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"It’s also lead to teachers having an opportunity to bond with their students by giving them a common language. Talking Fortnite, the teacher is no longer an uninformed authority figure."

When I read the Ostenson article for this week, I immediately thought of Fortnite. Even though it started out as a violent game played by college boys, it's taken off in schools around the country. Even my third graders play this game and talk about it constantly at school. The dance moves in the game (floss, orange justice, hype, etc.) have totally changed the culture of my classroom.

With that being said, I've mostly seen this video game phenomenon as being a negative thing for my young students, especially because this game is so mature.  So I decided to look into what other teachers are noticing. I found this article interesting, and it explained how teachers can use video games as a way to connect with their students.

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Image courtesy of Epic Games

Rachel is a middle school teacher in Chicago. Earlier this month, her students were restless, and she was looking for a way to focus their attention. Then, an idea: she knew the entire class was into Fortnite, the sandbox shooter from Epic Games that's been sweeping its way through the culture the past few months, and decided to use the game in her favor. Having played Fortnite herself, she could speak their language, and made a proposal: if everyone finished their work without a single interruption, they'd hold a big discussion about Fortnite.

"You could hear a pin drop in that room," she told me recently.

6th grade teacher Sean Irwin wasn't as lucky. When his students got off task, he'd hear Fortnite murmurs. As part of a project to get kids thinking about careers, many listed "pro gamer" and "Twitch streamer" as legitimate possibilities. He eventually banned Fortnite talk.

(A number of people who spoke to me for this story requested only to use their first names, either as a matter of privacy or because they were not an authorized school spokesperson.)

It's hard to tell when something moves from popular to cultural phenomenon, but it seems similar to the Ernest Hemingway quote about going bankrupt: "gradually, and then suddenly." I knew Fortnite was officially big when my wife's younger sister, who's not into games, asked me if I could explain this " Fortnite" thing and why all her guy friends were playing it. How long Fortnite remains the talk of the playground is impossible to know, but the students, teachers, and parents I've talked to the past week said they haven't seen something grip the children around them since Minecraft (and to a lesser extent, Five Nights at Freddy's).

High school sophomore Bob Pentuic was like a lot of people, including yours truly: he played Fortnite when it came out, when it was being pitched as a co-op tower defense game, and fell off it immediately. But at the start of 2018, all his friends started playing. (This is right around the time Fortnite received an important console update, doubling performance.) Kids who have never picked up a controller at Bob's school are playing Fortnite because, well-it's what everyone else is doing. You needed to play Fortnite to remain relevant in school.

"Watching Fortnite 'go mobile' has allowed it to become almost invasive," he said. "As I write this out, a table of four of my classmates are playing together on their phones."

It's also become part of the social fabric, one metric by which peers are judged.

"They link their wins to their social status a bit," said Australian high school teacher Steve Lowe. "The cool kids are not necessarily the best Fortnite players, but they all know who the best ones are. Doesn't matter how old they are, they talk about kids they wouldn't know from a bar of soap by their wins."

A number of teachers echoed this, observing how some of the biggest introverts are also some of the best Fortnite players in their class, and their expertise has transformed them into bonafide extroverts because everyone's coming to them looking for advice on how to play.

"One of my shy new kids has become a walking strategy guide for the other kids," said 5th grade Maryland teacher Nathaniel Dubya. "He loves it."

Nathaniel knew something was up when he noticed more and more kids hanging out with a student he'd often associated with being "smart but low-self esteem and very quiet." All of a sudden, people hung on his every word during recess and he was suddenly gaining friends.

"Turns out he is really good at Fortnite and was organizing games after school," he said. "It was cool to see him gradually fill that leadership roll and watch how it carried over into the classroom. He's way more involved in book discussions and puts his hand up way more often in general."

But maybe we already have the best metric to know whether Fortnite is a phenomenon, and it has nothing to do with Twitch concurrents or YouTube views. It's awkward prom invitations.

The student being proposed to said yes, I'm told.

Young women aren't just being pulled into Fortnite by way of prom invitations they'll joke about 10 years from now, either. The primary demographic of shooters tends tend to be young men and boys, but phenomenons operate differently, and Fortnite is crossing traditional gender lines. I heard from plenty of parents and teachers who said their daughters were into it, and in some cases, Fortnite became the first time they'd bonded over a shared interest in games.

Taylor Kaar, for example, teaches at an all girls school in Ohio, where Fortnite is the topic of conversation, both in terms of their own experiences playing the game and, unsurprisingly, wider complaints about how the game has utterly taken over the lives of every single boy they know. Of the 50 or so students Kaar interacts with regularly, 10 said they'd tried Fortnite at least once, while another six were playing regularly. But all 50 girls knew about the game.

"They all had stories of being ignored at parties or just hanging out cause people were playing," said Kaar. "This isn't a fad that they deal with tangentially, this has intruded into the very center of their lives."

One student said it's made the guys she regularly interacts with "less social." Another said her boyfriend was pressured by friends to bail on a Valentine's Day dinner so they could all play. Many more admitted to becoming familiar with the game-basic rules, strategy, popular memes-so they could participate in the daily conversations their guy friends were having.

"One of my shy new kids has become a walking strategy guide for the other kids. [Now] He's way more involved in book discussions and puts his hand up way more often in general."

But this collective obsession over Fortnite is a mixed bag, depending on who you talk to. One high school teacher has a student who they say is outright addicted-playing it, watching other people play it-and their grades have sharply declined. Based on what the student's said, it appears they boot up the game the moment they've left school until they pass out sometime in the middle of the night. The teacher speculated a lack of structure at home has exacerbated the issue.

Another teacher I spoke to had a similar situation, but in this case, choose to invoke Fortnite as a reward for good school work. Audrey teaches Algebra to freshmen students in Oregon who were flagged in middle school as students who might have trouble getting to graduation. They're underperforming in math, and Audrey's there to help. These students tend to be matched together in the same class, and so the group ends up spending a lot of time with one another. They become a family.

"One of the students in the class had been dealing with some home-life situation changes," said Audrey. "I'm talking complete inability to be awake, not really by choice but by need."

