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How Social Media Can Support Science and Digital Literacy

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How Social Media Can Support Science and Digital Literacy

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Research on how social media can improve science classrooms, including how NGSS emphasizes digital literacy.

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Paul Darvasi's high school English classroom in Toronto, Ontario is anything but ordinary - it is blurring the lines between formal and informal education.

A lifelong gamer and PhD candidate in York University's Language, Culture and Teaching program, Paul designed a multimedia, alternative reality experience called The Ward Game to teach One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to his senior English class. Darvasi uses social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to provide game instructions from the fictional totalitarian character "The Big Nurse," played by Darvasi himself. He did not use social media the first year he implemented the 30-day game, but it vastly improved the student experience in the second. "It allowed for the game to spill outside of the classroom and immerse them in play day and night, weekday and weekend," says Darvasi who saw levels of engagement from his students he had rarely seen before.

John Fallon, an English teacher in Fairfield, Connecticut also uses multimedia gaming and social media to teach Homer's Odyssey. He has seen immense engagement and success, but also struggles to fully implement open networks like social media in the classroom due to parent concerns and network restrictions. School districts across the country continue to grapple with new technology and classroom limitations, and over 98% of schools filter content from students in some way. Some schools even ban social media sites or install software to monitor social media accounts on campus. Many school leaders are concerned that social media can lead to cyberbullying and disruptions in the classroom, and bans aim to protect school districts from the legal liabilities associated with social media.

Yet in 2012, the Pew Research Center's Internet Project found that 95% of youth ages 12-19 regularly use the Internet and 81% are using some form of social media. Given the pervasive use of social media among youth, educators like Darvasi and Fallon are considering how classrooms might leverage social media for positive personal and peer-to-peer learning environments that support digital literacy and safety.

While not often the focus of the debate, the role of social media in science should be part of the conversation on digital literacy. New Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards emphasize science literacy. However, less guidance has been provided to educators on how to achieve these goals in a digital era. Many scientists and journalists are using social media to communicate from the frontlines of research. Some of the most creative and engaging science conversations are happening in informal, online forums. Case in point: Canadian astronaut and Commander of Expedition 35 Chris Hadfield live tweeted from space to over 1.1 million followers last year.

As forums like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook become news generators, students need guidance on how to find accurate and reliable sources of scientific information. This does not replace the need for training on traditional forms of research; rather it is another layer of 21 st century competencies. The ability to sift through excess news stories, differentiate fact from opinion, and organize and synthesize data to communicate scientific ideas are not skills learned by being an everyday user of social media. For most students, it must be taught.

A report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center moves the digital divide conversation forward by stating "...the framework of a participation divide is most relevant to the discussion because it is not as much a matter of who is or is not participating in Social Networking Forums (SNF), but rather what kinds of participation users engage in." Decreasing the participation divide will take more than integrating science-based media into a lesson plan. Digital literacy means empowering students to interpret and make informed judgments as consumers of media, but also to be effective producers of media in their own right.

How can social media be effectively integrated into a science classroom? With your school district or administration's approval, here are eight tips to get your class social media savvy this school year. When possible, make sure to set all accounts to private settings to ensure students are safely sharing their information and their learning experience.

1. Twitter generates science news in the classroom.

Ask students to follow scientists, journalists, and Twitter chats that support the content you are currently teaching. Help students develop radars for quality scientific sources on Twitter, the ability to recognize opinion, and the need for the unabridged version of a tweet. Need help on how to integrate Twitter into your classroom? KQED has a " Guide to Using Twitter in Your Teaching Practice " as part of their Do NOW series that aims to get students safely engaged in current issues through social media.

2. Feedly is a news aggregator that is perfect for classrooms and research projects.

There is more information available today to students than in any point in history. Students can learn to filter and curate content based on their interests or research on Feedly. Create a class account to save and share daily science news stories with students. What is on NOVA Education's Feedly? Scientific American, NPR's Science Desk, Smithsonian Magazine and of course, NOVA Next!

3. Twitter reveals STEM diversity to students.

The beauty of Twitter is that students have front row access to academics and professionals in their fields of interest. Here at NOVA Education, we all love following Neil deGrasse Tyson, but there are even more scientists on Twitter who challenge the stereotype of what a scientist should look or act like. Here and here are two lists to get you started.

4. Vine allows students to document and share science happening in the classroom and their community.

Below is a video from KQED Education that explains how to use the app Vine, which creates looping six to seven-second videos that can be shared.Meteor shower tonight? Observing environmental pollution in your neighborhood? Cool physics experiment in class? Document and share video to support student engagement in science.

5. Easel.ly helps meet Common Core standards with infographics.

Common Core requires students be able to translate quantitative data into visual forms. Infographics help students create shareable visualizations that tell a story or communicate an idea. Below is another video from KQED Education that explains how to make an infographic with easel.ly.

6. Google Docs teaches data collaboration.

Encourage students to share class data through Excel documents on Google Docs. An easy and free collaborative feature alerts you when others are online and editing information. Teaching students how to use Google docs is an important professional skill, as many college classrooms and work environments are utilizing this tool too.

7. Pinterest allows students to curate visuals related to science.

Set up a classroom Pinterest account for students to share images they find for research projects or writing prompts. The NOVA Education team loves the Women in STEM and Science and Nature boards!

8. WordPress blogging can aid in peer-to-peer learning.

Set up a WordPress class account for the year and pose daily questions or writing prompts based on readings. NGSS encourages more writing in science classrooms and collaborative, peer-to-peer feedback is the main ingredient in college writing courses. Why not start now?

John Fallon believes the concerns around social media in the classroom are legitimate and "that social norm is going to be in flux for the foreseeable future." But as an educator he has found safe alternatives around these challenges, like using email addresses within the school system or closing video sharing to only his students. Fallon and Paul Darvasi's experiences echo that there is no one size fits all digital literacy plan. Start small with one lesson plan and expand from there. Experimentation is key.

Do you have ideas or stories to share about digital media and learning in your classroom? Please email us at novaeducation@wgbh.org.
Photo credit: Paul Darvasi

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How Social Media Can Support Science and Digital Literacy

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Paul Darvasi's high school English classroom in Toronto, Ontario is anything but ordinary - it is blurring the lines between formal and informal education. A lifelong gamer and PhD candidate in York University's Language, Culture and Teaching program, Paul designed a multimedia, alternative reality experience called The Ward Game to teach One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to his senior English class.

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Why Digital Literacy is Important For Science Teaching and Learning

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Why Digital Literacy is Important For Science Teaching and Learning

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An article explaining how ICT and Digital Literacy go hand in hand in a science classroom.

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Curriculum & Leadership Journal | Why digital literacy is important for science teaching and learning

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In recent years, the Australian Government has invested heavily ($2.4b) into the Digital Education Revolution with initiatives that aim at increasing ICT proficiencies in teachers and school leaders and equipping years 9-12 students with a laptop each. Such initiatives should be welcomed by the science education community, as ICT offers affordances that could benefit enormously the teaching and learning of science.

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Professor Garfield's Teach Resource Center

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Professor Garfield's Teach Resource Center

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Games and activities that will enhance students' digital literacy skills.

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It is never too late to teach students about digital literacy. As technology continues to advance in society, there will be plenty of new social media sites and other tools students will use in and out of the classroom. As educators it is crucial to share with students how to be safe with what they say on the Internet, and what they select as sources.

What is digital literacy?

