Digital literacy is quickly becoming prevalent in today’s
primary classrooms and teachers need to begin incorporating this into
classrooms to cater for such inevitability. The work ‘inevitable’ has come into
consideration in previous posts, with my personal view that teachers should not
use a new technology just because it is ‘there’; rather teachers should use
them because they will significantly enhance education.
Blogs can benefit children and have been incorporated into a
school where children are given the opportunity to “create, design and maintain
what are effectively their own personal websites” (Evans, 2004). This can have
a huge impact on children’s work ethic as their learning is given a purpose. Within
blogging, children work extremely hard because their work is read by a vast
audience. Therefore, digital literacy can enhance education, suggesting why
teachers should incorporate it into primary classrooms. Setting up blogs is easy.
It is free and does not require great technical expertise (Evans, 2004). It is
also noted that ICT fosters children’s self-expression in ways that “simply aren’t
possible without access to a computer” (Evans, 2004:1). Therefore, there are
many beneficial aspects of using this form of digital literacy in the
classroom. Moreover, children who attended an after-school club on weblogging
improved their knowledge of IT far above the requirements of their age group by
the National Curriculum (Turnbull). From using a blog within this module I have
had first-hand experience and can fully see the positive implications. It
provides a different form of assignment writing, adding novelty. Moreover, it
is a form of digital literacy in which other people’s work is visible and open
for comment. This resembles a sense of peer collaboration which could prove
engaging for children.
Additionally, it can be seen how games are being brought
into the primary classroom for educational purposes. As is mentioned by Hudson (2013),
commenting on the game, ‘Angry Bird’s’, arrival in the classroom, computer
games offer “stealth learning” and suggests how the characters of computer
games inspire children. He discusses children’s motivation, especially in the
early years, to play. This can be seen through observations of my niece (4) who
is a competent player of ‘Angry Birds’. Therefore, it could be seen as a
perfect way of engaging children in education. It can be questioned how these games
offer educational value; the characters are used in new education based games
involving books, teachers and digital devices. As a games scholar analyst
suggests in Hudson’s (2013) review, “games have a larger effect on learning
than traditional materials in particular areas, like language acquisition,
science, mathematics and social studies”.
What could be viewed as a controversial issue, ‘coercive’
gaming is deliberated in Hudson’s (2013) review. It is suggested that adults
are taking something which children cherish and using it coercively to deliver
the curriculum. However, if these games inspire, motivate and engage children,
then why not incorporate them into the curriculum as a way forward for
education?
Furthermore, digital literacy is having an impact concerning
the video game, ‘Minecraft’; a huge phenomenon, particularly of boys aged nine
to fifteen (Ward, 2013). Ward (2013) reflects on the use of this game educationally
as it could be used to gain the skills and knowledge of computer programming. This
is due to the game imparting technical competence in that children have to
understand some basic computer concepts. The game requests its players to, for
example, “install texture packs to change its look” and enables its users to
set up email and Skype to collaborate with peers using the game. Children may
also record, edit and upload their own YouTube videos with regards to the game.
Therefore, it can be seen how ‘Minecraft’ has had, and is in the process of
having, a huge impact on making children digitally literate.
Bibliography
Why Minecraft is more than just another video game (BBC News
Technology) – Ward (2013)
Angry Birds game fires into the classroom (BBC News
Technology) – Hudson (2013)
The seven-year-old bloggers (BBC News) - Turnbull
The joys of text (TES Connect) – Evans (2004)
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