The student's sleep deprivation was so severe that when students were given a five-minute break between classes, he would sleep. Audrey wasn't having any success keeping him awake. After a few months of frustration, the kid perked up during a lesson where the students vocally propose solutions to problems they're having. His proposal was simple: if he promised to pass math this semester, she would agree to play Fortnite with him after class.

Audrey decided to one up the offer. If the student could stay awake every day, not only would she play Fortnite with him, but the class could do it together, once their final exam was over.

"We turned this deal into a big spectacle, a few students recorded it on Snapchat for proof, and we shook hands in front of our class," she said. "In all honesty, I did not think he'd make it, but I figured if we could get a few days of him being awake, that'd be great for him."

It worked-sort of. Though the student wasn't able to stay awake the whole semester, there were a few weeks where he was more attentive, and his test scores shot up. During that time, other students tried to rally behind him, doing whatever they could to keep him awake.

"Although it wasn't the result we were looking for in our handshake deal," she said, "it was still two more weeks of learning that he has now than he had before, so I'm still calling it a win."

It's also lead to teachers having an opportunity to bond with their students by giving them a common language. Talking Fortnite, the teacher is no longer an uninformed authority figure.

"We've developed a whole slew of classroom analogies," said middle school teacher Kelly Hart. "Med kit/chug jug: you need some help on your homework or aren't doing your best. Solo: gotta work on your own. Pick axe: pencil. It's insane how many of my students understand. Even the girls who don't play know about it and will be like, 'Dude you need to solo right now.'"

"These kids would have been used to incredulous teachers who wouldn't be able to answer, or would respond in a tone deaf, out of touch way," said substitute high school teacher Joshua Erhardt. "When I said that I had, and demonstrated knowledge of it and talked about it like they did, they were surprised and immediately grilled me on how many wins, what kind, where I played, etc. It's been very helpful in establishing a relationship with the students, which in turn makes it easier for them to respect me when I ask things of them."

"If you'll excuse me," said high school teacher Matthew Prather, who wrote me while four students were playing Fortnite when homework was supposed to be happening, "I think the squad in my classroom just claimed a Victory Royale and I need to go ask for building tips."

Fortnite embedding itself into the fabric of everyday school children comes at a time when the discussion around them has been draped in tragedy and anger. On February 14, 17 students were gunned down in a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The country's most recent encounter with mass violence has teachers and parents on edge about what it means for a game with guns to be so prevalent in the minds of kids.

Fortnite is cartoonish and over-the-top, especially compared to the brutal, realistic, and deeply violent PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which served as the primary influence for Fortnite's breakout Battle Royale Mode. But Fortnite is still a game that involves players running around with guns-assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles-and it's a point that hasn't been lost on parents like Keith Krepcho, whose nine-year-old just started playing Fortnite.

Keith's son is "very sensitive to violence," and when Keith would be playing Battlegrounds, his son would call upstairs and ask his father to stop playing before he'd enter the room. Keith figured Fortnite would fall into a similar category, but when his son's 11-year-old cousin and seven-year-old sister got into the game, his son decided to give the game a real try.

"He came running to me," said Keith, "and declared that he had headshot someone who dropped a legendary assault rifle and then picked it up and 'killed everyone.'"

It unnerved him.

"I know that they [my kids] love the cartoony look and jokey feel of the world," he continued, "but I can't shake that Fortnite is a headfake toward children and adults who are concerned about the games their children play. Splatoon committed fully to the idea of an all-ages shooter. The violence is bloodless and cartoony and they avoid use of gun culture terminology. Fortnite embraces and all-ages look, but then still uses real-life weaponry."

It's impossible to know whether Epic Games would have changed its approach to Fortnite' s weaponry had they known it would have taken off with kids, but if there ever was a moment to change that, it probably would have been with the mobile version, and it didn't happen.

"I know that they [my kids] love the cartoony look and jokey feel of the world, but I can't shake that Fortnite is a headfake toward children and adults who are concerned about the games their children play."

Unsurprisingly, even when kids aren't playing Fortnite, they're thinking about Fortnite. Arizona elementary teacher Steven watched as his 4th graders transformed the playground into a Fortnite match. Some kids dropped into battle, others commented in real-time (a la Twitch). In the middle of the battle, however, some kids began using their "guns" inappropriately, including turning around and firing into the "audience." Steve put a stop to pretend Fortnite.

This all happened just days after the events at Parkland.

"In retrospect it was unclear whether or not these students were aware of it," said Steve. "Not that I necessarily expect 4th graders to be. I didn't have it in me to unpack a school shooting to kids who I'm not sure had the context, but we have established rules for improv play. One of those rules is no excessive violence."

By nature of being a phenomenon, by being everywhere, it makes sense for some of the consequences to be unexpected and messy. And it means you end up getting stories like the the one I'm about to tell you, perhaps the most unexpected byproduct of Fortnite fever.

High school teacher Josh Hart told me Fortnite gave him a way to have his students engage with literature. Fortnite Gatsby, a student re-imagining of The Great Gatsby, became a tale of Tom and Daisy living in Snobby Shores, a notable location in Fortnite's Battle Royale map, while Gatsby watches as 100 new "dreamers" are brought to his island by bus. And in this version, the green light Gatsby is entranced by becomes Fortnite 's ever-encroaching storm.

"The failure of the American dream was represented by the fact that only 1 of those 100 actually made it," they said.

You know, that's pretty good.
Follow Patrick on Twitter. If you have a tip or a story idea, drop him an email: patrick.klepek@vice.com. Have thoughts? Swing by Waypoints forums to share them!

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Teachers and Parents Share Stories From Inside the 'Fortnite' Phenomenon

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Image courtesy of Epic Games Rachel is a middle school teacher in Chicago. Earlier this month, her students were restless, and she was looking for a way to focus their attention. Then, an idea: she knew the entire class was into Fortnite, the sandbox shooter from Epic Games that's been sweeping its way through the culture the past few months, and decided to use the game in her favor.

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Speaking as a 21st Century Skill - Morgan

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Speaking as a 21st Century Skill - Morgan

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I found this Responsive Classroom article very interesting. It says that in order to be successful in today's society, "students must master what is essentially a new language—the language of learning." Because this is a language skill, it is directly related to literacy in the classroom. Oral and Written communication skills are ranked highly on the list of essential 21st literacy skills.

