As I write my final reflection post for LIBE 477, I can’t help but think about when I first started this course six weeks ago, I thought I would simply be exploring different ways to integrate technology into the classroom/library. Fast forward six weeks and I am leaving the course with SO much more. Starting with the “Why School?” readings, I quickly came to realize that ICT education is imperative, and it is my job as an educator to implement it in my classroom. I also realized that educating adults to be technologically proficient is the first step in order to help our students develop those same skills. As a millennial, or digital native (a new term I learned during my final vision project), I have always been fairly comfortable about using technology in my teaching practice. I have also always loved helping other educators in my school with their ICT questions or issues. Each of the blog posts I completed in this course left me with a feeling of inspiration and an itch to do MORE with myself, my students, and my colleagues and community.
https://morethingsjapanese.com/
My biggest takeaway from this course would be the importance of collaboration and connection in the world of ICT. I feel inspired to take on a leadership role in my school so that I can help others learn about and integrate ICT in their teaching practice. Rather than simply helping teachers troubleshoot, I would love to find ways to teach them new skills, while learning new skills alongside with them. For example, initiating professional development by inviting guest speakers, or even leading a workshop myself.
For my final Vision of the Future, I wanted to find a way to integrate all the valuable lessons I have learned into one all-encompassing project. I had difficulty narrowing down a specific topic and artifact, and started and scrapped almost a dozen projects in the timespan of a few days. I finally decided to go back to the beginning to revisit my idea from the start of the course. I know that I am passionate about critical media literacy, that there is a gap in knowledge with my students, and that I could add more dimension to my earlier ideas by using what I learned in this course. In my final Vision of the Future project, I was able to integrate the various lessons I learned in this course, and focus the project on collaboration. I hope to connect and collaborate with my colleagues with the Critical Media Literacy Tool Kit (the artifact), show them how to use it, work together to deliver lessons, and initiate a school-wide initiative to develop a more fluid ICT curriculum.
My vision of the future project is a Critical Media Literacy Tool Kit, designed for educators to use in their classroom. For my final vision project, I decided to revisit my topic from Reading Review Assignment A and Reading Review Assignment B. Digital literacy and critical media literacy are topics that I have been interested in even before this course, and I wanted to find a way to create a resource that would be meaningful and useful to me and my school community. As a new teacher, I have jumped from grade to grade each year, so in the four years that I have been teaching, I have had the pleasure of teaching from Kindergarten to Grade 4 (and next year I’ll be Grade 5!). I also love to integrate technology into my daily teaching practice, regardless of what age group I am teaching, and I believe it is an important part of learning in the 21st century. I found myself teaching the same concepts each year while adapting to the learning needs of my students. I also remember thinking that if we collaborated as a school staff, we could teach certain skills and concepts in specific years and have students build on their knowledge year after year rather than the same thing over and over again.
In the age of the easily accessible technology, students are often more comfortable with technology than some adults. However, it is still necessary for us as educators to teach students how to use technology as a learning tool and to use it safely and respectfully. In my own experience, I found that although students knew how to use iPads, Chromebooks, laptops, and other devices, to complete simple tasks, there was a gap in their critical thinking and digital literacy skills. This is reiterated in the article “Teaching digital natives: promoting information literacy and addressing instructional challenges” (Neumann, 2016). Neumann (2016) argues that although digital natives, “people who have grown up with and used technology since the day they were born” (p. 102), can search the Internet, connect with friends, and communicate and engage in multiple activities, they often still lack the experience of learning with technology and media or understanding that it contains overt and covert messaging.
https://www.heraldpalladium.com/
Will Richardson outlines the 21st Century Literacies from the National Council of Teaching of English (NCTE) in his book “Why School?” (2012). Although I believe all of these literacies are important, number 1, 4, and 5 stand out to me when I think about the gaps I have witnessed with my students’ digital literacy.
Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
Design and share information for communities to meet a variety of purposes
Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
Create, critique, analyze and evaluate multimedia texts
Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments
Another key source of inspiration for me was the BC Ministry of Education website, where I found the Digital Literacy Framework. It elaborates on six characteristics or skills for our 21st century learners.
Digital Literacy Framework – BC Ministry of Education
Key Elements
Considering Neumann’s argument, Richardson’s 21st Century Literacies, and the document provided by the BC Ministry of Education, I identified the Key Elements for my vision project. The Critical Media Literacy Toolkit will:
Provide a rationale, scope, and sequence for intentionally teaching digital and critical media literacy in the classroom.
Allow students (digital natives) to use their existing knowledge of technology to further develop their digital literacy skills.