According to Cornell University, digital literacy is "the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using information technologies and the Internet."

Education World has gathered a list of ten resources educators can use when teaching digital literacy in the classroom:

1. DigitalLiteracy.gov: On this site, teachers can find resources including lesson plans, activities, games, videos, tutorials, and more.

2. Professor Garfield: The Professor Garfield Foundation's website offers students fun activities and games to enhance their digital literacy. The site also offers a teachers resource center, instructional materials, printables, links, digital stories, and more.

3. Lesson Plan Booster: Digital Literacy and Online Ethics: In this article on Education World, teachers have access to a list of lesson plans they can use to teach their students about digital literacy, including digital etiquette, essay questions, and more.

4. ThinkB4u: ThinkB4u is a website that partners with Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, National Consumers League, and more. ThinkB4u provides teachers with videos, resources, and other sources for the classroom.

5. TheNewsLiteracyProject.org: On this website, students work with professional journalists who instruct them how to sort fact from fiction in through videos, workshops, classroom programs, and resources for teachers.

6. Common Sense Media: With Common Sense Media, teachers can share videos, activities, printables, and other resources for teaching digital literacy.

7. Tweeting History: A Digital Literacy Lesson: In this lesson plan provided by Education World, students will be able to use historical knowledge and digital literacy skills to tweet clues and guess the historical figure, period or event.

8. November Learning: This site offers educators resources including articles, podcasts, videos, quizzes, tutorials, and more for teaching digital literacy.

9. Web 20.14: With Discovery Education's Web 20.14, teachers can have access to free apps, games, and other school-friendly tools.

10. Digital Literacy Resources: Cornell University provides teachers with information regarding privacy and the Internet, copyright resources, and a research guide for students.

Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor

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Ten Digital Literacy Resources for Teachers

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It is never too late to teach students about digital literacy. As technology continues to advance in society, there will be plenty of new social media sites and other tools students will use in and out of the classroom.

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Lesson Plan Booster: Digital Literacy and Online Ethics

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Lesson Plan Booster: Digital Literacy and Online Ethics

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A lesson plan for teachers to assist in teaching online ethics in any digital literacy lesson.

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To students, the Internet can seem like a space where "anything goes." People can seemingly say or post whatever they like, without any negative consequences. In the absence of face-to-face contact, young people in particular tend to lose their inhibitions and do or say things they would not in "real life."

This discussion-a perfect activity to celebrate Media Literacy Week (November 7-11)-will open youth's eyes to the very real human and legal consequences of online behavior, highlighting ethical lessons that can be learned from the poor choices that some have made.

Grade Level: 8-12
Student learning objectives
Students will gain digital literacy (media literacy, information literacy) skills by considering the human and legal consequences of poor choices others have made online. Students will recognize that even when online expression is protected by the First Amendment, it still can result in legal consequences. Students also will discuss the concepts of "netiquette" and "cyber ethics" and then brainstorm a set of guidelines for appropriate online behavior.
Preparation

1. You may want to provide the text of the First Amendment to students either on paper or via electronic display.

2. See frequently asked questions about student free expression and When does student speech become harassment? (Scroll all the way down to the 'Speech Codes" heading to find the answer to this second question.)

Acts of harassment are defined as written, oral, or physical acts that harm a student, damage the student's property, interfere with the student's education, or disrupt the orderly operation of a school. Categories of harassment are found in several federal statutes and prohibit discrimination based on gender; disability; and religion, race, color or national origin.

Schools are obligated by law to prohibit harassment that occurs on school grounds and in some cases can prohibit off-campus action if it disrupts the learning environment of the harassed student. Victims of harassment are also likely to press criminal charges.

3. Consider the "Summary of Legal Principles" which begins on page 7 of the guide Student Expression in the Age of Columbine: Securing Safety and Protecting First Amendment Rights by David L. Hudson, Jr.

If the student's expression is made on school grounds, using school equipment, and/or as part of a school assignment, it is more likely that the school can successfully prohibit the expression. Yet, even expressions that are unrelated to schoolwork and occur off-campus on students' personal computers (such as Facebook posts) may be subject to school censoring in certain limited situations. David Hudson identifies these specific situations:

The student expression is substantially disruptive. If school officials can reasonably predict that the student expression (even if made off of school grounds and not on a school-owned computer) will disrupt the learning environment or interfere with the rights of others in the school community (expressions that can be construed as bullying are a good example) then they can prohibit the expression, and it is not protected under the First Amendment.

The student expression involves a true threat. If an expression communicates a serious, clear intent to harm someone - it receives no First Amendment protection and could result in a school ordering the "speaker" to halt the expression (or in the case of online material, delete the material). The expression could also result in criminal charges of threatening or even cyberstalking.

4. Make sure you're clear regarding one thing that's often confusing for students: Even if speech is protected by the First Amendment, it still can result in criminal charges. Speech that is eligible for First Amendment protection is free from government interference; however, a person who feels harmed by someone's speech may certainly file charges (such as criminal defamation or harassment) against the "speaker." (You may want to note that laws vary by state in terms of the specific charges that can be filed in various situations.) Even if the accused is found not guilty, other negative consequences are likely to include a publicly announced arrest, embarrassing media stories and significant legal expenses.

5. Examine the following five court cases and consider their implications.

In the 2010 Roger Corey Bonsant case, Bonsant, then a 17-year-old high school student, was arrested and charged with criminal defamation after he was accused of creating a fake Facebook page using a teacher's name and image. While the case is still being decided, this is an example of criminal ramifications that students may face for participating in dubious online acts.

Several cases exist in which students who created false Facebook or MySpace pages featuring the names and likenesses of teachers and administrators. On these pages, students published items painting the educators as drug and sex addicts. In some cases school punishments were reversed by courts, due to the fact that the student activity took place off school grounds and presumably was not sufficiently "disruptive" of the school environment to override the students' right to free speech. The victims depicted in these false Facebook pages could very well have filed charges, however.

In 2011, a 12-year-old Seattle girl was arrested and charged with cyberstalking and first-degree computer trespassing. Authorities alleged that she stole a former friend's Facebook password, logged into the account and posted explicit content. She was found guilty and sentenced to probation. (The girls' school does not seem to have been involved in this case.)

Six Nevada middle-schoolers were arrested in January, 2011 for using Facebook to invite other students to take part in "Attack a Teacher Day." They were all arrested and charged with communicating threats, as several specific teachers were called out in posts to the Web site.

In the Phoebe Prince case, Prince was bullied (both in person and online) by a group of teens at her Massachusetts high school after it was discovered she had a brief relationship with a boy. The boy's girlfriend and a group of her friends systematically tormented Prince in retaliation. The bullying was considered a factor in Prince's January 2010 suicide. All the teens involved were arrested on manslaughter charges. They eventually pled guilty to lesser crimes and were sentenced to probation and community service.

6. Introduce the idea of "cyber ethics." Professional journalists and publishers are held to a standard of ethics related to what they write and print (see Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics). Consider whether some of the same ethical standards could, or should, apply to private citizens communicating on a public medium such as Facebook.

7. Cybercitizenship.org explains that "cyber ethics" and "netiquette" refer to responsible online behavior. These terms apply to what people do online when no one else is looking. Explore the following sources of simple tips for young people:

8. In addition, the Computer Ethics Institute, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance technology by ethical means, generated The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics, a set of guidelines that included the following:

Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness [lie].

Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow humans.