Another great quote from this article that I believe directly relates to 21st Century literacy: "Students of all ages become truly engaged in academics when teachers make space for them to make meaningful connections to the curriculum and dig into topics that they’re personally invested and interested in. When students are engaged and motivated to learn, and when teachers create a safe space within which they can practice, even the shiest among them can learn to speak confidently."

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"As their teachers, we hold in our hearts our own hopes and dreams for [our students]. We want them to engage in academic rigor and to be ideamongers who contribute to classroom learning-and we also want them to become the very best people they can be; to live the very best lives they can live; and to contribute as best as they can to their families, schools, communities, and our world... But to learn all that, students must master what is essentially a new language-the language of learning.

-Lora Hodges, Executive Director, Center for Responsive Schools, foreword to The Language of Learning

Speaking confidently is just one part of the language of learning, but it is a crucial skill. When we teach students to speak confidently in class, we are empowering them to change the way they view themselves as scholars, the way they connect to and take ownership of the curriculum, and the way that both peers and adults in and out of school perceive them. Essential speaking skills like speaking confidently help students exchange ideas with classmates-expressing ideas in literature circles, productively discussing science concepts, and respectfully debating in social studies.

The essential skills for speaking confidently are:

Having a confident body posture-sitting up, turning toward the listener, and, for older students, keeping bodies still and avoiding distracting gestures

Making eye contact-and when talking to more than one person, making "roving" eye contact

Speaking at an appropriate volume and pace-younger students can learn the Goldilocks Principle: not too loud, not too soft, not too fast, not too slow; older students can begin to understand how to vary volume and pace to make their points more effectively

Students of all ages become truly engaged in academics when teachers make space for them to make meaningful connections to the curriculum and dig into topics that they're personally invested and interested in. When students are engaged and motivated to learn, and when teachers create a safe space within which they can practice, even the shiest among them can learn to speak confidently.

Mr. Nelson, for example, deliberately helped his fifth graders to speak with confidence by teaching them the specific skills that academic speaking requires and then providing them with opportunities to practice and master those skills. During one writers' workshop, he refers his students to an anchor chart from an earlier lesson on speaking confidently, briefly demonstrates how the characteristics will apply to their discussions, and then sends them off to work small groups.

In one group, Juan sits up confidently. He looks group members in the eye and speaks loud enough for them to hear but not so loud as to disturb nearby groups. He says, "My story takes place at night in the woods. It's really dark, and there's only a little light from a small sliver of the moon. But there's just enough to make scary shadows."

After he describes how the trees look, how the wind feels, and the "crunchy leaves" and "gooey mud" underfoot, Juan's groupmates take turns telling him the adjectives and descriptive details that stood out to them. Juan's ability to express his ideas effectively helped him prepare for writing his story and gave his group members a vision for how they, in turn, could describe their own story settings.

Teach students to speak confidently just as you would teach any other new skill:

Use Interactive Modeling to teach students the confident speaking skills outlined above. They'll likely realize that they see you model these skills every day, and many younger students will be eager to practice "talking like a teacher."

Give students plenty of opportunities to practice confident speaking skills. After initial, targeted practice (for example, students can pair up and share about their weekend plans, focusing on making eye contact while speaking), work up to using the whole set of confident speaking skills in multiple settings (partners, small groups, and whole class).

The school day is filled with opportunities to practice confident speaking. Enlist students in creating visual reminders that illustrate confident speaking skills to hang in easy-to-see places in the classroom. Use reinforcing teacher language (clear, concise, positive) to give students feedback as they progress.

Students need these essential speaking skills as the building blocks for higher-level speaking skills, so they can be prepared for more formal speaking situations and communicate better in social situations. What do confident speakers in your classroom sound like?

To learn more about the power of teaching students core thinking, listening, and speaking skills, including specific examples of how to give meaningful feedback and address common mistakes, check out The Language of Learning.

Find even more teacher language tips to support your teaching in The Power of Our Words and The Power of Our Words for Middle School.

Tags: Conversation Skills, Engaging Academics, Reinforcing Language

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"As their teachers, we hold in our hearts our own hopes and dreams for [our students]. We want them to engage in academic rigor and to be ideamongers who contribute Read More "

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The creator of Scratch, a coding website for kids 8+, speaks in this TED talk about how many kids today can "read" technology because they spend so much time using it, but that they can't "write" technology and use it to learn effectively. In this way, many children are not "fluent" in technology. He talks about the importance in becoming fluent in digital languages and learning how to speak the language of new technologies in the 21st century, and how teaching children how to code can help them develop these skills. Even if they aren't training to become professional coders, it is important in this day and age for children to learn how to speak the language of technology, and just like reading and writing, it is a very valuable life skill.

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Coding isn't just for computer whizzes, says Mitch Resnick of MIT Media Lab -- it's for everyone. In a fun, demo-filled talk Resnick outlines the benefits of teaching kids to code, so they can do more than just use new tech toys but also create them.

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The envision company has a blog on what they believe are the 13 most essential 21st Century Skills. I agree with ALL of the skills on the list. I really like how Oral and Written Communication skills is on the list, I feel like that is not seen as often. I think that despite this skill being on the list, there is still a push and focus on the digital aspect. What is happening to the written piece in our classroom and curriculum? This blog article is accessible and provides others teacher and lifelong learners a chance to respond and get their thoughts on the article out.

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Educators and workforce experts alike often warn that our children need improved 21st century skills. Without these skills, they will not be able to successfully participate in the global economy. They won't be adequately prepared for college and work.

But what, exactly, are 21st century skills? Are we just talking about computer and technology skills? And who decides which skills make the list?

It depends on who you ask. But a Hanover Research report, A Crosswalk of 21st Century Skills, sheds some light on the subject.

More than Computers & Technology

Hanover Research recently analyzed six major educational frameworks designed to improve the development of 21st century skills. This included frameworks and critical skills listed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Tony Wagner's Seven Survival Skills, the Metiri Group's enGauge framework, the Iowa Core 21st Century Skills, developed by the Iowa Department of Education, the Connecticut State Department of Education and the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S).

