
for students, they
are to understand,
have creativity, have confidence, and
have a critical
attitude in consuming
information or news,
so that students can avoid
incorrect information” (29). The author also lists the skills in digital
literacy that students need for the 21st century which is rapidly
growing in technology and online engagement. For instance, one of these skills
that Dwiyasa defines is “Digital
information and data
processing [which] is an
ability to collect, organize, filter, and evaluate
digital information and data by utilizing digital media such as the internet on
laptops and mobile phones to obtain information effectively” (29). The article
shows what happens with supporting evidence if a school doesn’t have the technology
or the instruction to teach students digital literacy. Dwiyasa has discovered “that students
have difficulty accessing information
on various digital platforms,
another obstacle experienced
by students is
the absence of
computer or laptop facilities
so that students are
not accustomed to accessing
software, resulting in a lack of
digital literacy skills in processing digital information and data” (29-30). This
source not only defines digital literacy for me, but also shows me what happens
when students do not have the digital literacy skills which poses a hazard for
their future. I have learned that there needs to be more educators instructing
digital literacy to children at young ages so they can be responsible and safe
online. This literature talks a lot about digital literacy while discussing
some skills related to inquiry, though the word inquiry itself is not
mentioned.
Trevor MacKenzie in his video, Newsletter: Starting the Year in Inquiry, is also relevant by focusing on inquiry and how to develop this instructional setting with students at the beginning of the school year. He explains that inquiry is not just checking boxes and making sure students complete assignments; to him, inquiry is a co-teaching, co-learning environment where students reflect and self-assess throughout the school year, taking charge of their learning with some modeling and guidelines by the educator. MacKenzie gives tips on how to start inquiry with a class, such as getting to know them and modeling what they will be doing throughout the year. This is useful to me for this topic since he explains that the skills seen in inquiry can be applied to any environment. He states, “They cross context, they transcend context. They’re not just skills for a particular class in school whether it is a math class, or science class, or an English class. These skills can be used in any scenario, in any context.” I would like to apply inquiry with digital literacy since it would be perfect for students as they use the library learning commons. This literature discusses inquiry a lot, but does not mention digital literacy, although MacKenzie mentioned inquiry can be applied to any subject and setting.
In the podcast,
“’We Want Them to Be Creators over Consumers,’” created by Josh Ochs with guest
speakers Dr. April Grace, Jamie Lewsadder, and Dr Alan Mucerino, the group
discusses how important it is to teach digital literacy to students. The guest
speakers are educators and district leaders who have years of experience in
teaching and researching various topics in regard to education. Lewsadder
states in the podcast, “Digital citizenship and literacy are key parts of our
program…we make sure we have lessons for kids to know the right ways to use the
tools around them, and also how to be creative, how to take risks, and do all
of that in a really safe space.” The speakers agree that teaching students the
tools and skills related to digital literacy is vital when children are using
social media constantly in their lives. Mucerino agrees that “[i]t has a lot to
do with training our students…more than just responsible use, it has a lot to
do with taking advantage of what it has to offer. But of course, you also have
to teach children that everything they read they shouldn’t believe. And how to
check your sources to make sure that what is read is accurate.” Although the
podcast is focused on social media used by children, this literature still
mentions digital literacy as a vital skill that teachers should be showing to
students. I’m glad to hear it from experienced educators who have taught
digital literacy before.
The BC Government has created a guide for teachers called “BC’s Digital Literacy Framework” on what content from digital literacy is appropriate to teach for each grade. The document provides a list of topics (such as information gathering, source analysis, digital citizenship, etc) that educators could instruct their students. The framework also includes curricular competencies such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity that applies to teaching digital literacy to students. The document provides descriptions of digital literacy goals and expectations that students will need to meet to develop these curricular competencies. For instance, for students to develop communication and collaboration competencies, their expectations are to “use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others” (8). As a teacher-librarian working in British Columbia, I will be referring to this framework often when developing digital literacy programs to make successful lessons for the students. This piece of literature was developed by the BC government to be a framework of instructing digital literacy. Inquiry isn’t the main topic; however, skills seen in inquiry can be applied to the framework as well.
Photo capture of BC Digital Literacy Framework on BC
government website
Social Media for Schools
The sources that I found for this topic are by Alyson Kenze and Josh Ochs.
Alyson Kenze has created a blog called “20 Tips for School Social Media” to provide tips and guidelines for teachers and administrators in creating and curating a school social media account. Since I would like the opportunity to run school social media accounts as a librarian, I found this blog helpful in learning the expectations and tools in setting up social media for schools. Kenze explains the reasons schools should have social media. She claims, “school social media is a great way to communicate with families and faculty — as well as boost your student enrollment, promote the daily happenings in your school, and build your school’s online brand and reputation.” Kenze also provides step-by-step guide to creating effective school-run social media:
1.