Introducing discussion to students: When students' online behavior draws criticism from others, what kind of guidelines help us as a society determine what is acceptable in cyberspace? The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, federal and state laws, codes of "cyber ethics" and agreed-upon rules of "netiquette" can all play a role in shaping our behavior. We're going to review some real cases of questionable student online behavior and see if we can learn from them about guidelines that might help us avoid problems.

Options for student discussion or essay questions:

1. Under what circumstances is students' online "speech" protected by the First Amendment?

2. Under what circumstances is online speech not protected (i.e., a school can order a student to stop, and issue punishment)?

3. Can even protected online speech result in criminal charges? Under what circumstances? What kind of criminal charges can result?

4. Even if online speech is legal (protected by The First Amendment), do individuals have a separate, personal ethical obligation to avoid certain online behaviors? If so, what kinds of things should not be done online?

5. What lessons do you take away from the five student criminal cases that we discussed?

6. How do you think each of the following individuals felt in each case:

Accused student(s)

Parents of accused student(s)

Classmates of accused student(s)

Adult or youth victim(s) of students' online behavior

Law enforcement

General public

7. Do you think the judge made the right decision in the Phoebe Prince case, the Seattle cyberstalking case and the cases mentioned in the Star-Telegram editorial? Why or why not?

8. Do important people in your life talk with you about the dangers of certain online behavior?

9. Do young people fully understand the consequences of their online activity? Why or why not?

10. What did you gain from reading others' lists of "netiquette" rules? Which rules did you like/not like? Which rules do you think young people your age most often don't follow?

11. Which of these rules do you personally follow? Do you plan to change anything you're currently doing online based on these guidelines (this could include not supporting others whose online behavior concerns you)? Are there other guidelines you would recommend adding to these lists?

12. (If teachers want to pair up or group students) Did you agree with your partner/group about which rules should be on the list? Did you decide to add new rules?

13. What can we do in our school and community to encourage students to follow these ethical guidelines?

Related resources
Access Denied: Blocked Web Sites and Schools
Lesson Plan Booster: Think Before You Hit Send
Do Texting and Facebook Belong in the Classroom?

Article byJason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
Education World®
Copyright © 2011 Education World

Updated 01/13/2015

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Digital Literacy and Online Ethics | Education World

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To students, the Internet can seem like a space where "anything goes." People can seemingly say or post whatever they like, without any negative consequences. In the absence of face-to-face contact, young people in particular tend to lose their inhibitions and do or say things they would not in "real life."

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Resources for students to learn online safety.

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Work with professional journalists to tell fact from fiction when reading articles.

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The News Literacy Project works with educators and journalists to give students the skills they need to discern fact from fiction and to know what to trust.

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A network for teachers to share resources on digital literacy.

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

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Resources for teachers looking to teach digital literacy and share their own sources.

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"At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish. ...If the children are the future, the future might be very ill-informed." -Stanford History Education Group, 2016.

How would you feel if you discovered that 70% of middle school students could not distinguish between fake news and authentic news on the web? According to a year-long study by the Stanford School of Education, that is exactly where we are as a country. Across 12 states and 7,800 student responses, the overwhelming majority of our students - from [...]

Read Full Article

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Web Literacy Education for Educators - November Learning

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"At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish. ...If the children are the future, the future might be very ill-informed." -Stanford History Education Group, 2016.

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An article about the effects of social media use in the classroom as a means of increasing digital literacy.

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Think Twitter is just a waste of time? Think again. Its organizational structure makes it an effective tool for connecting with students and others online.

On Feb. 10th 2011, the world was transfixed on the protests raging in Egypt. We all watched as thousands gathered in Tahir square, where they had been for the past several weeks, to listen to a speech by President Hosni Mubarak. Many figured this would be his resignation speech. Instead, it offered the citizens of Egypt very little in the way of change, even if it was being presented as something positive. For outsiders looking in, it seemed that the situation would only get worse.

What Mubarak might not have known is that while he was trying to maintain his iron grip on power, thousands of Egyptians were tweeting about their frustration with the dictator. Eventually, the people on the street, armed with nothing more than a cell phone and a free social media site, changed the course of history. If you are a middle or high school social studies teacher, and you wanted to provide your students with a close-up view of the events unfolding in Egypt, you could turn to a traditional news service. Or, you could follow the hashtag #Egypt on Twitter and tap into the real-time pulse of unfolding events by people on the streets of Cairo.

Through our previous articles, we have introduced you to three pillars we believe are essential to be Web literate. We have shown you how to use advanced search techniques to raise the quality of information found on the Web, and we have explained how the information you find can be organized into a comprehensive library of knowledge using powerful Web tools like Diigo. In this final part to the series, we will demonstrate how tools like Twitter can allow a researcher to share what is learned with the world, tap the knowledge of others to help make even stronger connections with the material, and even provide students with real-world problems at a moment's notice.

At first glance, Twitter doesn't appear to hold much value. Who cares about Justin Bieber's haircuts! In fact, we both saw it as a waste and quit using it two or three times until we truly understood the organizational structure of information within this tool. Learning how to filter through tweets, organized using hashtags, will bring clarity and meaning to Twitter and will get you past the mosh pit of random thoughts and lackluster chitchat.

A hashtag is nothing more than a word or phrase (with no spaces) that is preceded by a # symbol. Examples include #edchat, #london2012, and #youthvote. Simply type a hashtag like one of these into Twitter's search box to immediately generate results that are focused around the topic of your choice. Tagging is a beautiful thing, and a tag is something you can invent at any moment.

If you're interested in a topic, but you don't know of a hashtag that will be helpful with your research, simply do a search in Twitter using a keyword rather than a hashtag. Then, scan the results to see what hashtags people are using when they are discussing that particular topic. For example, Brian did this the evening of President Mubarak's speech, and he discovered that the two most popular hashtags being used at that time were #Egypt and #Jan25. By looking through the resources he found, he was able to see what the world was saying about this event. But then, Brian took it a step further. He began a new Twitter post and typed in:
I wonder if the people in #Egypt are buying this? #Jan25
Upon posting, his message immediately gained a global audience interested in this one topic. Within minutes, he had a response back from a woman in Cairo who confirmed his thinking: The Egyptians weren't buying it at all! They chatted for a while, and at the conclusion of their conversation, he asked if she would be willing to Skype into a class of middle school students and teachers with whom he was working the next day. She agreed, and the students were able to ask her questions about what they had seen on television the evening before, about life in Egypt, and about her hopes for Egypt's future. It was a powerful moment for everyone involved.

Reflecting back on this series of events, we have learned to appreciate the power of a social media tool such as Twitter to provide information and global communication. The role and knowledge of the educator is more important than ever in understanding how to use these tools to bring authentic experiences to our students. Unfortunately, many students do not see the educational value of a tool they might be using every day.

Any school or classroom can begin using Twitter as an important part of the learning process. To help the beginners out, we've developed a list of educational hashtags that can be used by teachers and students who are looking to connect beyond the classroom. Our recommendation is to print this list and hang it in the classroom near a classroom computer. With a classroom account (under a teacher's login and password), anyone in the class can tweet out questions requesting resources or sharing the learning that is taking place in that class. The appropriate hashtags should accompany each message. These messages might look like this:
Looking for global classrooms that can record their local water data to share with us over the next 12 months. #scichat We are looking to shake up professional development in our district. What are some unique models you use. #profdev Our class is looking to collaborate with another class to write and produce a PSA on #bullying and #cybersafety.
In addition to using Twitter as a way to connect globally, we've also seen examples of classrooms using Twitter as a way to share learning opportunities with others outside of the classroom. For example, supplementary photo and video tools provide the ability to share learning from anywhere someone can access an Internet connection. This could be in a classroom, it could be on a field trip, or-as Jessica Caviness from Coppell High School in Texas explained to us-it could even be from a baseball game.