While each framework has slightly different list of critical 21st century skills, all agree on four critical areas for development:

"It is easy to see how these skills could be valuable to a new high school graduate and to employers, as well as how these skills can easily interact with one another," according to the Hanover Research report. Others, such as the research division of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii, draw similar conclusions from the various frameworks on 21st century skills.

"More than technological expertise, 21st century skills refer to content knowledge, literacies and proficiencies that prepare individuals to meet the challenges and opportunities of today's world," stated the Kamehameha Schools report, An Overview of 21st Century Skills.

Other Critical Skills for Success

The Hanover Research analysis also identifies a second tier of important 21st century skills, present in five of the six major frameworks:

The following skills were present in four of the six frameworks:

Civic literacy and citizenship

Oral and written communication skills

Social responsibility and ethics

Technology literacy

Initiative

"The driving force for the 21st century is the intellectual capital of citizens," said the Metiri Group in its white paper, Twenty-First Century Skills. "Political, social and economic advances in the United States during this millennium will be possible only if the intellectual potential of America youth is developed now."

Deeper Dives

In other blog posts, we will continue to provide you with information about critical success skills for the 21st century. For example, what exactly do we mean by collaboration and teamwork, or critical thinking? How can we, as supportive parents, do more to help our sons and daughters develop these skills? What are the best educational environments for teaching and learning these skills?

We are also interested in hearing from you about the ways you are helping young people prepare for a world in need of highly skilled professionals. Just contact us at mediainfo@envisionexperience.com if you'd like to share your story. And, of course, we hope you will consider Envision programs as an important way to help your children and students develop these critical skills. We believe our mission is vitally important. We hope you do too.

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13 Essential 21st Century Skills for Today's Students | Envision

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Read about the essential skills for students to successfully participate in the global economy. With these, they'll be adequately prepared for college & work.

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Young Children and Digital Literacy -  Kamyia 

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Young Children and Digital Literacy -  Kamyia 

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This PowerPoint by Rosie Flewitt is a quick and accessible way to introduce the concept of digital literacy to someone interested in bringing the skill to younger children. Part of 21st century skills means that you are aware, competent and creative with all forms of digital media. Flewitt mentions in her presentation that "Becoming literate is a child's right" (slide 6). It is important in this ever growing society for children to become competent in digital literacies. The author mentions students would be competent in more than just the iPad but in multiple digital medias. Examples she uses are the radio, blogs, smartphones...etc. I believe this literacy should be started early. Th big question is how can make technology more accessible in classrooms and districts that do not have as much funding for their students to have "1 to 1" access to
technologies? I like how she provides ideas and best practices for the skill too. Check it out!

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21st Century skills at a glance - Kamyia 

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21st Century skills at a glance - Kamyia 

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I found this and I thought it provided a good "glance" of all the skills that go under the umbrella of 21st century skills! It really had me thinking which ones do I see in my classroom or in my school the most? Which ones do I not see and how can we incorporate them better?

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High Schooler Thoughts on 21st Century Skills- Kamyia 

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High Schooler Thoughts on 21st Century Skills- Kamyia 

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I liked how he explained what these "21st century literacy skills" meant to him. The point of this video is show that he is taking his 21st century skills and deepening them through real world situations. I also think it is important to note how he said the skills that he learned and developed while going to this PBL based school.

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"[L]iteracy is the most basic currency of the knowledge economy we're living in today. Only a few generations ago, it was okay to enter the workforce as a high school dropout who could only read at a third-grade level. Whether it was on a farm or in a factory, you could still hope to find a job that would allow you to pay the bills and raise your family."

In today's world, being literate requires much, much more than the traditional literacy of yesterday. According to the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English), twenty-first century readers and writers need to:

Gain proficiency with tools of technology

Develop relationships with others and confront and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally

Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes

Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information

Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts

Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

In the Classroom

When it comes to effective communicator, we can no longer consider college and career ready as simply sending students out as good readers and writers. As the definition of literacy evolves in our world, so does the charge of schools in helping students work towards and gain mastery of the skills and abilities NCTE has outlined above. Let's take a look at some of those:

Gain proficiency with tools of technology. The greatest tech tool of all? The Internet. It undoubtedly gives access to an unending wealth of information and has revolutionized our lives. I remember years ago trying to fix my lawnmower. I went to three public libraries trying to find a lawnmower manual that was close enough to my machine to be useful. Now? Go to YouTube and someone will take you step-by-step through repairing or making just about anything and everything.

But for all the amazing, valuable stuff on the Web, there's loads of misinformation, half-truths, and misquoted, useless stuff. In preparing children to be literate in today's world, it's urgent that we teach the skill of scoping websites with a critical eye. Kids need to be explicitly trained in spotting everything from blatant pseudo-facts to slightly questionable content. This ability to "filter" will be required of them in both university and work.

Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts and manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information. The term multimedia, which means using more than one medium of expression or creation to communicate, encompasses a great deal more than it did 10, or even five years ago. To convey their deeper learning of a new concept, I remember having students include with their written analysis a printed graph, chart or image, and later, I required they add some audio or video element or links from websites. Now, students are creating websites as the task itself. A flat, inanimate thing like a written report or essay -- or a book or newspaper, for that matter -- is no longer the paradigm of communication.

Communication today is like a living thing, morphing continuously -- a hybrid of script, interactive, audio, and moving images. What does this mean for teachers and students? Schools need to be preparing students to masterfully navigate, judge, and create this type of sophisticated communication -- and do so quickly and efficiently.

What's Next?

It's true that, through deeper learning, many teachers and schools are already guiding students into this new century well-equipped to think critically on their feet, problem solve, and communicate effectively. But as we enter our thirteenth year, we need to stay mindful that the definition for 21st century learner -- and literacy -- will continue to change.

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Deeper Learning: Defining Twenty-First Century Literacy

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"[L]iteracy is the most basic currency of the knowledge economy we're living in today. Only a few generations ago, it was okay to enter the workforce as a high school dropout who could only read at a third-grade level.

