Web Literacy for Educators by Alan November, Session 3

Nov. 18, 2008 discussion highlights by the PLC of 11 staff members,

Discussion focused around book’s chapters 4 & 5: Look at the Links and Research Outside the Box: A Guide to Smart Searching

Important and random ideas shared and discussed by 5 participants included:

As educators we need to stop assuming that students know how to search appropriately for important information to support their learning. We are often remiss about understanding students’ need for being taught the critical thinking skills of good searching and need to allow time for providing pre-assessment of skills, as well as modeling, teaching, reviewing, and stopping instruction to re-tool our instruction.

What is meant by 2.0 web? Think of the original access to web information being static and meant to be only provided by limited sources to read. Now with 2.0 the web is a social network of sites intending for both reading of information and writing of information to be contributed by many for many. Our students seem to be skillful at using email, chat, facebook, and youtube for their social entertainment. However, research requires different skills at searching that our students and most adults are not skillful at. Sometimes adults – teachers and parents – believe students when they are told that the student knows how to search, but this is a false sense of confidence for students and adults need to have more skills and confidence at knowing how to guide children in their search efforts.

Some teachers are conducting action research to identify areas that our students need further instruction, evidenced by the data collected in observations.

Today there are so many presentation possibilities – powerpoint, photo story, podcasting, moviemaker, etc.- and an emphasis on research skills has been substituted by an emphasis on presentation programs – definitely creating a gap of the critical thinking skills in learning to be a learner. Beware flash over substance!

We discussed knowing how to use a book – index, table of contents, title page, author, works cited, etc. – is a good comparison for knowing how to use a web source. This reminds us that we need to be concerned about a potential disconnect in appreciating the skills needed for using today’s digital resources.
We cannot absolve ourselves of helping students learn to be learners in today’s world with today’s tools. Even if we ourselves are not currently skillful at searching using a critical thinking approach, we need to be active learners and gain access to better techniques/understanding.

Members of the PLC discussion feel a responsibility to expand our awareness of web literacy through this reading with students, colleagues and parents.
Ideas discussed to help share information included collaborating our instruction with other colleagues to provide web literacy, developing a common language of web literacy (glossary of terms), to identify the key concepts from our reading to share with others, to consider presenting to PTO, helping parents grow in their confidence about assisting their children needing to learn web literacy, and to ask Marcia about some time to do some of this work within the school year following the end of our after school PLC. The PLC also mentioned continuing the meetings following our next and final session, allowing more time to intentionally pursue the learning of web literacy together.
Reading November’s book has made us look at the web differently.
We know that there are different levels of technology learning and see web literacy as a critical area for all learners, adults and children.

We discussed the idea of approaching curriculum with a less is more consideration – what are the critical content and process skills that my students need to leave this grade level with; to learn from grade 5 – 8 in preparation for our high school and beyond? Quality information is valuable when it provides a learner authentic knowledge and developing wisdom.

There is a need to provide a beginning of the year literacy assessment of our incoming students’ skills – as readers especially which impact all their learning – which allows for the teacher to have a benchmark on each students’ needs.
A concern was raised about the value of electronic portfolio contributions being more than ‘glitz’ or the ‘doing of school’.
The discussion involved concern about the unevenness of grade level instruction of process skills and content information for our students.
Teachers need to reconsider the delivery of instruction to meet the needs of today’s learner – what subjects/topics are needed for today’s students?

Janet shared that her prime concern for students leaving her class at the end of grade 7 is their ability to be discerning about information, to analyze information for its credibility, authority, bias.

December 9, 3 - 4 will be the final discussion will be on chapters 6 & 7