In the very first module of this subject, we were asked the think about the following questions:
- What is your definition of a ‘Digital Learning Environment’? Can you think of examples from your school and/or working/professional life to support this.
- What are some of the changes created by our digital lifestyle that you need to be aware of as an educator?
- What has been the impact of social networking on teaching and learning?
I think of a digital learning environment as an online space where students go to learn, collaborate, discuss topics submit assignments and receive feedback. I have worked in a variety of schools that use different platforms for this to occur. Some examples include Google classroom, Schoolbox, Canvas and Blackboard.
Teachers need to be aware of the use of these online platforms so that we are giving our students the best opportunities to improve their skills in the digital world. A big change as part of the digital learning environment is the 24/7 accessibility. Teachers need to ensure that the learning materials are available so that students can access them when they want to.
Social networking has had an impact in that students are getting their information from a large range of sources, not just from school. Students need to be taught how to sort the trash from the treasure.
Once again, I find myself at the beginning of another semester of study, but this one has a different feel about it for a few reasons. Firstly, this is an elective unit to I feel that I have a more focused interest in this topic. Secondly, this is my final unit of study and thirdly, I am also undertaking ETL512 (Professional practice and portfolio) concurrently with ETL523 (Digital Citizenship in Schools). What an exciting time!
I chose this elective because I feel that it is such a poignant topic in this world of non-stop information. I also chose to study this elective at this time because my school is currently undertaking a laptop rollout for years 7-11 and the school is going through the process of what the use of these devices looks like in classrooms and the expectations around their use.
What is digital citizenship and why is it important?
To me, digital citizenship is participating online in a responsible and positive manner. So, what does that look like? According to Council of Europe (2023), “digital citizens can be described as individuals able to use digital tools to create, consume, communicate and engage positively and responsibly with others”. I prefer this definition when compared with the one provided by the NSW Department of Education (n.d.) which states that “a digital citizen is a person with the skills and knowledge to effectively use digital technologies to participate in society, communicate with others and create and consume digital content”. I prefer the first definition because of the inclusion of the word ‘positively’. Ribble (2015) also agrees that the term ‘positive’ is an important aspect of digital citizenship so that everyone can engage in the digital world.
Digital citizenship is important in the fast-paced world of information overload. Being discerning about what we are consuming and engaging with online is so important. Having skills to determine the trash from the treasure is invaluable to our ability to engage with and function in society.
Is digital citizenship different to digital literacy?
This seems to be a bit of a grey area, but according to Pangrazio and Sefton-Greene (2021), digital literacy is the foundation of digital citizenship. We must be competent in the literacies before we can fully participate. Digital literacy is broken down into separate skills that each need to be mastered in order to be competent in the online world. These skills include managing online safety, locating and evaluating information and problem solving (ACARA, 2022).
I am looking forward to learning more about digital citizenship and its role in the school environment.
References
Australian Curriculum And Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2022). Digital literacy. The Australian Curriculum. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/teacher-resources/understand-this-general-capability/digital-literacy
Council of Europe. (2023). Digital citizenship. Digital Citizenship in Education https://www.coe.int/en/web/digital-citizenship-education/digital-citizenship
NSW Department of Education (n.d.). About digital citizenship. Digital Citizenship. https://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/about
Pangrazio, L. and Sefton-Green, J. (2021). Digital Rights, Digital Citizenship and Digital Literacy: What’s the Difference?. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research 10(1), p.15-27.
Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools (3rd ed.) International Society for Technology in Education.
Once again, I am at the beginning of another subject. Over the summer I will be completing the unit ETL567, Research in Practice. To tell the truth, at first, I was not thrilled about having the study this unit. My initial reactions were ‘how is this relevant?’ and ‘this is going to be so boring’. I have decided to change my attitude towards this subject and throw myself in because, hey, I might actually learn something.
So, what does research in practice look like? Having looked over the subject outline my thoughts are that it’s applying analytical research to make improvements or changes in the school library. I would even go so far as to say that these research skills could also assist my students in their research practices. Research in this context is more than fact-finding on the internet. It’s about going deeper into a problem to find possible solutions based on my own findings and the findings of others.
Module 1 asked us to think about a possible research project in our own context. It got me thinking about the Wide Reading Programme and the DEAR programme that are both currently run at school. Through readings and presentations at seminars, I am aware that there is a decline in readings for pleasure in the teenage years. The question I am thinking about is ‘What can we do to reverse this decline?’ Having learned about the ‘Just Read’ programme at Queenwood I am most interested to see if a similar model could work in my school context.
The issues that we are currently facing with the programmes are two-fold. The Wide Reading programme is run from Year 7 to 10 through the English department, with one wide reading session a cycle per class being timetabled. This means the teacher librarians only see their classes once every ten days (on average, sometimes even longer). This is not enough for students to focus on their reading on a regular basis. The DEAR programme is run from Years 7-9 each day for 20 minutes at the beginning of period 5. While this sounds great in theory, I really wonder how often this is actually happening. I would imagine that any practical class (PE, VA, Music, Drama, Science) would not participate in DEAR as it would impact too much on their own class time.
The Queenwood model involves having a dedicated daily 20-minute period for reading. This means it doesn’t impact on any other classes and is regular.
This would be a huge change, but I feel an improvement, to the school. It would require structured research about the students’ current reading habits, as well as review of current literature on the reading habits on teenage boys. Thinking about this process is overwhelming, but I’m hoping that ETL567 can provide me with some practical tools in order to tackle this project.