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The Do's and Don'ts of Digital Literacy-Meredith

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The Do's and Don'ts of Digital Literacy-Meredith

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I really liked the organization of this piece. The author offered a few practices that DESTROY digital literacy in our classrooms, and then went on to ways to cultivate a culture of digital literacy in our classrooms. Some of the ideas are super, super simple shifts we can be making. A great infographic is also provided.

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Widely understood to be essential to success in the workplace and modern life, digital literacy is beginning to emerge as a necessary component of curricula across the globe. As current undergraduates have never known a life without the internet, it's only natural that universities should nurture their familiarity with technology, encouraging its use in teaching and learning. Instructors should also be prepared to offer guidance on what students aren't as familiar with-turning their technical skills into skills for lifelong learning and employability.

But where does one begin? Teaching digital literacy is about more than just integrating technology into lesson plans; it's about using technology to understand and enhance modern communication, to locate oneself in digital space, to manage knowledge and experience in the Age of Information.

Digital literacy isn't about knowing computers inside and out; it's about using technology to change the way you think. If critical thinking skills haven't yet become a part of your students' digital citizenship, it's time to rethink your teaching strategy.

These are vague descriptions, as are most of the descriptions you'll find of digital literacy in blog posts and journal articles online. What teachers need, more than a fancy synopsis of how digital publication affects the meaning of a text, is a practical and applicable guide to helping students think productively about the digital world.

Below are the top do's and don'ts we've come across-in research and in our own experience-when it comes to making students digitally literate.

5 Teaching Practices That Destroy Digital Literacy

Literacy specialists at Central Michigan University and the Fordham Graduate School of Education published a report in 2013 entitled " No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can't Wait " which identified the following practices as harmful to the growth of the movement:

1. Criticizing digitalk

At some point, we've all been irked by the influence texting and Gchat have had on our students' language use. We've said it is causing students to become less literate and to ignore proper English. But "digitalk" actually shows a complex understanding of language. Rather than destroying students' grammar and spelling, research has proven that digitalk actually improves students' linguistic competence. In other words, you have to understand the rules to break them. In addition, students develop an enhanced understanding of audience, purpose, and voice in their digital writing communities. In treating digitalk as wrong, rather than as an example of legitimate linguistic code-switching, you will fail to validate the digital literacy that students bring to your course.

2. Using a blog without blogging

Don't confuse the act of using a blog with the act of "blogging." Blogging is an act of "connective writing" where the intention is to share, exchange, and discuss information. If the interaction isn't there, you're not doing much to serve your own digital literacy.

3. Relying on slideshows

Many of our colleagues feel that asking students to create PowerPoint presentations-or even using them in their own lectures-fulfills the requirements of teaching digital literacy. Not so. In the same way that some reductive writing pedagogies (five paragraphs of five sentences, for example) limit creativity, slideshows with a set number of slide, image, transition, and link requirements do little to support active learning.

4. Asking (only) questions that can be answered with a Google search

Digital literacy isn't about knowing computers inside and out; it's about using technology to change the way you think. If critical thinking skills haven't yet become a part of your students' digital citizenship, it's time to rethink your teaching strategy.

5. Using "cool" technology to deliver a planned lesson

Just because a tool is listed on some new version of Bloom's Taxonomy as "collaborative" or "evaluative" doesn't mean we are using it in ways that actually manifest collaboration and evaluation. If you want to spruce up a planned lesson, be sure that it gives your content a lift as well.

15 Habits to Cultivate in Your Students

1. Preach "originality in the rough.

The same-or highly similar-information can now be found on countless websites, forums, blogs, and the like. The true test is to find a diamond in the rough: an original fact or thought that contributes something unique to the discussion. This is what students should be trained to look for.

2. Hold open discussions about plagiarism.

Every teacher should hold a discussion of what plagiarism means in the Digital Age. What was once considered "copying" can now be regarded as repurposing in many cases. Refer to Kenneth Goldsmith's Uncreative Writing for inspiration on this topic.

3. Help students develop a "nose" for quality.

Ideally, someone with digital literacy should be able to rate the relevance and quality of a source almost instantaneously. Obvious markers include phrasing of titles, reputation of source, standard of web design, publication date, and keywords.

4. Train students to react skeptically.

Especially when they read the phrase, "Research says..." or "A recent study revealed..." People are obsessed with data, and quick to believe dramatic figures when they see them. Be sure that whoever claims to back your facts is a credible source, and that the facts themselves are not skewed to manipulate your perspective.

5. Get used to multiple literacies, not just one.

The Digital Age has brought us not a single new type of literacy but several literacies that overlap and define one another. New literacies include Layered Literacy, which describes the way that print and digital overlap, creating intertextuality; Transliteracy, or the ability to read and write across a wide variety of media formats; Electracy, which refers to the pedagogical skills necessary for new digital skills; and digital citizenship, which covers the role and rights of a person within the digital world.

6. Read past the first page of Google results.

SEO controls a lot of what shows up on the first page. Most of us have the patience only to scan what shows up on the first page. Teach your students to delve deeper, search in different channels such as Scholar and News, and keep it going until information no longer seems relevant to the topic.

7. Use tools like Feedly and Twitter to filter the deluge of information.

Managing the volume of information on the Internet is a huge task, and completely overwhelming without a filter. Encourage students to use Twitter and Feedly for news updates and customize the content to fit their subjects of interest.

8. Teach your students to use WordPress.

Think of WordPress as a replacement for the cursive writing we once required in schools. It's a way to formalize your writing and lend authority to your voice. And it demonstrates the basics of a rapidly growing medium.

9. Teach your students to write HTML.

Coding is hitting schools hard, but the important thing is to cover the basics. Once students know the fundamentals of the language, they can easily make more advanced programming part of their continuing self-education.

10. Encourage interviews via e-mail and Skype.

What's better than asking Google a question? How about talking face-to-face with the person who wrote the article you're reading? Well, face-to-grainy-face, perhaps, but still significantly more informative-and motivating-than citing a passage from a text.

11. Require students to create their own digital products.

This is the best way for students to learn digital citizenship, hands down. Learning-by-doing could not be more effective than it is in the digital sphere. Have your students create blogs, record videos, engineer new apps-the possibilities are endless, and the benefits just about as inumerable.

