Ignoring
Let’s start at the end of the list -ignoring Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. You can’t. It exists in the world and the curriculum has already changed to include it. There is the obvious ICT section in the general capabilities curriculum but even the English curriculum has been forced to include it, with every stage of the NSW curriculum expecting students to communicate by reading, viewing and representing using “different media and technologies” (NESA, 2019).
It is generally agreed that we are living in an information age and that to be a successful participant you must be digitally literate. Many scholars and practitioners also advocate that the qualified TL is perfectly placed to be the one in schools who provides both access to digital technologies made possible by Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 and; the explicit teaching needed to use the digital technologies of Web 2.0 and 3.0 to research, create and share (Templeton, 2021). This teaching includes teaching the teachers (Templeton, 2021).
Using digital literacy and technology when I started teaching 20 years ago meant using hardware more than Web 2.0. There was a computer room and a library of CD ROMs. There was an AV room with a TV, video player and a library of videos. Teaching programs were all still on paper and anything digital was stored on a huge school server only accessible while on site. Today, not only are there no TVs or video players, the desktop computers don’t even have a CD or DVD drive. Storage of all school programs and policies has moved to Google Drive. And worst of all, teachers rarely visit the library to find resources. In fact, in my short 18 month experience, I have only had a teacher ask me for help with resources three times. You could assume that this meant teachers are self-sufficient at finding their own appropriate resources but they are not (Templeton, 2021). Like students, they tend to choose something quickly that looks visually appealing without checking the credibility or relevance.
I look forward to the Information Fluency Framework being released this year as a pilot program. The aim of this framework is to bring together all of the digital literacy skills included in the various curriculums in a way that TLs can use to collaborate with classroom teachers and ensure students are progressing in their digital literacy skills (Cook, 2021).
Impact & Opportunity
The impact on education should and could be very positive. Just look at the Web 2.0 and 3.0 tools on the “Padagogy Wheel” (Carrington, 2016) that can be used to develop higher order thinking in improved and completely new and engaging ways.
However, there is more to teach (digital literacy), more resources needed (hardware and software) and; more support needed to learn how to use the resources and, keep resources up to date and in working order. Therefore, a greater divide in literacy abilities between higher and lower socioeconomic groups. For example, Web 2.0 has provided online teaching platforms such as Google Classroom, a huge asset for a school in a Covid-19 lockdown. However, if the families at home do not have access to one digital device per student and enough internet download then the opportunity is lost.
The potential impact of Web 2.0 and even Web 3.0 is huge. I have heard of TLs using Instagram and Tik-Tok. I want to embrace because students already exist in the Web 3.0 world. They love it so using Web 3.0 as a TL is highly engaging but they don’t understand the digital literacy and citizenship issues. I still see this as an opportunity – I will teach them these things but where to start? I find the opportunities overwhelming. First, there are so many to choose from and it is time consuming to evaluate them and learn how to use them. Then there is the bureaucracy. There are policies on copyright and student safety that must be read and understood first, permissions to be gained from parents and school executive. Then there is gaining access to the software on school devices. I do not have administrative rights and there is currently not an efficient system in my workplace for having requests for new software fulfilled.
I won’t give up. Yet. But everything is a struggle. I am only at the start of my TL career. Surely, things will get easier?
References
Carrington, A. (2016, June 20). The padagogy wheel. Educational Technology Solutions. https://www.educationtechnologysolutions.com.au/2016/06/padagogy-wheel/
Cook, A. (2021). Shaping a framework for information fluency. Scan Volume 40 Issue 1. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/media/documents/vol-40/Scan_40-1_Feb2021_Accessible.pdf
NESA (2019). English K-10 syllabus. https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/english-year-10/english-k-10/outcomes/table-of-objectives-and-outcomes
Templeton, (2021 July 27). Digital literacy and the teacher librarian: Part one. Softlink
https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/digital-literacy-and-the-teacher-librarian-part-one/
Templeton, (2021, August 4). Digital literacy and the teacher librarian: Part two. Softlink https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/digital-literacy-and-the-teacher-librarian-part-two/
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