Because
advancements in technology have and will continue to change the way we
communicate in the 21st century and beyond, it is imperative for
educators to prepare students to effectively interchange their thoughts and
feelings. Of course, digital natives are familiar with technologies of today;
however, they have not been equipped with the required knowledge to effectively
communicate by crafting digital writing. Turner and Hicks (2017) state that, "We strongly
believe that it is not enough to have students to do what they normally do on
paper (or even with a word processing program) and publish online. Instead, we
need to teach them to craft an argument using media in strategic ways” (p. 54).
This
process must consist of educators teaching procedural knowledge of technology
tools, such as hyperlinks, images, videos, and other multimedia. Understanding
how these tools contribute and support a digital argument is considered
procedural knowledge. Students will acquire this knowledge through analyzing
web-based mentor text as early as elementary school. Unfortunately, this cannot
be accomplished if educators lack the knowledge of digital writing. Blogger, Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski,
believes educators can use mentor text to improve their digital writing, while
providing mentor text for their students as well. This is a great example of a teacher
who has a growth mindset, which is needed to successfully connect, understand,
and educate digital natives and immigrants.
An
additional component in preparing students to effectively craft digital writing
is to teach and model digital citizenship. Turner and Hicks (2017) state that, "We should be helping students-even those in elementary school-to understand that everything on the Internet has a "home" in the sense that it is hosted on a domain and was put there by someone else" (p. 58).
What are your thoughts?
Nicole's Story:Copyrighting Creative Work
As an educator in a digital
society where it is extremely easy to quickly acquire images and information
online, it has been a challenge to give credit all the time. I must say, I am
learning more about copyrights, and fair use policies, and I can be a better
model for students and others. Times have changed and they will continue to
change. As educators, we must stay abreast of current trends, policies, and
technological advances, so we can be models for our students. Because we want
our students to have a voice, we have to prepare them to be digital citizen capable
of effectively crafting digital writing.
References
Turner,
K.H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital
texts: Argument in the real world. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Sokolowski,
K.N. (2016). Digital mentor text for blogs: teaching writing with mentor text.
Retrieved from https://twowritingteachers.org/2016/05/06/curating-digital-mentor-text-for-blogs-teaching-writing-with-mentor-texts/.
Nicole's
Story: Copyrighting creative work. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXSGSYr0eAQ&t=0s&index=6&list=PL8TjVyuBdsCnTZiAYcQcF4v-6dw0nlRJm.
What are your thoughts?