12. Be sure they evaluate two, if not three, competing sources before drawing a conclusion.

The best research approaches a topic from as many angles as possible. If you're crafting an argument, search for facts that may prove your theory wrong. If you're looking for supporting evidence, be sure it comes from a diverse selection of sources.

13. Teach your students to understand scientific discourse.

Unfortunately, most research papers are not written for the layman. But understand them the layman must. Your students need to be able to interpret scientific language in order to benefit from scientific research, as it will not always be summarized for them. Believe it or not, this is especially important in the Digital Age, as information consumers become more and more accustomed to receiving their news in 140-character Tweets and single-sentence Facebook updates. Part of digital literacy is knowing when the unabridged version is worth your time.

14. Teach digital writing.

Technology has fundamentally changed how writing is produced, delivered, and received. One of the goals of teaching digital writing is that students will increase their ability to produce a relevant, high-quality product, instead of just a standard academic paper.

15. Use digital resources for empowerment.

Having a voice and a presence online can be more empowering than we think. As students form online identities and personas, help them visualize the scale of the impact they could make on various communities and the confidence they will gain from doing so.

Image of the elements by Lyn & Cartoon by Kristin

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20 Things Educators Need To Know About Digital Literacy Skills - InformED

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Widely understood to be essential to success in the workplace and modern life, digital literacy is beginning to emerge as a necessary component of curricula across the globe. As current undergraduates have never known a life without the internet, it's only natural that universities should nurture their familiarity with technology, encouraging its use in teaching...

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Where the Wild Things Learn Literacy Instagram - Morgan

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Where the Wild Things Learn Literacy Instagram - Morgan

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This is one of the teachers I follow religiously on Instagram. She focuses on elementary literacy and often creates live videos that outline how she uses diverse literature in her classroom. She also posts pictures of books that she reads in her classroom, and includes critical thinking questions that she includes in her mini lessons to encourage her students to synthesize texts and talk about cross-cultural themes. 21st century literacy encourages collaboration and thinking critically about texts, and she does a great job outlining how she does this in her classroom! She also includes how she uses technology in her literacy groups, which is helpful for me as a 3rd grade teacher to have very understandable and manageable ways to incorporate technology skills into my curriculum.

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"That’s where Penny Kittle’s words ring true  — that courage is more important than caution. I understand not wanting to “rock the boat” or damage friendships with your colleagues, but at what cost? The risk of sending our students into the world illiterate by 21st century standards and powerless?"

This is one of my go to teacher blogs! In this post, the author argues that many teachers are not willing to face the fact that we need to by explicitly teaching 21st century literacy skills. Many of our colleagues are stuck in the past, and we must be brave enough to try new things and speak up about the importance of preparing our students for the digital world in which they now live.

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I still haven't mentally returned from my time at Tyrolia, Kylene Beers' ranch, in Waco, TX. My mind still thinks I am sitting at her dining room table, painting a watercolor picture while overlooking a pond banked with Cypress trees. Or nestled on one of her incredibly-comfortable couches talking about a podcast with a newfound friend. Or riding a Mule (the all-terrain vehicle, not the animal) with Penny Kittle and five other people who were just as giddy as I was. Or sitting around her living room chatting and laughing with Bob Probst and Linda Rief while the aroma of the evening's dinner tempted our senses.

It's amazing that a place of scenic tranquility and beauty could rouse such feelings of rebellion and determination.

But you can't talk about rebellion without first talking about power, so let's start with the power of literacy.

For the first time in history, power is no longer based solely on wealth. Power is a Tweet. A YouTube video. A social media post. Kylene gave a fascinating talk about the "ugly roots of literacy in America." In Colonial America, "literacy" primarily meant one's ability to sign a document or contract. Who held the power there? Those who could sign the document, or those who could write the document? During the Revolutionary and Civil War times, penmanship was valued as literacy. But who had the leisure to practice their penmanship? Those with wealth, privilege, and power. From the Civil War to World War I, literacy meant one's ability to recite poems, monologues, and stories. But who had the leisure to practice memorization? Those with wealth, privilege, and power. Then we get to the Industrial Revolution, where the assembly line was born. And then our schools began modeling the assembly line design (can't you just picture kids on a conveyor belt being carried from class to class?). From the 1950s to 1980s (and even in the present), literacy meant analyzing the meaning of what we are reading. But still, someone else held the power (it was the teacher - or CliffsNotes - who determined if a student's analysis was correct or not).

The point is, the definition of literacy shifts to reflect what is happening in the country and world. Presently, businesses see the value in synthesizing information and identifying potential problems rather than just solving existing problems. So what does this mean for our classrooms?

It means we abdicate the power we as teachers have held on to for decades and give it to our students. If we are only teaching them analytical literacy, we are preparing them for 1980. For this century, students need the same literacy skills they've always needed: to summarize, to retell, to articulate, to evaluate. But more importantly, they also need a willingness to see another perspective, the chance to take a risk, the ability to sustain their focus, an acceptance of ambiguity, and the self-confidence that allows them to identify as readers and writers. Because that's power, right?

But the chances are, if you're reading this, you already believe this. Chances are, if you're visiting Three Teachers Talk , you are already subscribed to the belief that education has not caught up to the 21st century. And chances are, you sometimes feel alone in this belief. Or isolated. Like you are fighting a losing battle. Like you have found a great discovery, only to feel that no one else believes you.

That's where Penny Kittle's words ring true - that courage is more important than caution. I understand not wanting to "rock the boat" or damage friendships with your colleagues, but at what cost? The risk of sending our students into the world illiterate by 21st century standards and powerless?

Kylene told us that to start [educational, metaphorical] fires, we must start with our best kindling. So find your tribe. Find your people. Those who value courage over caution. They may not be in your hallway. Perhaps they're across campuses, across districts, across states, across international borders. That's who I found at Tyrolia. I found my tribe.

And persist. Penny said that it is often the changemakers who take the lumps. And I don't know about you, but I have definitely felt it. But our kids are worth it. Linda echoed this sentiment when she said that even if you just change one teacher, that is one group of kids who are benefitting. To add to the conversation, Bob suggested we focus on the 5%: the 5% of teachers who are ready and willing to make a change, or the 5% of our teaching that we are dedicated to improving. So ask: "What's one thing we can change this year?"