Mrs. Caviness was a new Twitter user who had attended a workshop of ours. Upon getting back to school, she told her geometry students that she just got a Twitter account. After jokingly welcoming her to the 21st century, students immediately began taking out their cell phones and following her. Then, a few nights later at a Texas Rangers baseball game, she was reminded of a problem from class a few weeks earlier. She decided to tweet the following, and within minutes, she had several replies from her students.

Days later, at yet another game, Mrs. Caviness decided to dig a bit deeper into students' thinking. She tweeted a new picture and asked students to develop related problems.

Again, students jumped on this opportunity immediately. Before the game was over, she had quite a collection of student created problems including:

What Mrs. Caviness found most exciting was the fact that students dropped everything they were doing at home so that they could connect with her around these short math blasts.

Now, Mrs. Caviness sees many applications for using this tool to strengthen what students do at school each day and to build a library of material that she and her students can use in a flipped classroom environment. We invite you to read more about her class and their uses of Twitter. You might also choose to follow Mrs. Caviness on Twitter.

We believe that there are three essential skills represented by the stories in this article:
Teachers should have the skill set to build their own personal learning networks to be global.

Teachers should be able to leverage their PLN to bring the challenge of authentic conversation to their students.

Teachers should be able to use social media to connect their students to real-world problems.

Like Mrs. Caviness, we believe that educators should be powerful role models and provide examples of how to use the most powerful social media tools to expand the boundaries of learning. Otherwise, our students may only end up following #Bieberhair.

Let us know your thoughts.

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Twitter as a Powerful Educational Tool | Using Twitter Hashtags

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Think Twitter is just a waste of time? Think again. Its organizational structure makes it an effective tool for connecting with students and others online. On Feb. 10th 2011, the world was transfixed on the protests raging in Egypt.

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ScienceDirect: Can We Teach Digital Natives Digital LIteracy?

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ScienceDirect: Can We Teach Digital Natives Digital LIteracy?

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A study showing how digital natives don't necessarily have digital literacy skills.

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Can we teach digital natives digital literacy?

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In recent years, there has been much debate about the concept of digital natives, in particular the differences between the digital natives' knowledge...

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Digital Literacy Beyond Social Networking

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Digital Literacy Beyond Social Networking

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An article detailing how digital literacy extends into the job market.

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At its core, digital literacy refers to the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and analyze information using new information and communications technology. Possessing digital literacy skills entails a working knowledge of current advanced technologies and, more importantly, a substantive understanding of how broadband-enabled tools can be used to enhance one's life.

For the last two decades, very few jobs required such specialized technological skills. However, in 2012, nearly every occupation requires some level of technological proficiency. Though indicative of the times in which we live, this dynamic prevents tens of millions of minorities from participating in the ongoing digital revolution. Children raised in unconnected homes lack easy access to a computer and high-speed Internet connection during their formative years, thus perpetuating the existence of a digital divide that has left more than half of all black and Hispanic households unconnected to broadband. The result of this cycle is a minority workforce lacking in the digital literacy skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century.

Why does this matter? Despite an otherwise stagnant job market, high tech employment is on the rise, with sectors like the market for smartphone app development set to explode as more and more consumers adopt advanced mobile devices. Minorities who lack technological skills and experience will not be able to compete for these types of jobs. Moreover, as discussed on and analyzed at length in MMTC's jobs report, the current composition of America's high tech workforce leaves much to be desired with regard to diversity. With minority representation lacking at many prominent companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the high tech sector, it is clear that something has to change in order to reverse these troubling trends.

MMTC has proposed concrete steps to improve digital literacy. In our 2008 Road Map for Telecommunications Policy, we suggested that media, telecom, and Internet operations and policy should be taught as the equivalent of earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics in high school. This would be accomplished by moving earth science down to the eighth grade, biology to the ninth, and creating room for a digital literacy course in the tenth grade. As stated in MMTC's Digital Beloved Community published last year, "By institutionalizing programs designed to expose, educate, and develop a culture of Internet use within the school system, we can better prepare the next generation as they progress within our digital society."

Although a mandatory class hasn't been created to teach digital literacy, the Obama Administration has made digital literacy a national priority. In his State of the Union address in January 2011, for example, President Obama emphasized the need for an increased focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in American schools. The president has since launched many initiatives to that end, including the Educate to Innovate campaign to increase STEM education overall and also expand STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched a ground-breaking federal digital literacy initiative last year that aims to provide all citizens with an equal ability to develop critical 21st century skills. The initiative's website, www.DigitalLiteracy.gov, is a portal used to collect and share resources related to computer education and training. It also offers examples of successful public-private broadband adoption initiatives and best practice guidelines for bolstering digital literacy at the local level.

These and other recent efforts, combined with the rising popularity of many broadband-enabled applications, have had some success in closing America's digital divide. Indeed, several studies reveal that a growing number of minorities are using the Internet for multiple reasons, foremost among which is social networking. For instance, a Pew Internet & American Life Project report noted that 25 percent of black Internet users and 19 percent of Hispanic Internet users have active Twitter accounts, more than double the amount of white users. Georgetown University's Center for Social Impact Communication also reported that blacks and Hispanics are much more likely to engage with and learn about social issues through online social networks than most other user groups.

These promising trends indicate an innate willingness among minorities to adopt cutting-edge technologies. However, the dynamics underlying this phenomenon needed to be identified and applied to the millions of minorities who remain without a broadband Internet connection. Building digital literacy training into K-12 education is certainly an important first step since it provides new users with a tangible value proposition for going online. But we need to do more to ensure that these gains - in schools and on social networks - are sustained in the near term and maximized over the long term. Doing so will level the playing field for minorities and usher them into a new world of equal economic opportunity.

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minority media & telecommunications council

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Digital Literacy Beyond Social Networking

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At its core, digital literacy refers to the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and analyze information using new information and communications technology. Possessing digital literacy skills entails a working knowledge of current advanced technologies and, more importantly, a substantive understanding of how broadband-enabled tools can be used to enhance one's life.

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Lessons for teachers that help address safety and digital literacy online.

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The Internet Keep Safe Coalition is dedicated to protecting children, families, and schools by assessing, advising, and certifying organizations that collect, use, and share personal information and data that is protected by law.

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Be Internet Awesome is a multifaceted program that includes a fun and free web-based game called Interland and an educational curriculum to teach kids how to be safe and responsible explorers of the online world.

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A look at how one district has taught students to reach their full digital potential.

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Student Control

When we give our grades 6-12 students a 1:1 computer to take home, those students are the local administrators of their devices. They can download software, change settings, rearrange icons and menus, and personalize with on-screen images and bookmarks, or with stickers. They can make the computer fully theirs. Why? Because these are lifetime skills that they must learn, and because a "personalized learning device" is not that if we (not they) control it.

Do children mess up? In the words of Vince Scheivert, our CIO, "Of course they do, they're kids, and do middle school kids mess up more often? Of course they do, they're in middle school." But then he adds, "And we're OK with that." We quickly reimage the device and give it back to them. Our middle school kids mess up a lot, our high schools kids almost not at all. That's learning.

