Week 6 - Why should teachers care about digital literacy and childhood in the digital age?

For this blog task I am discussing my own thoughts in view of the seminars given so far and my own experiences and observations; whilst specifically drawing on the introduction from Palfrey and Gasser (2008) Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives in responding to the following question ‘Why should teachers care about digital literacy and childhood in the digital age?’.


As a ‘Digital Native’, defined by Palfrey and Gasser as someone born after 1980 (2008: 1), I have been exposed to a world that has become increasingly saturated with digital technology in both social and academic aspects.  From using Microsoft Encarta, a now defunct digital multimedia encyclopaedia (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, online), to accessing research journals online; my own journey in accessing and seeking information has dramatically changed over the years.  Now we are living in a world where children need to be prepared in using digital technologies to achieve a successful adulthood; by developing digital literacy in young children, teachers can help children to access subject knowledge at a time when digital technologies are changing the way knowledge is created and communicated (FutureLab, 2010).


Digital Natives are living much of their lives online and do not distinguish between their online and offline personas; at the same time they are coming to solely depend upon this connected space when it comes to seeking and digesting information (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008).  It is this concept that Palfrey and Gasser are concerned with; that Digital Natives are in danger of over exposing themselves online in ways that could danger or embarrass them in the future.  By leaving ever increasing traces of themselves online their ideas of privacy and ethics are distorted and differ greatly as to those views held by their parents and grandparents (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008).  Palfrey and Gasser describe us as being at a crossroads, with two paths on offer, ‘one in which we destroy what is great about the Internet and about how young people use it, and one in which we make smart choices and head toward a bright future in a digital age’ (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008: 7).  It is how teachers and educators make connections and integrate how young people learn in informal settings and be able to transfer that to the formal setting of the classroom that can lead to a bright future in a digital age.


Teachers have their own concerns regarding the digital environment in which most children spend an increasing amount of time and they have their own concerns with digital literacy in education within their classroom.  There are concerns with not only their own capabilities, or lack of, which may hinder the quality of lessons but also if the pedagogy of our education system is able to keep up with the on-going changes in the digital landscape (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008).  Therefore, teachers need opportunities to explore and should be allowed to discover digital literacies for themselves in order to build the required confidence to use them in the classroom (Dean, 2010; Marsh, Brooks, Hughes, Ritchie, Roberts and Wright, 2005).


From the research into digital literacy it is agreed that young people need to learn digital literacy (Dean, 2010, Marsh et al., 2005, Palfrey and Gasser, 2008) and by using these new digital literacies in the classroom it can allow them to take more control of their learning process (BECTA, 2006; 2007).  Although there is and always will be a ‘lag time’ (Carrington and Robinson, 2009: 166) between the emergence of new digital technologies and their implementation in the classroom; teachers need to engage meaningfully with these new mainstream forms of textual practice.  If teachers are able to engage with the emergence of new digital technologies and digital literacy effectively in contemporary classrooms, by being capable of adapting the learning to the technology being used, this aids the process of preparing the teachers to become expert learners and users (Carrington and Robinson, 2009).  Here we would be seeing teachers immersed in digital environments and this could lead to new pedagogical techniques that would unlock the potential of digital affordances in the classroom.


References


BECTA (2006) Emerging Technologies for Learning: Volume 1. [online] http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1501/1/becta_2006_emergingtechnologies_vol1_report.pdf (accessed 24/03/2014)


BECTA (2007) Emerging Technologies for Learning: Volume 2. [online] http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1502/2/becta_2007_emergingtechnologies_vol2_report.pdf (accessed 24/03/2014)


Carrington, V. and Robinson, M. (2009) Digital literacies: social learning and classroom practices. London: Sage


Dean, G. (2010) ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms. London: Sage


Marsh, J., Brooks, G., Hughes, J., Ritchie, L., Roberts, S. and Wright, K (2005) Digital Beginnings: Young Children’s Use of Popular Culture, Media and New technologies


Encyclopædia Britannica Online (online) Encarta [online] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186436/Encarta (accessed 25/03/2014)


FutureLab (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum [online] http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (accessed 25/03/2014)


Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books