For me, I am vowing to write more. Penny encouraged us to start the habit of writing for fifteen minutes a day. You know what I said to her? I've tried to keep notebooks and journals, but I always lose interest because I feel like what I'm writing doesn't matter.

Dwell on that sentiment: My words don't matter.

You know many of our students feel the same way. How can I show my kids that their words and voices matter when I don't even feel that my own do?

But she told me that my words did matter. And then four days later, she retweeted this, and I can't help but think it was for me:

The truth is, words matter . Everyone's: mine, yours, our students'. The words we read shape our thoughts. So immerse yourself in the words of Kylene Beers, Penny Kittle, Bob Probst, and Linda Rief. Their words are life-changing.

Immerse your students in words of both the past and the present, so that they understand how we got to now, and how we can change the future. And the words we matter. They help us reflect, learn, process, and discover.

I'm slowly wakening from the dream that was Tyrolia, but I hope that we all remain:

Determined to write.

Unafraid to rebel.

Revolutionaries for 21st century literacy.

On a mission to find our tribes.
As of today's publication, Karry Dornak has continued to write, rebel, revolutionize, and seek out her fellow 5%. She is balancing life in Spring, TX, as an instructional specialist, teacher, wife, mom, and Pumpkin Spice Latte enthusiast. Follow Karry on Twitter @karrydornak
Tagged: learning, living mentor texts, teacher researchers, teacher-writers

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Takeaways from Tyrolia: Four Days with Kylene Beers, Penny Kittle, Bob Probst, and Linda Rief by @KarryDornak

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I still haven't mentally returned from my time at Tyrolia, Kylene Beers' ranch, in Waco, TX. My mind still thinks I am sitting at her dining room table, painting a watercolor picture while overlooking a pond banked with Cypress trees. Or nestled on one of her incredibly-comfortable couches talking about a podcast with a newfound...

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Before I really dove in to reading about 21st Century Literacy, I thought it might be helpful to get a broad definition! In this video, the author argues that especially in early childhood, students need to understand that literacy goes beyond the printed word. She also argues that since 21st century literacy is a fairly new concept, it isn't well defined yet. However, we have a responsibility to help our students make sense of all the information being thrown at them through technology.

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Interesting article from NEA, but I enjoyed the links to teachers and what they are actually doing in their classroom. The Enhanced English Teacher's Blog was great!

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Evolving Forms of Literacy
A language arts teacher in Shelbyville, Kentucky says schools need to maxmize the use of new media to engage students.
by Paul Barnwell

In some ways, I'm old school. I love to read books and write Op-Ed pieces, short essays, and I've recently attempted to write a short story. But I also spend a couple of hours of the day reading blogs, seeking out information on the Internet, working on my website, visiting Facebook and or watching a video or two online. What is literacy? Do schools do enough to teach and practice evolving literacies?

I recently embarked with 12 fellow teachers at Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English on an exploration of digital literacies, attempting to define media literacy, explore the possibilities of empowering students through new media work, and learn various practical classroom applications. We started on the first day of class by creating media timelines to compare and contrast our personal evolutions of media use and consumption. The timelines, unsurprisingly, revealed the exponential growth of personal and societal media production and consumption.

By the end of the first week of class, we were neck-deep in the exploration of evolving literacies.

What are some of the skills and competencies of 21st Century Literacy?

In the video below, members of Project New Media Literacies, an initiative of MIT, discuss what it means to be truly literate in today's interconnected world.

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A language arts teacher in Shelbyville, Kentucky says schools need to maxmize the use of new media to engage students. by Paul Barnwell In some ways, I'm old school. I love to read books and write Op-Ed pieces, short essays, and I've recently attempted to write a short story.

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Great article with suggestions in how to set up your room.   It made me rethink a few things in my classroom. While it's not specific to literacy, I thought it reflected the principles.

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Do you want to bring a 21st century classroom design into your classroom? This article will assist you in setting up a literacy-rich environment in a 21st century classroom and includes a printable guide you can download now.
As a literacy specialist, my goal is to create a classroom environment where my students can be immersed in literacy experiences. When students walk through the classroom door I want the atmosphere to entice them to explore the elements of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

From the anchor charts I hang, to the genre posters in my classroom library, I always ask myself whether the decor element facilitates language and literacy opportunities.

It has taken me several years to perfect a classroom environment that I feel supports engagement with text in the form of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. It wasn't until I started implementing elements of a 21st century classroom that my classroom became the literacy-rich environment I always dreamed of creating for my students.

So, what is a 21st century classroom?

What is a 21st Century Classroom?

As technology has advanced and become an integral part of students' every day lives, educators have had to reevaluate curriculum and the conventional classroom model. Teachers can no longer teach 21st century kids in classrooms designed for an era of students in which the Internet, tablets, smart phones, live streaming, 3D printers, etc. weren't available.

When the educational practices of the traditional classroom became less effective, teachers started implementing strategies that ensure 21st century students get the instruction and support they need to be successful. In order to support these instructional strategies, the classroom structure and environment had to undergo a transformation.

The 21st century classroom structure aims to create a productive environment in which teachers are facilitators of learning and students can develop the necessary skills to be successful in the workplace.
With this modern classroom model, students naturally engage in:

Higher order thinking skills

Effective communication

Collaboration

Using technology with purpose

Real-world problem solving

Creative expression

Characteristics of a 21st century classroom include:

Student-centric

Teachers as facilitators

Flexible classroom design

Technology integration

Active learning

Collaborative learning

Differentiated instruction

Hands-on learning

Performance-based assessment

A variety of pedagogical approaches

Essentially, the 21st century classroom encourages teachers to try new things, and work with students to find where learning is most comfortable for them to succeed.

Personally, I think the key to having a successful 21st century classroom is being flexible. The flexibility in a literacy rich 21st century classroom is intended to increase student productivity, and encourage collaboration and communication.

Download the Guide to Creating a 21st Century Classroom Tip Sheet now.

Key Design Elements of a Literacy-Rich 21st Century Classroom

Element 1: Adaptable Classroom Layout

The layout of your classroom should be adaptable and easily changeable based on what the students are working on.