Teach students the skills to be able to use technology as an effective learning tool.
Integrate the NCTE 21st Century Literacies, with a focus on:
Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
Create, critique, analyze and evaluate multimedia texts
Provide a common language for students to develop their digital literacy from Kindergarten to Grade 7.
Be used as a tool for teachers in the school who would like to integrate technology and digital/media literacy in their classroom.
medium.com
After identifying the key elements, I got to work on creating the Tool Kit document. At first, I wanted to create a webpage, but I thought it would be more accessible for teachers to have a PDF document that they could save as a file or print out. However, once I added in all the links, I realized this will need to remain a digital PDF document. I plan to continue modifying this document as I learn more about my students and their needs throughout the years, but I hope that for now and in the future, it can be a useful tool for myself and my colleagues.
I found it challenging to narrow my focus for the scope and sequence because there is just SO much information I would want to teach my students. I decided to break it down by grade level so that students could be introduced to the topics at an early age, and then continue to develop their skills and knowledge using age-appropriate topics as they grow older. I used the six characteristics outlined in the BC Ministry’s Digital Literacy Framework to create a Critical Media Literacy Scope and Sequence chart for the grade groups K-Grade 2, Grade 3-Grade 5, and Grade 6-Grade 7. Each skill that is introduced in the early years is continued to be reinforced in the later years, in addition to introducing new and more complex skills. I labelled the skills as I (Introduce the skill), R (Reinforce the Skill), or M (Students have mastered the skill). The boxes that are blank represent that the skill may not be developmentally appropriate for the grade group. It is important to note that this Scope and Sequence chart is meant as a guide, and the teacher should adapt the skill instruction based on the students’ needs. Then, I provided sample lessons and activities for each of the sections, for each of the grade groups.
Here is my digital artifact, the Critical Media Literacy Tool Kit. Please click on the link to be redirected to a PDF.
I plan to upload this document onto my school’s Microsoft Teams page. It’s a great platform for staff members to share ideas, ask questions, and stay up to date on information. I believe that uploading it on Teams will provide access for all my colleagues, and allow them to use it whenever they need.
Neumann, C. (2016). Teaching digital natives: Promoting information literacy and addressing instructional challenges. Reading Improvement, (53)2, 101-106. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1112224.
Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How education must change when learning and information are everywhere. TED Conferences, Kindle Edition.
Topic: Exploring library projects in a developing nation.
In the developed world, we think of literacy, books, and libraries as a norm, something that we have a right to, and something we may sometimes take advantage of. Historically, books were reserved for the rich and elite of society, including kings/nobles, priests, and scholars. Unfortunately, it seems that this disparity in access to books still exists today, but in a different way. We have world class libraries in the developed world, while in some developing countries, some communities may only have a handful of worn-out and outdated books. The lack of access to books and libraries is one of the main reasons for low literacy rates in developing countries.
This study published by UNESCO in 2014 called Reading in the Mobile Era outlines that mobile devices may be the next step in bringing access to literacy into developing countries. People have access to mobile phones to some capacity, and it was found that 67% of survey respondents preferred to use their mobile device for reading simply because they always have it with them. 13% of respondents said that it was more affordable and accessible to read on their mobile. The study also found that the major barriers to mobile reading are: lack of content, problems with connectivity, and cost of airtime.
The UNESCO also provides Recommendations and Strategies to conclude the publication and address the barriers:
Target Groups: Certain demographic groups would most benefit from increased engagements with mobile reading, particularly women and girls, children, older people, beginning readers, and men and boys.
Strategies for extending the benefits of mobile reading to more people (p. 74):
Diversity mobile reading content and portals to appeal to specific target groups
Increase outreach effort to create opportunities for potential users to experiment with mobile reading and learn its benefits
Lower cost and technology barriers to mobile reading
Based on the findings of this study, I searched for organizations and library programs that brought libraries and books to developing countries. There are several amazing organizations that do this with donated, physical books. However, for the purpose of this assignment, I narrowed my search and looked a little deeper into organizations that specifically included and focused on expanding digital access in developing countries. There are two projects that really stood out to me: Beyond Access and Library for All.
