Reflection: Transitioning from Knowledge to Synthesis
Introduction
In this essay, I will reflect on what I have learned throughout the course of Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. First, I will describe how my understanding of the new literacy skills has opened my eyes to my students’ needs. Then, I will discuss how I can use this understanding to make effective teaching decisions. Finally, I will explain my professional goal to continue to learn how to support information literacy and online inquiry.
Revelations
The most striking revelation that I had in regard to information literacy among my own students is that, unless we explicitly teach these necessary skills, they will not acquire them on their own. In other words, even though my students are very well versed in many of the skills it takes to navigate the web and read the information presented, they do not necessarily have the skills they need to evaluate and interpret the resources they find on the internet. In addition, they need to be taught how to synthesize their findings using technology. There are several fluencies that students will have to master in order to use this source successfully. These include fluencies in information, solutions, creativity, collaboration, and media (http://committedsardine.com/fluencies.cfm). From a young age, students will need to be explicitly encouraged in these fluencies so that their literacy skills can develop. As an educator, it is my job to provide my students explicit instruction on these skills and multiple opportunities for practice.
Influences
Because technology is has an increasing role in the lives of my students, I will make sure it plays an important part in our classroom. With nearly every lesson I teach, I integrate some facet of technology. From projecting an electronic version of a textbook, to creating a sample text document, to taking notes from a website, I continuously model literacy skills that my students will need to master. I now frequently project programs or websites and discuss my own strategies for navigating and interpreting them. As Eagleton and Dobler state, “Using teacher think-alouds is a fabulous method for helping make explicit the in-the-head process that expert inquirers use” (2007). In addition, my students will have the opportunity to synthesize the information they have found by using multiple tools for collaboration and communication. For instance, I would like to begin a blog or a wiki project that will replace some of my current, non-tech or low-tech projects. I am excited for my students to learn to use the tools that are available to them and I am hopeful that they will see the power in participating in this type of learning community.
Professional Development
For the past year, I have been a part of my school’s technology committee. As a result of my learning in this course, I feel that I now have a deeper understanding of where we need to move as a school. Before, our team was focused primarily on tools that teachers could use to present information (such as interactive whiteboards). Now, however, I would like to discuss the skills that our students need in order to be successful in the future (the new literacies and 21st Century skills, to be specific) and how we can incorporate teaching these skills into our current curriculum.
There are others in our district that have a very deep understanding of these issues and I will make it a priority to network with these people. Our district offers some personal choice in professional development, including many opportunities to learn about technology. I have signed up for a course titled Online Resources for Educators. At our first meeting, we explored many sites that offer teachers and students many outlets for online inquiry (including NetTrekker and Learn 360). I am excited to learn more at our future meetings; it seems that I will be able to infuse what I learn there with what I have learned in this course and apply it directly to my teaching.
References
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry.
New York: The Guilford Press.
Jukes, I. (2010). 21st century fluency project: The fluencies. Located at
http://committedsardine.com/fluencies.cfm
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