Supporting Digital Literacy in Educational Contexts: Emerging Pedagogies and Technologies
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Supporting Digital Literacy in Educational Contexts: Emerging Pedagogies and Technologies Final Report International Baccalaureate Program December 2014 This page has been intentionally left blank. Supporting Digital Literacy in Educational Contexts: Emerging Pedagogies and Technologies December 2014 Submitted to and research funded by: International Baccalaureate Organization Prepared by: Mark Warschauer, Tamara Tate, Melissa Niiya, Soobin Yim, and Youngmin Park University of California, Irvine This page has been intentionally left blank. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ iii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 5 Background ................................................................................................................. 5 Purpose of Study ........................................................................................................ 6 Chapter 2: Methodology ..................................................................................................... 7 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria .................................................................................. 7 Search Process ............................................................................................................ 7 Screening and Coding .................................................................................................. 8 Narrative Synthesis and Recommendations .............................................................. 8 Chapter 3: Synthesis of Research ........................................................................................ 8 What Does it Mean to Be Digitally Literate? .............................................................. 8 Conceptual development of digital literacy .................................................... 8 Research on digital literacies ........................................................................... 12 Ties with traditional literacies……………………………………………………………….. 12 Digital divides……………………………………………………………………………….………. 13 Digital literacies in educational contexts ......................................................... 16 Out-of-school educational contexts……………………………………..……………….. 16 In-school contexts……………………………………….………………………………………… 19 Affordances and challenges of digital literacies .............................................. 22 Enabling student practices .............................................................................. 31 What Pedagogical Practices and Strategies can Foster the Development of Digital Literacies? .................................................................................................................. 35 Content ............................................................................................................ 36 Just-in-time learning……………………………………………………………………………… 36 Individualized, differentiated, and personalized learning……………………… 38 Composition .................................................................................................... 43 Construction .................................................................................................... 47 Community ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 53 Measurement of digital literacies ................................................................... 59 How to assess ............................................................................................ 61 What to assess .......................................................................................... 66 How Can Teacher Education and Professional Development Promote Digital Literacies? ....................................................................................................... 69 Changing notions of literacy and the role of teachers .................................... 69 Challenges and the need for support .............................................................. 74 Current professional development efforts to promote digital literacies ........ 76 Implications and recommendations for practice ............................................ 79 What is the Role of Technology Integration Frameworks in Promoting Digital Literacies? ....................................................................................................... 82 Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge .............................................. 85 Frameworks for teaching and curriculum ....................................................... 93 Frameworks and implications for IB ……………………………………………………………. 99 Chapter 4: Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 101 Annotated Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 102 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 LCR in Primary and Secondary Schools, 2012……………………………………………………… 25 Table 3.2 iNOCAL Elements for Designing Instruction………………………………………………………. 60 Table 3.3 Technology Integration Stage and Teacher Roles .................................................. 98 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1. National Plans to Implement ICT in Education, By Type, 2012 ………………………….. 24 Figure 3.2 Middle School Student Tablet Use……………………………………………………………………… 34 Figure 3.3 The Networked Teacher Model …………………………………………………………………………. 78 Figure 3.4 Diagram of TPACK Model…………………………………………………………………………………… 84 Figure 3.5 Diagram of SAMR Framework……………………………………………………………………………. 94 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A research team at University of California, Irvine conducted a synthesis of literature on digital literacy. The purpose of this synthesis was to 1) define digital literacy as it applies to K12 settings; 2) identify the best pedagogical practices for promoting digital literacies in K12 classrooms; 3) pinpoint teacher education and professional development practices for teaching digital literacies; and 4) review technology integration frameworks and distinguish which components best support digital literacy education. This report includes a research synthesis of experimental research, case studies, qualitative analyses, and theoretical and pedagogical frameworks. The report addresses the technological, pedagogical, and social practices that contribute to digital literacy development across multiple countries and for students from linguistically, socioeconomically, and culturally diverse backgrounds. Given the central role of information and communication technologies in all aspects of 21st Century life, digital literacy is a critical element of successful participation in academic life, the workforce, and society. Formally, digital literacy refers to the multiple ways that people use digital media to make meaning from and with texts and other symbolic systems relevant to particular societies and contexts. In an elementary and secondary school environment, digital literacy initiatives should enhance learners’ ability to participate in society operationally (the ability to read/write), culturally (the ability to understand texts within cultural contexts), critically (recognition of social construction of knowledge and digital media practices), creatively (the means and skill for content creation), and collaboratively (the ability to work with others via digital means). Although access to digital media is a necessary element of developing digital literacy, it is far from sufficient, and indeed, digital literacy initiatives that rely merely on passing out computers tend to have poor results. A better perspective is to view digital literacy as a form of social participation, which thus require a broad range of physical, digital, human, and social resources to develop. In school contexts, educators should consider how digital media could be deployed to facilitate inquiry, action, and reflection, and thus the types of curriculum and instructional practices that would be supportive. Throughout this report, we provide examples of thoughtful deployments. Digital literacy certainly overlaps with the traditional literacies of reading and writing traditional print sources, but it cannot be reduced to them. For primary and secondary teachers, a key focus should be how digital literacies intersect with and enhance academic literacies. This can involve leveraging and repurposing many of the digital media practices students might be involved in at home, such as social networking or multimedia production, for academic purposes. Pedagogical practices to promote digital literacy can focus in four areas: content, composition, construction, and community. Content strategies exploit the power of digital media to help students access, comprehend, and make use of the wide array of materials available online. These strategies should focus on just-in-time learning, individualized learning, and enhanced information literacy and student research. Composition strategies emphasize the importance of informational writing. Social media and cloud-based environments give students the opportunity to practice the kinds of collaborative writing that are increasingly of value in academia and the