Final Relection: Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

I think one of the most striking revelations I had about teaching new literacy skills is that you cannot assume that the students come to you already possessing these skills. It is true that students today are more comfortable and familiar with technology than before, but this also depends on what type of area you teach in. In the area where I teach, many students do not have access to the computer or Internet at home. They do, however, have video games and cell phones. This makes it very difficult to teach these new literacy skills. The students come to you with no background knowledge and no way to practice these skills outside of the classroom. Also, with so much emphasis being placed on test scores, there really is not much time in the day to work on these important skills. If the students will not be tested over the material, we are encouraged to wait until after the test to teach it. It is a shame because there are many great projects that could be incorporated into the curriculum, but the fact that they take so much time causes many teachers to forget about them.

My knowledge and learning from this course has caused me to think about different ways I can incorporate these new literacies into my teaching. Even if it is only briefly for 10-15 minutes, I think that I can spare that amount of time in order to teach my students the importance of using the Internet and how to use it properly. I really enjoyed the website evaluation project we had to conduct. This is something that I would like to do with my kids. I teach 2^nd grade, and at that young of an age, they do not quite understand that not everything on the Internet is true. They think that if you search for a question, any and all answers that pop up are correct. They do not realize that the Internet is a place to share information, and that anyone can post something out there for the world to see. I think that this is important for them to learn especially when they begin having to conduct their own research in middle school and high school where they may not be monitored as closely. I want to incorporate more use of technology by my students. I want them to be able to search for and locate information. I also want them to be able to tell if the sites they are finding contain relevant knowledge. I also want them to be able to share information on the Internet as well. Dr. David Warlick stated that technology is a way to “connect to each other, to content, to experts, and other classes” (Laureate Education, 2009). Of course I will have to start with baby steps. I want all of my students to be able to log in using their password and be able to access the Internet and open a search engine. I think once they can all accomplish this task, the rest should follow. It will require a great deal of teacher modeling, but I am confident that they can do it.

One professional development goal I have for myself is to become more familiar with Promethean boards and all that they have to offer to the students. The majority of the teachers at my school will be receiving Promethean boards this week. I think that this will be a great way to have students work on new literacy skills. They will be able to come up and use the board and it will be something new and exciting that will keep their attention. I don’t want to be one of those teachers that gets new technology to use in the classroom and then just lets it sit there, or never lets the students use it. Technology is in the classroom not just for the teachers, but the students as well. I would also like to attend more inservices that involve using technology in the classroom. I am sure that in the coming year there will be more opportunities for this. Our county Differentiated Instruction Conference is offering several sessions this summer on using technology in the classroom. There are sessions on interactive whiteboards, using wikis and blogs, and ways to incorporate technology across the curriculum. I am excited about all of the opportunities. I can’t wait to share what I learn with my students.

References:

Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom (2009) It’s not about the technology (Laureate Education, Inc, CD-ROM, 2009 Release).