Set Goals for Your
School’s Social Media
2.
Audit Your
School’s Social Media
3.
Ensure the
Accuracy of Your School’s Information
4.
Choose Your
Primary Social Media Platforms for Your School
5.
Designate a School
Social Media Point Person
6.
Plan a School
Social Media Calendar
7.
Post Variety, Post
Consistently, Post Quality
8.
Gather
User-Generated Content for Your School
9.
Promote Your
School’s Social Media
10. Engage with Followers to Expand Your Reach
11. Use Data to Drive Social Media Decisions
12. Automate Your Posting
13. Run School Social Media Ads
14. Identify Your Best Posting Times
15. Reuse Content as Much as Possible
16. Target the Right Audience
17. Ask for Reviews
18. Create Facebook Groups for Current Families and
Graduates
19. Incorporate Social Media Into Your Emergency and
Crisis Communication Plan
20. Host Social Media Training for Staff
The blog provides examples of what to post, how to communicate through social media, and how to promote the school and its events. This photo of a school social media post is one of the examples that Kenze displays on the blog:
Kenze also highlights what is appropriate to post and
shows what responsible online interactions by a school looks like. This
literature focuses on social media for schools. My only wish is to see more
examples of library social media accounts on this blog; however, I believe the
advice provided by Kenze can be applied to librarians as well.
Link to blog: blog.schoolmint.com/20-tips-for-school-social-media
The guest speakers on the podcast talk little about
teachers using social media to communicate with the school community. Lewsadder
claims that their schools use social media as “open communication with parents [which]
is super important that we reach out as soon as possible and offer support.”
She continues, “And one of the ways we are able to do that is with smart
social. We can give the resources to parents as soon as they need to know what
is going on.” Grace agrees that social media for schools “helps you in a lot of
ways with promoting your school district and even students can be involved with
that.” The podcast speakers express different ways that school social media can
be used by teachers and administrators. They have opened my eyes to many
possibilities in using social media for my future schools. Although this
literature focuses mainly on social media for students, it still provides great
examples of experienced educators using social media for school accounts.
Social Media for Students
The sources that I have found to support this topic are by Dwiyasa, Ochs, and the BC government.
The podcast,
“’We Want Them to Be Creators over Consumers,’” created by Josh Ochs discusses
the positive and negative impacts of social media on students. They provide
advice on how to educate students regarding online interactions and its impact on
real life. As I have mentioned in my previous blog, I’m interested in the
possibilities of social media as a teaching tool to students. But as Grace has
said in the podcast, “social media social media is a blessing and a curse a bit.”
It is important that I learn the possible dangers associated with social media
for kids and how to educate them for their safety and privacy. The guest
speakers described some of the negative impacts of social media they have
experienced in their schools. In one example, Mucerino states, “last year we
had the devious links and it was throughout the school year” which led to “damage
we’ve had at our schools where [students] were crushing restrooms or doing
inappropriate touching.” Despite the warnings, the speakers also provide
solutions to these problems. Mucerino describes his response to the negative
happenings at schools:
The way we saw that problem is we use it as means to teach our students how to effectively utilize social media. We communicate with our families quite a bit. I write a weekly newsletter for families and I talk about these devious links and I talk about the damage we’ve had at our schools… So it’s really just about education with technology.
There is agreement among the speakers that educating students about social media is vital, as well as providing the support they need if something does happen. According to Lewsadder, “ Thinking about how to help our students use social media in a responsible way, in a way that benefits them and also support them, understanding what happens afterschool can spill over during the school day, is really important that our educators are super trained on what to look for …we really want to watch if someone is acting a bit off if something is going on, and be ready there to help them.” The speakers continued to speak of the positive impacts that social media has had on student education and empowerment. For instance, Mucerino states that students are great marketers of their schools, they protect each other through communication, and students are utilizing Tik Toks as a form of assessment for their teachers to prove that they have mastered the content. Lewsadder adds that her school offers opportunities for student to be creators, such as helping school staff design social media posts for school events. By allowing students to use social media for their school, Lewsadder states, “We show them that it is not just about the content that they are sharing with their friends, but it’s about building community. And building up places where you can make a change and help others.” These speakers offer great advice regarding social media as a tool for instruction and self-expression for students. This episode is one of many interesting podcasts on a useful teacher/parent resource website: Smart Social Podcast: Keeping Students Safe so They Can Shine Online. I will continue to listen to more episodes from this very helpful source. You can listen to the podcasts in the link below.