An Abundance of Tools

We hand our students real laptops with real capabilities, and we fill them with software, apps, and bookmarks. We like to have at least three ways that kids can do anything. They can use Google Apps to write, or Microsoft Word, or Open Office Writer. We have four different ways to convert Text-into-Speech, a half dozen different calculators, all kinds of organizational tools. We want our children to discover how to choose effectively for their own needs. To do that, they need choices, and so we believe in Toolbelt Theory.

Accessibility

Our laptops are Universal Design for Learning (UDL) devices -- they have the full Freedom Stick suite of accessibility tools installed. Microsoft Speech-to-Text is linked prominently on the start menu. We have talking calculators, Balabolka, and WordTalk installed into Microsoft Word. This is for every student. You don't need an IEP to choose these tools.

No student will have mechanical limitations in access to either information or communication -- whether through disability, inability at this moment, or even just discomfort. Learning is our goal, and we make it accessible.

Access Everywhere

Our school district, 726 square miles including hills, hollows, and mountains, comes with significant challenges. Seventy percent of this area lacks broadband access. Other areas lack access because of poverty. So with our Educational Broadband Spectrum -- something that the Federal government gave to every public school -- we're building out an LTE-4G system for home and on-the-go connectivity for every student in our district.

This isn't easy, and we're doing it without any budget initiative, but it is essential. " All means All," says the sign in our superintendent's office, and we take that seriously. Every child needs the same opportunities, and we can make this possible.

BYOD and an Open Network

Every school facility has both a "closed" (our devices) and "public" (any device) network. And with the exception of certain licensed resources, both go almost everywhere on the internet. Every K-12 student can use his or her own device in class. This is key to both UDL and choice. And teachers can collect old smartphones, reset them to operate as everything but phones, and use them in their technology tool crib. Parents can connect in school lobbies, libraries, or in the parking lot waiting for their kids. We see ourselves as a place where information is available and tool use is learned.

Talk to Parents

How much screen time is too much? What about filters? Why is this important? As with faculty, we help parents understand that we live post-Gutenberg, and the ways of learning and communication have changed. Too much of anything is too much, our kids don't stare at screens all day in school, and we'd love them to be outside playing at home. But make sure that your children have as much unstructured play with friends offline/outside as they do online. We help parents consider filtering their home internet service, or shutting down WiFi at night, or simply limiting computer use to family spaces, but we also know that the best filter comes from being involved with our children. We keep the lines of communication open, and we hope that we're modeling a balanced life for our students.

Worry About Behavior, Not Technology

We really don't have "technology discipline." We see no difference between online bullying and on-paper or verbal bullying. We see no difference between damaging tech stuff and damaging any other school property. If we wouldn't take books away from a child who let a book get wet, we won't take contemporary tools away from a child who made a mistake with his or her digital device. For our children, these tools are how they communicate and learn, and if we act as if that's true, the rules become much easier to understand.

Spend Wisely

We moved from three students per computer to 1:1 without any increase in our technology budget. We've done this by choosing devices carefully and negotiating prices. We pay less for robust Windows 8 devices than many schools pay for tablets and Chromebooks. We don't buy service contracts, because our tech staff and our students do the repairs. We don't pay for computer setup, because our student interns image and reimage over 10,000 student computers every summer. We ask parents to donate old smartphones when we need alternate-size devices. And we buy only Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suites -- all other software and apps are open source or freeware. Our goal is to spend our technology money on the student, letting us do much more with less.

Trust in Children and Childhood

Yes, this is a catchphrase, but it's vitally important. We trust our children, and in turn, they usually do the right things. And this underlies all that we do.

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The Basics of Open Technology | Edutopia

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When we give our grades 6-12 students a 1:1 computer to take home, those students are the local administrators of their devices. They can download software, change settings, rearrange icons and menus, and personalize with on-screen images and bookmarks, or with stickers. They can make the computer fully theirs. Why?

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Digital Literacy for All Through Integrative STEM

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Digital Literacy for All Through Integrative STEM

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Research on teaching digital literacy through the frame of STEM activities.

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Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 8523)

Abstract

The ever growing importance of digital literacy requires an effective educational strategy to introduce it into K-12 education. We propose teaching digital competences within the context of an integrative STEM framework. An overview of integrative STEM, its two core components (design from the context of technology education and inquiry from science education), and the natural connections to digital literacy are discussed. Two examples are given-robotics and 3-D computer software-as promising digital platforms to implement this strategy. Including digital literacy in integrative STEM offers all K-12 students the opportunity to acquire digital competences.

Keywords

Digital literacy technology education integrative STEM design inquiry robotics 3-D technology

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Digital Literacy for All Through Integrative STEM

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Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 8523) The ever growing importance of digital literacy requires an effective educational strategy to introduce it into K-12 education. We propose teaching digital competences within the context of an integrative STEM framework.

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Support for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

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Support for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

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A look at how the Australian Government has highlighted the importance of digital literacy and STEM in the education system.

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Online Teaching and Learning Resources to Support Mathematics and Numeracy (Mathematics MOOCs)

The online teaching and learning resources for mathematics and numeracy initiative will provide support for teachers on the Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum: Mathematics and the Numeracy general capability. It will deliver:

Mathematics Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) providing free online professional development for teachers, supported by face-to-face professional learning; and

an online Mathematics Hub providing a curated collection of evidence-based, curriculum-aligned teaching and learning resources for teachers and school leaders, as well as resources for students and families.

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Supporting Artificial Intelligence in Schools

The Supporting Artificial Intelligence in Schools initiative is supporting the development of a range of curriculum resources to assist with the delivery of AI and emerging technologies content and the associated general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum.

The key elements are:

A research report on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies in Schools developed by the University of Newcastle including: key terms, current use of AI and emerging technologies in schools, ethics, analysis of AI resources, and advice to teachers.

Online curation and creation of student and teacher resources housed on the Digital Technologies Hub.

Teacher professional learning via webinars, face to face and online workshops

Access to new and emerging technologies for use in Australian schools (particularly rural and remote schools) via the University of Adelaide's National Lending Library.

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Digital Technologies in Focus

Digital Technologies in Focus provides support for around 160 disadvantaged schools to assist them in implementing the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has been engaged to provide specialist digital technologies and Curriculum Officers in these schools.

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Australian Digital Technologies Challenges and Dive into Code

Australian Digital Technologies Challenges are a series of free online teaching and learning activities available free to all Australian students in Years 3 to 8.

The DT Challenges are online and unplugged classroom resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. There are a mix of Dive into Code mini DT Challenges and full DT Challenges that provide1-2 and 4-5 weeks of lesson activities. The resources teach scratch, blockly, python, javascript, arduino and the micro:bit. The online challenges provide automated marking and a teacher dashboard.

There are also some short fun Dive into Code activities that introduce simple coding concept for students.

The Australian Computing Academy (ACA) at the University of Sydney is delivering this initiative, which includes delivering 1 and 2 day professional learning workshops to primary and secondary teachers across Australia.

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Principals as STEM Leaders

The Principals as STEM Leaders research project will develop and pilot new approaches to support principals to provide high quality STEM leadership in schools. Delivered by the University of Tasmania, Principals as STEM Leaders will involve around 200 primary and secondary schools in the government and non-government sectors, covering rural, regional, remote and metropolitan areas. A suite of high quality professional learning and mentoring resources developed through the project will be made available for all Australian schools to use at the end of the project, alongside a research report detailing key findings.

