When I first thought about digital literacy the meaning that came to my mind was an individual’s ability to successfully use technology platforms and devices. Coming into the literacy side of things this gets us into the recording aspect of the digital world that has to do with writing and communicating through technology. Including technology is something that is not new to our district curriculum as even I remember being able to use computers for classroom activities when I was in elementary school. There can be some hesitation towards including technology in the classroom though as Husbey et al. suggest, there is some debate over what is developmentally appropriate for each grade level. (2013) Coming from this trying to include technology could bring on a lot of challenges when it comes to accessibility for individual students as well as the school. Not every school is going to have the latest and greatest technological tools but computer labs have become a pretty fixed staple in most schools, at least that I have encountered in my district. In continuation of the discussion of what is digital literacy in Heitin’s article on the subject, she says that “digital literacy also encompasses a broader range of skills—everything from reading on a Kindle to gauging the validity of a website or creating and sharing YouTube videos.” (2020). Taking this understanding into account for me it makes me think that digital literacy just mainly encompasses being able to use and effectively understand technology but within that can include so many different things given the breadth of what technology can be used for, especially in education. For myself, I think that using technology in the classroom can be beneficial for certain activities and should be introduced in a way for youth to use it safely. I come from this perspective because technology is a daily facet of today’s society there is no reason why we should ignore it in education. Lots of ties including tech can give your students a chance to express themselves in ways you may have never imagined because as technology advances youth definitely adhere to it more quickly than older generations that do not easily understand it. That is not true in every case but it does seem to be a trend. Having said that though, I don’t think we should rely on technology as educators. Going by the phrase “everything in moderation” I think this a good approach to digital literacy in that it should be a part of education but not done in a way that makes it the whole framework of education. Just as Creer suggests ” introducing digital media into the classroom needs to be carefully considered at a micro-level, so that it may have a positive pedagogical impact.” (2018). Some main challenges I could see happening with digital literacy are accessibility, as I mentioned earlier, and overreliance on technology to support learning. When thinking about how I would want to integrate digital literacy into the classroom the first thing that comes to mind is the grade level because what students can handle is specific to where they are at. Just for an example though in a first or second-grade class I think that taking part in educational games may be a good way to start. In later grades though, doing things like creating online comics, classroom Instagrams to learn about web safety, possibly having students make blogs such as this one to act as weekly journals would also be interesting. There is definitely a lot to think about when it comes to digital literacy. I feel that it should be embraced in a thoughtful way to engage students and to also teach them why it is important to understand the uses and implications of using technology.

Kids, Adults and Computers at Hack4Kids

Reference List

Creer, A. (2018). Introducing Everyday “Digital Literacy Practices” into the Classroom: An Analysis of Multi-Layered Media, Modes and Their Affordances. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research, 7(2), 131–139.

Heitin, L. (2020, April 02). What Is Digital Literacy? Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html

Husbye, N. E., Buchholz, B., Coggin, L., Powell, C. W., & Wohlwend, K. E. (2012). Critical Lessons and Playful Literacies: Digital Media in PK-2 Classrooms. Language Arts, 90(2), 82–92.