Link: https://smartsocialpodcast.com/
Image found on https://www.stunningmesh.com/2019/09/impact-of-social-media-on-students/
The journal article by Dwiyasa discusses social media in the context of digital media. The article provides several points on the importance of instructing digital media. Dwiyasa claims, “Digital media currently presents content in the form of audio, visual, audiovisual, and contextual so that it becomes something that cannot be separated in students' lives” (28). The article further describes digital media as a useful tool in education. For example, Dwiyasa states that “in reality, smartphones can now be used as digital media to improve the digital literacy skills of elementary school students” (30). For this topic, Dwiyasa highlights the skills from digital literacy that students need to know if they are to interact with social media. This article mainly focuses on convincing teachers to implement digital literacy in school lessons and showing results of what happens to students if the topic is not supported. However, one of the goals in teaching digital literacy is to provide students with the knowledge and tools when using the web for various reasons, including social media. We hope students master their skills in digital literacy so they can become successful creators and analyzers on social media.
The framework on teaching digital literacy from BC government covers social media and topics related to media literacy. The document discusses curricular competencies when students are developing their media literacy skills. For example, the competency of creativity is connected to students in grade 10-12 learning to “understand how meaning is produced through multimedia (text, images, audio, video) and how culture is produced through the Internet and social media in particular” (BC government, 3). Furthermore, the framework lists several topics relevant for students to learn and understand when they use social media, such as internet safety, privacy and security, relationships and communication, cyberbullying, digital footprint and reputation, self image and identity, creative credit and copyright, legal and ethical aspects, and lastly, technology mediated communication and collaboration (BC government, 3-8). Under the headlines of these topics related to social media, the framework shows educators what content is appropriate to instruct for each grade and what goals that grade needs to meet.
PDF link to BC Digital Framework:
Reflection
I have
generated a few key learnings and takeaways while exploring deeper in my interest
in learning more about digital literacy and inquiry, social media for teachers,
and social media for students.
1. 1. It is important to teach digital literacy to students at a young age. Then, when they’re in older grades, they will have the tools and knowledge when using social media in school for academic purposes.
2. 2. Inquiry would work
well in digital literacy instruction, giving students the ownership in their
learning and expression
3. 3. I’m now more
inclined to help schools build social media accounts with the tools and
knowledge that I have found, as well as excited to offer opportunities to
students to help with social media posts to promote their school community
4. 4. I would also use
the school’s social media to provide support and resources to families and
students who worry about social media or are dealing with negative experiences
that are impacting their lives.
Overall, I have found these sources helpful and
informative for my inquiry project. I’m learning more about how these topics
could impact my librarian career. I’m glad to have explored various sources,
not just journal articles. It is important to explore these topics from various
people who have different perspectives and experiences to provide. I plan to
move forward with this new bank of knowledge to further my understanding these
topics.
Works Cited
Dwiyasa, Arnelia, et al. “Analysis of information
Processing Capabilities and Digital Data on
Digital Literacy Skills of
Elementary School Students.” JURNAL PENDIDIKAN DASAR
NUSANTARA, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022, pp. 28– 37, https://doi.org/10.29407/jpdn.v8i1.18278.
Keenze, Alyson. “20 Tips for School Social Media.” SchoolMint
Blog, 21 July 2022,
blog.schoolmint.com/20-tips-for-school-social-media.
MacKenzie , Trevor. Newsletter: Starting the Year in
Inquiry. YouTube, Youtube 21 Aug. 2022,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQiDKE5Bggk&t=6s.
Accessed 19 Sept. 2023.
Ministry of Education and Child Care. “BC’s Digital
Literacy Framework.” Province of British
Columbia, Province of British Columbia, 15 Mar. 2022,
“‘We Want Them to Be Creators over Consumers’ ” Smart
Social Podcast: Keeping Students
Safe so They Can Shine Online, created by Josh Ochs , 7 Sept. 2022.
Hi Claudia!
ReplyDeleteI really like the graphic you included, "Types of Student Inquiry" by Trevor MacKenzie. I like how simplified it is so that if you had the poster somewhere for students to look at, they would be able to learn about the different types of inquiry in a way that would make sense for them. Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you Brooke! Trevor has so many great tips and ideas to share!
DeleteI found the same info about teaching digital citizenship skills at a really early age. I like the concept of just adding a layer to the conversations in a classroom - when we're talking about being kind to our friends at school, add in the idea of what that would look like online. It's important to remember that kind kids, don't necessarily understand what it means to be kind online as well. These are different skill sets. Thanks for all your great information!
ReplyDelete