Beyond Access is program run by IREX, a non-profit organization committed to global development and education, with a partnership with the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation (insert link). The project has reached nine countries to “transform libraries into modern community information hubs”. It creates new literacy opportunities by partnering with governments and experts in literacy, engaging in communities, and technology. Doing so helps them to mobilize communities to drive local support for reading and literacy outside of school. The program also works to expand access to internet and information by maximizing existing resources, bringing devices to communities, and training students and adults to use the devices. They provide guidance, funding, and training through community hubs like libraries. Finally, Beyond Access connects to the current employability initiatives of the community and provides services including job training and digital skills training.
beyondaccess.org
Library For All is a non-profit organization that provides access to culturally relevant, age appropriate books and learning resources. They have developed a digital library app to deliver education materials in communities where history, poverty, or remoteness are barriers for people to access books/information. Their goal is to reach 20 million readers globally by 2030. Their most current initiative is the Spark Kit, which is a digital classroom kit designed for students. It is delivered to communities in a commercial grade lockable case, with 40 tablets pre-loaded with the Library For All digital library app. The Spark Kit provides a secure storage solution, in-built charging for the devices, and creates a secure local Wi-fi network that can update the tablets with new content and gather data to improve planning and development for new features. It really is a great initiative to bring accessibility for all students.
libraryforall.org
References
Mark, W., & Chew, H. E. (2014). Reading in the Mobile Era. UNESCO. Retrieved July 28, 2021, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002274/227436e.pdf
Beyond Access Campaign. (2012, Nov. 5). Beyond Access. Retrieved on July 28 2021, from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw2XrW5PKQc.
Elevate by Library For All. (2021, July 4). Library for all’s spark kit. Retrieved on July 26, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ytKCgVKt0.
Homepage. (n.d.). Retrieved on July 28, 2021, from https://www.irex.org/project/beyond-access.
Homepage. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2021, from http://www.libraryforall.org/
Topic: Sharing My Professional Development with the School Community
How can we, as educators and Teacher-Librarians share what we’ve learned with our wider communities of practices? What tools and strategies are best implemented to meet the professional development of staff?
First and foremost, I believe it is important to cultivate meaningful relationships with the school community, including staff, students, and families. In my opinion, this is the best way for the TL to understand the needs of the community, and therefore, the tools and strategies needed to support their learning. Once we learn about the school community, we can strategically plan how to support their professional growth. A strong relationship will also ensure that members of the community see you as a valuable source of information. I included the image below (Inquiry Superhero) because it also applies to Teacher-Librarians in the context of providing professional development to staff, or sharing their learning with the school community.
kqed.org
One major takeaway I have learned from the various Teacher Librarianship diploma program so far is that the role of the Teacher-Librarian has evolved to be multi-faceted, where the TL is responsible for teaching, managing, advocating, and much more. According to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) School Library Guidelines (2015), a Teacher-Librarians roles can be summed up into five broad categories:
Instruction
Management
Leadership and Collaboration
Community Engagement
Promoting Library Programs and Services.
At first, I wanted to focus only on one or two of these categories, but as I tried to narrow it down, I realized ALL of them play a part in the context of supporting the learning communities’ professional development. In the visual I created, ICT education and professional development can be integrated throughout the five categories. Click on the mind map below to be redirected to a larger (and more readable) image. Created on MindMeister.com.
Created on MindMeister.com
How can we best respond to the needs of our staff, in their wide spectrum of abilities and experiences, with the most appropriate and useful professional development?
I believe that much like our students with diverse learning needs and skill levels, staff members also have a wide spectrum of abilities, experiences, and learning style. In order to best respond to this, I would scaffold the professional development workshops so that everyone feels they are making the best use of their time by participating. For example, I once attended a workshop to learn about a new district-wide digital portfolio program. I created an account on my own and played around with the program before attending, in hopes of jumping into the more technical details with the specialist at the workshop . Unfortunately, most of the hour-long workshop was spent focusing on how to access the site, how to create an account, how to log in, and other basic steps. I realize that a basic beginner lesson is crucial in order to set the foundation of learning a new skill or program, but I can also see how it may avert some teachers from attending workshops in the future. To address this issue, I would try to host various levelled workshops when teaching staff about an ICT tool or strategy. To relate it to classroom instruction, it’s like having levelled math lessons: start with the basics and build on previous lessons when students are ready. In the staff pro-d setting, I would first have a lesson with basic information and skills, then the subsequent lessons would go into more detail, with each one building on the previous. I realize that this would take more time and staff may not want to commit to a whole series of workshops, but I would share a description of what will be covered in each session so that staff could decide which one(s) they would like to attend. That way, those who need the most support can have it, and those who just want to develop specific skills can come on the appropriate days. I would also include various opportunities for participants to talk, share, and practice the new skills that they are learning, as well as provide plenty of visual aids.
The video below outlines “scaffolding” for student success. I believe the same framework should be used for teacher professional development as well.
Scaffolding for Student Success
References:
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2015). IFLA School Library Guidelines. 2nd revised edition.