The Principals as STEM Leaders team is seeking Expressions of Interest from principals to participate in the research project. Principals as STEM Leaders will work with collaborating principals within pairs of school clusters. Principals must be committed to enhancing STEM teaching and learning in their schools and participating in the PL program. Principals interested in participating in the Principals as STEM Leaders project, please contact pasl.project@utas.edu.au.

More information about Principals as STEM Leaders Project is available on the University of Tasmania's Principals as STEM Leaders (PASL) website.

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Digital Literacy School Grants

The Digital Literacy School Grants initiative is providing funding to 114 projects that support innovative ways of implementing the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies in schools. As part of the initiative, two competitive grant rounds were conducted in 2016-17 and 2017-18. 54 applicants received grants in Round 1 and 60 received grants in Round 2.

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Action A: STEM Partnerships Forum

In 2017, the STEM Partnerships Forum was established as one of the key national collaborative actions under the National STEM School Education Strategy 2016-2026. Chaired by Dr Alan Finkel AO, Australia's Chief Scientist, the Forum brought together leaders from industry and education to facilitate a more strategic approach to school-based partnerships with businesses and industry across Australia in order to develop the engagement, aspiration, capability and attainment of students in STEM.

The Forum Chair delivered a final report to Education Council in April 2018.

The report contains recommendations for industry, education and government and focuses on three key areas of work:

industry's role in supporting teachers and teacher professional development

awareness of the range of careers available for people with STEM skills and knowledge required to take advantage of these opportunities

understanding and measuring the outcomes and impacts of partnerships.

Education Council endorsed a formal response to the STEM Partnerships Forum report in June 2019. The response thanked the Forum members for their work and noted that the report informed the development of the National School Reform Agreement between the Australian Government and all states and territories. It also provided details about actions at the national and state and territory level that address the Forum's recommendations.

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Action L: Sharing and synthesising research and evaluation findings

In June 2019, Education Council endorsed a report on the national collaborative action: Share and synthesise research and evaluation findings to identify successful STEM interventions and inform school practice.

The report analysed initiatives in terms of various characteristics, including the type of intervention, targeted group and scale, and included evaluation findings where available. A key finding was that, although many of the initiatives had evaluations planned, there was very little robust data on which to assess the outcomes of the initiatives. The report recommended that the exercise be repeated in 2-3 years to gather more information from future evaluations.

The related detailed program summaries illustrate the wide variety of STEM initiatives across Australia.

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National STEM School Education Resources Toolkit

The Australian Government Department of Education commissioned Dandolopartners International to develop the National STEM School Education Resources Toolkit in response to a STEM Partnerships Forum recommendation.

The aim of the National STEM School Education Resources Toolkit is to assist schools and industry to establish new STEM initiatives, form school-industry partnerships, and evaluate existing and future STEM initiatives.

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Support for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

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The Australian Government regards high-quality science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education as critically important for our current and future productivity, as well as for informed personal decision making and effective community, national and global citizenship.

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Media Is Unreal: Bring Media Literacy into Science Literacy

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Media Is Unreal: Bring Media Literacy into Science Literacy

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A look at how science and media literacy are interconnected.

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Last year, a colleague struggling to find the right word to express her thoughts in a group discussion asked, "What is the opposite of media?" I paused before giving my answer, waiting to hear other thoughts. There was only silence. I answered, "Reality, of course."

My cousin is a teacher and he does a thought-provoking activity with his classes. First two students stand at opposite ends of a table, each keeping one hand in a cup of water. My cousin eventually asks them to come together and switch their wet hands into a single bowl of water. "What is the temperature of the water?" my cousin asks. Inevitably, one student will reply "hot" and the other "cold." My cousin asks the class, "How can they disagree?"

Of course, before putting their hand in the center bowl, one student's hand has been soaking in cold water and the other's in hot. Temperature perception is relative: their opinion of the water temperature in the bowl is biased by their past experience. My cousin does this student activity as part of a lesson about diversity and cultural competence, but it is an equally good reminder that we construct reality, with better approximations if we correct distorted information.

When we make scientific observations, we try to make them as unbiased as possible, and often rely on tools and instruments for objectivity. In my cousin's class, a thermometer could have created an agreed upon reality. Similarly, we each need logic tools to realize that all media is a representation of reality - if we don't bring this realization into our consciousness, we are apt to forget and let our own reality become distorted: fostering a culture of over-consumption, eating disorders, sexual violence, and climate change deniers.

There is no need to blame the media. And giving communication tips to scientists is helpful, but not enough. We are a social species. It is natural for messages to mediate our lives. What is unnatural is the billions of dollars spent in the study, design, and delivery of an overpowering barrage of messages. A society without media savvy will be fooled in a global game of true or false.

I advocate for formal media literacy education, which is defined as teaching the " ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.

Today it is easy to see persuasive techniques in old propaganda, such as wartime leaflet bombs used to lower enemy morale and encourage defection. But that's hindsight. Media Literacy Education provides the same clarity with foresight. I first understood the importance of media literacy from lessons about body image from The Center for Media Literacy, Project Look Sharp, and About Face. The cumulative impact of media messages can create unrealistic expectations of beauty, sexual conduct of adolescence, and consumerism.

When I began speaking for The Climate Project (now Climate Reality), questions from audiences typically began with "But I heard on the news that..." followed by unwitting denial of the evidence for anthropogenic climate change. In response, I turned to media literacy principles: they transcend topic and are applicable to any media messages, irrespective of its intent to inform, inspire, entertain, or persuade.

The most amazing thing about media literacy is this: the principles align with types of scientific reasoning. This isn't immediately apparent because most science education curricula has a strong focus on the scientific method. Less common, but equally important, are different types of reasoning. You need critical thinking skills in science. Science is more than observation. It is more than setting up experiments to test hypotheses. Underlying all scientific methods is a system of thinking.

Media Literacy education is akin to Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit which summarizes fallacies of logic and rhetoric so that individuals can create and identify well-reasoned arguments AND recognize myths and fraudulent arguments. As Sagan wrote in A Demon-Haunted World, "Baloney, bamboozles, careless thinking, flimflam, and wishes disguised as facts are not restricted to parlor magic and ambiguous advice on matters of the heart. Unfortunately they ripple through mainstream political, social, religious, and economic issues in every nation."

Critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills can be taught through deliberation and Socratic questioning. Similarly, media literacy education is about inquiry and critical thinking, guided by questions related to the audience, authorship, the message and meaning, and concepts of representation and reality. I'll summarize, but you can find out more from the National Association for Media Literacy Education

Recognize that your media "diet" may be quite high in persuasive messages, so ask yourself questions relevant to corporate marketing and information laundering: Who made the message? Why was it made? Who is the audience? Who paid for it? Who will benefit from it? Who will be harmed by it? What action is this message encouraging?

There are questions we should ask that remind us to resist the normal human tendency to filter information as to retain what we agree with and discard what we don't already agree with: What is the message about? What values, information, and points of view are explicit and implicit? What information is left out? What communication techniques are used and why? How might different people react and understand the message? How do I interpret the message? What does my interpretation tell me about myself?

Finally, fully examining representations & reality is assisted by asking: When was it made? With what venues was it shared? Is it fact, opinion, or something else? Is it credible and why? What are the sources of information and assertions?

