Digital Literacy

Digital literacy learning opportunities are everywhere! But, where to start? Because the digital world and means of communication is constantly evolving, it is very challenging for educators to pinpoint exactly what digital tools need to be taught. One thing is for certain though and that is the importance of practicing and developing digital literacy in ways that empower students to take ownership in their learning. “Language education needs to help students become more confident to interpret and produce appropriate meanings in a new language across different contexts, situations, and digital spaces” (Tour, 2020, p. 4). Selecting digital resources and tools for students to access this education is vital in our classrooms. Our students need time to practice and develop their digital literacy just as they would need time to practice and develop any other skill.

Teaching Digital Literacies in EAL/ESL Classrooms: Practical Strategies is a very informative article that I found from TESOL Journal. In this article, Tour (2020) shares many ideas and strategies for the integration of digital resources in the classroom to support digital literacies. Within the selection of resources, the learning objectives are identified and scaffolded activities for practice are included. Some ideas for the ESL classroom included creating a webpage, searching for information on Google, and creating an online profile. The following table was provided by Tour (2020) and may inspire educators with more ideas for the inclusion of digital practices in the classroom.

What I like most about the examples from this table is the variety of independent and collaborative digital literacy practices. Making a meme is a fun way to exercise the use of language to narrate or caption a digital image. This could be a quick way to brainstorm ideas for a writing piece. Some of the collaborative practices mentioned may be restricted from a school computer, but there are other resources that could establish the same sort of practice. For example, in kindergarten I use Seesaw. Some of the student portfolio postings are set privately to their personal accounts, while other posts can be shared to the whole class and are open for comment. “Creating and sharing digital content can encourage students to develop a greater sense of pride in their work” (Yuan et al., 2019, p. 133).

 

References

Tour, E. (2020). Teaching digital literacies in EAL/ESL classrooms: Practical         strategies. TESOL Journal, 11(1), n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.458

Yuan, C., Wang, L., & Eagle, J. (2019). Empowering english language learners through digital literacies: Research, complexities, and implications. Media and          Communication, 7(2), 128-136. doi:10.17645/mac.v7i2.1912