Scaffolding for student success. (2018) Retrieved on 23 July 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKLDjmPk_RE.
Explore how you can continue to develop your own skills, pedagogy, and professional development on your own, back in your own library/classroom and environment.
In the four years that I have been a teacher, one mindset that has stuck with me is that we are “lifelong learners”. It’s a term that gets thrown around a lot but to actually live by it creates a world of unlimited explorations. There are some teachers I have met that are constantly looking for professional development opportunities, going to workshops and seminars, taking courses, and learning new skills. During a conversation with one teacher, she said to me “If we stop learning, how are we supposed to teach our students to be lifelong learners? We should lead the way.” That really resonated with me, and I hope that even after 20 years of teaching under my belt, I can still carry the same attitude of curiously and drive to get better.
Here is a great Ted Talk from Tai Basurto, where she talks about her personal experiences as a classroom teacher in the Chicago school district, and the important of profession development for teachers. I agree with her in that students benefit greatly when teachers continue to participate in professional development.
Professional development – nurturing the teacher as learner: Tai Basurto at TEDxWellsStreetED
What strategies, tools, resources, and networks can you implement to maintain your explorations and development?
VSB Professional Development
The VSB has a website that offers year-long professional development. I often check this portal for opportunities after school or on Pro-D Days. I hope to also get involved with my school’s Pro-D committee, so that I can help to bring workshops and guest speakers to my school.
BCTF Provincial Special Associations
I frequently visit the BCTF website for opportunities to participate in the PSA workshops and conferences. Most recently, I attended an incredible workshop hosted by the BC Primary Teachers’ Association, and I remember leaving the building feeling so inspired to develop some of the ideas in my classroom. They also have a website where they provide numerous resources for literacy education in the primary grades.
This year, a colleague (whom I consider to be a superstar teacher that I look up to) approached me with an idea for a Collaborative Inquiry. It was something that I had always heard about but had never actually applied for. I am very excited for this opportunity and am looking forward to working with my colleague, sharing ideas with her, and learning more about literacy, assessment, effective classroom practice, workshops, and professional development opportunities.
VSB Teacher Collaborative Inquiry Application
What are some of the ways that educators and professionals are connecting and sharing their learning?
At my school, we collaborate and share our learning during grade group meetings. This year I am fortunate to have the opportunity to platoon with a colleague in Social Studies and Science, and do ability grouping in Math with another colleague and her class.
Within the VSB and BCTF, there are opportunities for educators to share their learning through online resource portals. The BCT also offers a sharing platform for
There are also many opportunities to connect and share our learning on social media. I love to connect with other educators and learn about new teaching strategies, classroom management, and pedagogy. Some teacher accounts on social media that I have found myself frequently visiting and learning from are:
Facebook
Grade 3/4 Teachers of BC
Cult of Pedagogy
We Are Teachers
Instagram
Teachers Follow Teachers @teachersfollowteachers
Inquiry and Mindfulness @inquiry_and_mindfulness
Team Teach 21st @teamteach21st
Pinterest
There are countless ideas on Pinterest when it comes to teaching and classroom ideas. There are no accounts that I follow, but I could spend hours on Pinterest browsing various ideas and resources.
What can you do during this class and after it is over to maintain your connections and networks, to further develop your knowledge, experience, and skills?
Taking this course as part of a Teacher-Librarianship Diploma, I have been able to cultivate a toolbox of strategies and resources I can use to continue developing as a teacher (and eventually a Teacher Librarian). There are new blogs that I have discovered, websites for resources, and most importantly, other educators that I have been able to connect with. I love the fact that I can learn from so many different people around Canada that take these courses, each with their own experiences, stories, and perspectives.
References
Professional development – nurturing the teacher as learner: Tai Basurto at TEDxWellsStreetED. (2013). Retrieved 20 July 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Go5DytVEOg
Developing my personal resource list that will help inform and support my explorations in the course.
I reviewed my list of ideas from Part A of this Reading Assignment, and I have narrowed the focus of my topic to Critical Media Literacy. The working title for my topic (for now) is:
Integrating the BC Core Competencies to develop students’ Critical Media Literacy skills.
Before I go any further in exploring this topic, I would like to make sure I understand the multi-faceted definition of Critical Media Literacy, which incorporates aspects of digital literacy, media education, and critical thinking.
Let’s start with digital literacy: The BC Ministry of Education defines digital literacy as “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriate use technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others.” The Digital Literacy Framework elaborates on six characteristics of digital literacy. The Framework also provides a set of profiles for grade K-12 with examples of activities that digitally literate students from each age range can do.