In the US, almost all states now have some curriculum standards related to media literacy. Commonly, media literacy is included in English classes, though it is recognized as dovetailing with topics in health class because the tools are useful for deconstructing messages about tobacco and alcohol, as well as cyberbullying and racial stereotyping. Several years ago, I called for media literacy to be integrated into science education, particularly on the issue of climate change.

Media stems from the Latin word for "middle." Media messages (this post included) are like middlemen holding up mirrors for us to see our world, but they inescapably hold wavy Funhouse mirrors. All representations contain distortions, not necessarily with intent to mislead or for nefarious purposes (though that is certainly possible too). As long as we stay aware of the presence of bias, our brains are great at adjusting for the distortions and creating a reasonable approximation of reality.

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Media Is Unreal: Bring Media Literacy into Science Literacy

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Last year, a colleague struggling to find the right word to express her thoughts in a group discussion asked, "What is the opposite of media?" I paused before giving my answer, waiting to hear other thoughts. There was only silence. I answered, "Reality, of course."

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An article discussing how math and science, like media literacy, encourage problem-solving, inquiry and critical thinking.

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By Frank W. Baker
There has been a lot of talk lately about adding A (art) to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. And a lot of this talk originates from the arts community itself, which sees art missing in the conversations about what is important for students to know and learn in the 21st century. Bravo, I say, to those art people.

(Under full disclosure, I should reveal that I have recently become one of those advocating arts educators, because of my involvement in writing state teaching standards for art and authoring supporting documents for those teachers who are going to be teaching media arts and media literacy - new in South Carolina's arts standards.)

I am also a strong proponent of putting that A into STEM because I see many STEAM connections in what I teach: media literacy. Math and science, like media literacy, encourage problem-solving, inquiry and critical thinking. So do the arts.

At my website The Media Literacy Clearinghouse, I have a long-standing page dedicated to Math and Science Connections to Media Literacy, which includes readings and resources. More than a decade ago, I wrote about how math and science teachers use the media ("Media Literacy: Yes, It Fits in Math and Science Classrooms," ENC Focus, 2001) and how the media is used to communicate important science/engineering ideas and concepts to the public.

Arts teachers and STEM

I recently conducted a workshop with arts educators. I was curious: How much did they know (or care) about teaching STEM? Is STEM even on their radar screens? Did they receive any STEM training when they attended college? Do their textbooks prepare them to explore STEM relationships to art, dance, drama, media, music and more?

These were the questions I used to begin my workshop. I suggested that we all "dip our toes in" and see what happened.

I began with a trivia question. Many of our students use mp3 players, so I asked 'what do the letters mp stand for?' Most teachers answered: media player. Good guess, but wrong. One teacher had the right answer: he knew that mp is a shortening of mpeg and the mp stands for "motion picture," because it was the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) that invented the algorithm used to compress video and music, allowing these media to be played from hard drives. (Can you say math?)

As the teachers in the workshop introduced themselves, they were asked to share how they were already connecting their discipline to science, math and engineering. Perhaps to some readers' surprise, this activity revealed that many of these arts educators were already beginning to help their students make STEM connections.

Media Arts are rooted in science

Since I had recently helped add "media literacy/media arts" into our state's arts standards, that was the starting point for my presentation. Drawing an example from media arts, I noted that many of the professionals who make movies belong to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (the Oscar Award folks), and most movie makers consider themselves to be members of both the arts and the sciences communities. STEM, with its focus on engineering design principles that encompass science, math and technology, is certainly a good fit when it comes to film and video.

As we discussed motion pictures, I revealed that (traditionally) film is shot and played back at 24 frames-per-second (fps). I turned this into a math activity: how many frames are there in a minute, an hour, in 90 minutes. If Disney's animated movie "Toy Story" is 77 minutes long, how many frames ( animation cels) had to be created? The answer may surprise you and also tell you why, historically, it has taken so long to create an animated feature.

The frames-per-second standard for movies (in place since the 1920s) was in the news last year because directors James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit) were both advocating for a radical change in filmmaking: starting to shoot their films at higher frame rates. Jackson, then filming The Hobbit, was shooting at 48 fps; Cameron planned to shoot Avatar 2 at 60 fps.

Why would they want or need to shoot at a higher frame rate?

In an interview, director Jackson said the higher frame rate would eliminate the blur that occurs during fast action and especially during fast movements of the camera. He added that 48 fps puts less strain on the eyes, especially when watching films in 3D. (A higher frame rate also means a change in how we view films on our TVs, computers, and other mobile devices - stand by for more developments.)

Exploring STEM through media lenses

Next I discussed visual literacy, and how important it is to help students understand how to "read" an image. Students using mobile phone cameras and small camcorders probably won't learn about shutter speeds and f/stops, but those using more sophisticated cameras might. For this part of the workshop, I shared a short video on how a digital camera works: lots of science, technology and engineering in that one. So, I invited the teachers to construct a simple shoe box camera, demonstrating science principles of light and more.

In a discussion of math, I shared my "Math In The Media" website. I developed it years ago because I wanted to provide math educators with data and examples from pop culture and the news that could be incorporated into lessons (the monthly Consumer Price Index; the weekly Box Office figures, etc.). I chose TV ratings as the central theme on this site. Students get a chance to learn about and explore TV ratings/shares (which are really percentages) and begin to understand how they are generated, used and reported.

The more we talked, and shared, it was clear that many of these educators had already approached STEM, or elements of it, in their classrooms. They were very open to learning more from experts and from their peers.

What are some of the connections you see between STEM, media literacy and the media arts?
Frank W. Baker is a media literacy education consultant and the author of three books, including Media Literacy In the K-12 Classroom (ISTE, 2012). He contributed two chapters to the upcoming Mastering Media Literacy (Solution Tree, December 2013). In November 2013 he and two others received the National Telemedia Council's annual Jessie McCanse Award given for individual contribution to the field of media literacy over at least ten years He can be reached at fbaker1346@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @fbaker.
Read science educator and MW blogger Anne Jolly's take on STEM and STEAM in this recent post.

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By Frank W. Baker There has been a lot of talk lately about adding A (art) to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. And a lot of this talk originates from the arts community itself, which sees art missing in the conversations about what is important for students to know and learn in the 21st century.

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A lesson plan incorporating physical science and media literacy.

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Media Literacy Science Lesson Plans - Product Testing

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as part of a collaboration between Project Look Sharp at Ithaca College and four NY State BOCES School Library Systems. The initiative brought together pairs of secondary science teachers and school librarians to develop models for integrating critical thinking and media literacy into secondary science content.

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Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology

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Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology

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A collection of the information literacy standards for science and engineering/technology with detailed descriptions.

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Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)

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Introduction

Information literacy competency and the purpose of information literacy competency standards are fully described in the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. This document states (page 4, Section 1:2) that information literacy "is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education." Information literacy in science, engineering, and technology disciplines is defined as a set of abilities to identify the need for information, procure the information, evaluate the information and subsequently revise the strategy for obtaining the information, to use the information and to use it in an ethical and legal manner, and to engage in lifelong learning. Information literacy competency is highly important for students in science and engineering/technology disciplines who must access a wide variety of information sources and formats that carry the body of knowledge in their fields. These disciplines are rapidly changing and it is vital to the practicing scientist and engineer that they know how to keep up with new developments and new sources of experimental/research data.