The days of desks in rows-or even having desks in the classroom at all-are long gone. Most diagrams of 21st century classrooms include tables rather than desks. High tables, low tables, round and square tables-a variety is preferable. Arrangement of desks or tables should promote collaboration!

Ideally, the various arranged workspaces would support students whether they are working in small groups, pairs, or individually.

Now, if you are like me, you like everything to coordinate-so how is that possible with an assortment of mismatched tables? The solution is simple: tables can be purchased at garage sales and spray painted to match or you can tie everything together using your seating.

Another aspect of the adaptable classroom layout is a designated space in the classroom where students can gather for mini lessons, read alouds, and group discussions. This space is separate from their workspaces and should reflect that in its design. Laying down an area rug is a great way to establish the meeting area!

Element 2: Flexible Seating

Flexible seating gives students a choice of where to sit and what they will sit on. The 21st century classroom promotes students being able to act on their natural instincts to move their bodies and sit on variety of seating options when they feel the need.

Children naturally get very creative when it comes to where they sit and how they sprawl their bodies! If you're a parent you know exactly what I mean! At home it's not uncommon for me to find one child laying on the coffee table reading a book and another child quietly coloring under the kitchen table.

When you take note of how children instinctively move their bodies and then compare that to the amount of hours they spend at school it's easy to see where the traditional classroom always missed the mark. A classroom where hard chairs and desks are the only places for students to work, has never been conducive with effective instruction and learning.

Stools and chairs painted to match your tables are an easy, visually appealing option. Large pillows, couches, and bean-bags in a color scheme similar to the tables will bring your classroom to life. Yoga balls used for seating are a huge hit with kids, too.

Remember, you don't need to incorporate all seating options at once. Do it over a period of time! If you are worried about the cost of creating a classroom like this, visit Goodwill, the Salvation Army or, as I mentioned above, garage sales in order to get a good deal. You can also ask your personal family, friends, and neighbors for donations.

Element 3: Small Teacher Work Area

Get rid of your desk!

Teacher desks take up a tremendous amount of space in a classroom. Instead, try to consolidate your supply storage on a small rolling cart. Use a kidney- or U-shaped table as your desk. This table has multiple purposes, serving not only as your desk, but also as a place to teach, meet with students, or where students can collaborate.

You may also want to have a small bookcase behind the table for additional teaching materials; however, this is the time to consolidate. Remember, 21st century classrooms tend to use a minimalist approach to design. No clutter!

Element 4: Availability to Materials

Classroom materials should be easily available to students.

Rather than storing math manipulatives or dry erase boards in hard-to-reach cabinets, put them where students can reach them.

If you have decided to use tables rather than desks, you will also need to have an area for student supplies (pencils, markers, crayons, paper, scissors, glue, and so on). I prefer having community supplies instead of independent pencil boxes, but you need to decide what will work best for you. My students each have a book bin where they keep their reading books and a binder.

Organization of materials is a personal preference and will depend on the size of your classroom, and its storage options.

Element 5: Accessibility to Technology

Make technology available to students!

Students should have access to class computers, laptops, iPads, and/or Chrome books. Students are accustomed to using devices starting at a very early age and having information right at their fingertips.

The usefulness of technology and ways to incorporate it into your classroom could take up a blog post (or several posts) in itself. In short, technological devices support instruction, digital literacy, and are a vehicle for students to research their interests.

Of course, it is important to set up monitoring systems and strict guidelines that will keep your students safe (these guidelines will depend on your district policies).

Element 6: Literacy-Rich Environment

A literacy-rich classroom gives students access not only to digital literacy, but also to library that includes a wide variety of books at various levels and incorporates many genres.

A classroom library should be organized so students are able to use it independently. Books are kept in leveled bins/baskets with only one level in each basket. It is important to have books at EVERY student's reading level. I like to organize my non-leveled books by genre, theme, featured author, and mentor texts. All bookshelves should be at a kid-friendly height and the area should be inviting.

A literacy-rich classroom also means there are "anchor charts" hanging around the classroom for students to reference. An "anchor chart" includes strategies or information pertinent to what the children are studying. Often, this chart is made ahead of time and added to during a mini-lesson. There can be multiple "anchor charts" hanging in a classroom for students to use as a guide.

A 21st century classroom is not decorated with a variety of pre-made, ready-to-hang posters. Any print items hung in the classroom should be meaningful and should clearly support learning.

In Conclusion

A 21st century classroom design has several key elements including adaptable layout, flexible seating, a small teacher work area, materials that are easily accessible to students, available technology and is literacy-rich.

The key to having a successful 21st century classroom is being flexible. The flexibility in a 21st century classroom is intended to increase student productivity, and encourage collaboration and communication.
Available for download is a diagram of a 21st century classroom to help guide you with your classroom planning. Remember to be flexible and creative!
I promise, you can create a 21st century classroom that will make colleagues envious of your learning space and students desperate to be on your class roster.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Reading Engagement Inventory

Give Me 5! Reading Strategy

Classroom Library Genre Posters

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Elements of a Literacy-Rich 21st Century Classroom

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Do you want to bring a 21st century classroom design into your classroom? This article will assist you in setting up a literacy-rich environment in a 21st century classroom and includes a printable guide you can download now. The key design elements of a literacy-rich 21st century classroom include

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This extremely fascinating piece was on my local NPR station today.  This author of the book investigated how our deeper reading skills are decreasing as we read more texts digitally.  One of her fascinating claims is that teachers need to start EXPLICITLY teaching students how to deeply read a digital text.  This is exciting and scary at the same time,  as we as reading teachers will be embarking on a whole new frontier of how to teach our students how to read a digital text, while not completely abandoning traditional ways of teaching reading.  This is worth the listen!

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The Future Of The Reading Brain In An Increasingly Digital World

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Hours and hours of screen time. How much are digital distractions changing the way kids think, and even read?

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Language and Literacy- Understanding Our Students in the 21st Century- Sherry

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Language and Literacy- Understanding Our Students in the 21st Century- Sherry

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Language & Literacy - Teaching Students in the 21st Century

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http://www.loosetooth.com/Viscom/gf/21c_literacy.htm