Digital Literacy Framework – BC Ministry of Education
Next, media educationis defined by Media Smarts (Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy) as “the process through which individuals become media literate – able to critically understand the nature, techniques and impacts of media messages and predictions.”
MediaSmarts.ca
Media is all around us and we absorb what we see and hear. Media education brings awareness to this and helps us understand what we are taking in, whether it is consciously or subconsciously. I found this website to be very useful in connecting the BC Curriculum with digital literacy and media education. It also includes numerous activities, assessment rubrics, e-workshops, and resources for integrating media literacy in the classroom.
Finally, critical (and reflective) thinking as defined by the BC Ministry of Education is “a set of abilities that students use to examine their own thinking and that of others. This involves making judgements based on reasoning, where students consider options, analyze options using specific criteria, and draw conclusions.”
Critical Thinking – BC Ministry of Education
Looking at the three definitions above, I merged them together to create a composite definition of Critical Media Literacy.
I then continued my literature research and data collection by further exploring the key terms.
This blog post sums up what critical media literacy is and why educators should focus on it when using technology in the classroom. It also includes video with a keynote speech by Dr. Catherine Burwell (click on the video to watch).
In this book, the authour intertwines the issues of teacher education and media literacies and outlines the benefits of making critical media literacy sustainable in K-12 classrooms. I downloaded the PDF of this book and found it to be useful in understanding the importance of critical media literacy, and how it starts with teacher education. I plan to continue reading this book as I delve deeper in my exploration of the topic.
This book provides a theoretical framework and practical applications to help educators put critical media literacy into action in the classroom. I found it to be helpful in understanding the theories behind media literacy how students can learn about the influence and power associated with media messages, particularly around the issues of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Using a critical pedagogical approach, the authours provide strategies for teaching students how to develop skills “to analyze and challenge representations and narratives of multiple forms of identity, privilege, and oppression”. I plan to read this book before the next school year because I feel it incorporates social justice education, critical media literacy, and critical thinking skills, all of which I would like to focus on with my students.
The Center for Media Literacyidentifies Five Core Concepts and Five Key Questions in critical media literacy. I found this to be a great starting point for exploring the topic, and a concrete activity I would be able to bring into the classroom. It helped me to understand the relationships between the key words authourship, format, audience, content, and purpose.
This is only a tiny fraction of the vast amount of research and literature available on this topic. It excites me to know that there is so much information out there, and that I can use it to further explore my understanding of integrating the BC Core Competencies and Critical Media Literacy. I hope to that I can bring this new knowledge with me into the classroom, and into the library as a future Teacher-Librarian.
Butler, A. T. (2019). Educating media literacy: The need for critical media literacy in teacher education. Retrieved from https://brill.com/view/title/54625.
Issue, Personal Interest, or Opportunity Identification and Keyword Generator
What issues, interests, or opportunities do you anticipate arising in your teaching in the near future? Is there a component of this issue, interest, or opportunity that relates to the use of digital technologies?
As students become more proficient in using technology to connect, collaborate, research, and create, I anticipate the need for teaching students to be responsible digital citizens. The online world can be an invaluable learning tool for students, but it is necessary to be aware that everything they see may not be as it seems. I want to teach students to be critical and reflective thinkers in what they consume and produce online.
What curriculum is related to this issue, interest or opportunity? What pedagogy might be useful for fostering learners’ engagement and excitement?
What digital technologies can you imagine contributing to enrich, enable, or enhance learning?
I think social and digital media, pop culture media, online research databases, and digital project-based learning would enrich student engagement and learning.
What are the keywords that you would use to identify elements of this issue, interest, or opportunity?
Social media
Digital media
Media literacy
Media education
Online ethics
Digital footprint
Intellectual property
Other possible issues/topics of interest in my professional practice environment that I would like to explore further:
Accessibility of Technological Devices:
I work at a school that has a diverse socioeconomic population. Some students do not have access to any device at home. When we moved to online learning during Covid, the school lent out iPads for students, but they had to be returned when we returned to in-class learning.
Digital Portfolios:
In my school district we are moving away from letter grades and towards student competency scales. Therefore, rather than presenting only a summative assessment at the end of the term, I think it is important to provide ongoing, formative assessment/feedback throughout the school year. This can be shared with parents through digital portfolios such as VSB Blueprint, Fresh Grade, Class Dojo, and more.
Social Media in the Classroom:
I would like to explore the use of social media platforms, such as Twitter or Pinterest to enrich student learning, build connections, and have students share their learning in a safe and respectful way.