Science, engineering, and technology disciplines pose unique challenges in identifying, evaluating, acquiring and using information. Peer reviewed articles are generally published in more costly journals and, therefore, not always available. Gray literature requires knowledge of the agency/organization publishing the information. Much of science, engineering and technology is now interdisciplinary and, therefore, requires knowledge of information resources in more than one discipline. Information can be in various formats (e.g. multimedia, database, website, data set, patent, Geographic Information System, 3-D technology, open file report, audio/visual, book, graph, map) and, therefore, may often require manipulation and a working knowledge of specialized software.

Science, engineering, and technology disciplines require that students demonstrate competency not only in written assignments and research papers but also in unique areas such as experimentation, laboratory research, and mechanical drawing. Our objective is to provide a set of standards that can be used by science and engineering/technology educators, in the context of their institution's mission, to help guide their information literacy-related instruction and to assess student progress. The field of mathematics is not included in the standards.

Based on the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, five standards and twenty-five performance indicators were developed for information literacy in Science & Engineering/Technology. Each performance indicator is accompanied by one or more outcomes for assessing the progress toward information literacy of students of science and engineering or technology at all levels of higher education.

This is intended to be a living document with future opportunities for input from the community and will undergo periodic review and revision.

Standard One

The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the information needed.

Performance Indicators

The information literate student:

Considers the costs and benefits of acquiring the needed information.
Outcomes include that the student:

1. Determines the availability of needed information and makes decisions on broadening the information seeking process beyond locally held resources. Some examples would be consulting with colleagues, independent information brokers, experts, and consultants in the field in addition to using interlibrary loan, nearby libraries, and information centers.

2. Recognizes that there may be a tradeoff between the value of the information and the time and cost to obtain it.

3. Formulates a realistic overall plan and timeline to acquire the needed information.

4. Recognizes the importance of a variety of information research areas that can be used to gain competitive advantage, track new products, improve processes, and monitor competitors and their marketing strategies. Some examples would be consulting with experts and consultants in a field, research into licensing opportunities, and patent and intellectual property research.

5. Recognizes that information needed may be in a foreign language and that translation may be necessary.

Standard Two

The information literate student acquires needed information effectively and efficiently.

Performance Indicators

The information literate student:

Standard Three

The information literate student critically evaluates the procured information and its sources, and as a result, decides whether or not to modify the initial query and/or seek additional sources and whether to develop a new research process.

Performance Indicators

The information literate student:

1. Selects information by articulating and applying criteria for evaluating both the information and its sources.
Outcomes include that the student:

1. Distinguishes between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, and recognizes how location of the information source in the cycle of scientific information relates to the credibility of the information.

2. Distinguishes among facts, points of view, and opinion.

3. Examines and compares information from various sources in order to evaluate reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias.

4. Analyzes the structure and logic of supporting arguments or methods.

5. Understands and uses statistical treatment of data as evaluative criteria.

6. Recognizes prejudice, deception, or manipulation in the information or its use.

7. Recognizes the cultural, physical, or other context within which the information was created, and understands the impact of context on interpreting the information.

2. Compares new knowledge with prior knowledge to determine the value added, contradictions, or other unique characteristics of the information.
Outcomes include that the student:

1. Determines whether information satisfies the research or other information need.

2. Uses consciously selected criteria to determine whether the information contradicts or verifies information used from other sources.

3. Draws conclusions based upon information gathered.

4. Tests theories with discipline-appropriate techniques (e.g., simulators, experiments).

5. Determines probable accuracy by questioning the source of the information, limitations of the information gathering tools or strategies, and the reasonableness of the conclusions.

6. Integrates new information with previous information or knowledge.

7. Determines whether information provides evidence relevant to the information need or research question.

8. Includes information that is pertinent even when it contradicts the individual's value system, and includes it without skewing it.

3. Evaluates the procured information and the entire process.
Outcomes include that the student:

1. Reviews and assesses the procured information and determines possible improvements in the information seeking process.

2. Applies the improvements to subsequent projects.

Standard Four

The information literate student understands the economic, ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information and its technologies and either as an individual or as a member of a group, uses information effectively, ethically, and legally to accomplish a specific purpose.

Performance Indicators

The information literate student:

1. Follows laws, regulations, institutional policies, and etiquette related to the access and use of information resources.
Outcomes include that the student:

1. Participates in electronic discussions following accepted practices (e.g. "Netiquette").

2. Uses approved passwords and other forms of ID for access to information resources ethically.

3. Complies with institutional policies on access to and distribution of information resources.

4. Preserves the integrity of information resources, equipment, systems and facilities.

5. Legally obtains, stores, and disseminates text, data, images, or sounds.

6. Demonstrates an understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and does not represent work attributable to others as his/her own. This includes the work of other members of research teams.

7. Demonstrates an understanding of federal, state, and institutional policies related to the use of human and animal subjects in research.

2. Applies creativity in use of the information for a particular product or performance.
Outcomes include that the student:

1. Selects, analyzes, organizes, summarizes, and/or synthesizes information from a variety of resources.

2. Explores the use of advanced information technologies, such as data mining and visualization to move beyond retrieval and identify trends and patterns within large sets of complex research data.

Standard Five

The information literate student understands that information literacy is an ongoing process and an important component of lifelong learning and recognizes the need to keep current regarding new developments in his or her field.

Performance Indicators

The information literate student:

Uses a variety of methods and emerging technologies for keeping current in the field.
Outcomes include that the student:

1. Establishes current awareness services and follows citation and cited references for pertinent articles.

2. Uses online table of contents scanning, review journals, and other forms of rapid communication literature.

3. Manages files of citations of articles read or accessed (such as through use of bibliographic management software).

4. Uses bibliometric analysis tools to update knowledge of changing technology and product life cycles (such as by analyzing a company's published papers and/or patent portfolio).

5. Recognizes emerging forms and methods of scholarly publishing in the field. Recent examples are: the use of blogs, RSS feeds, open access journals, and freely available online research data.

Works Consulted in Developing these Standards

In developing the standards the Task Force reviewed six regional accreditation sources, standards and criteria for three disciplines, four monographs, engineering library information competencies, and a relevant university Web site:
Association Websites

1. NEASC: New England Association of Schools and Colleges - Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, http://www.neasc.org.
Discipline Standards

2. CHEM: American Chemical Society (ACS), Committee on Professional Training, 2003, Undergraduate Professional Education in Chemistry: Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures, Columbus, Ohio, American Chemical Society.

3. Engineering Libraries: Building Collections and Delivering Services, Conklin and Musser, eds., Haworth Press, Inc, NY 2001.

4. By authors cited: Information and the Professional Scientist and Engineer, Baldwin and Hallmark, eds., Haworth Press, Inc, NY 2001, (Flaxbart, Joseph, Wild and Havener, Pinelli, Caracuzzo, Wagner).

5. Online Ecological and Environmental Data, Baldwin, Virginia A., ed., Haworth Press, Inc, NY 2004.

6. Communication Patterns of Engineers. Tenopir, Carol, and Donald W. King, IEEE Press (Wiley-Interscience), Piscataway, NJ 2004.
Other

7. ASEE Engineering Libraries Division, "Information Competencies for Engineering". Unpublished.

8. Cal Poly University, "Introductory Competencies in Specific Disciplines."

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Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology

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Information literacy competency and the purpose of information literacy competency standards are fully described in the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. This document states (page 4, Section 1:2) that information literacy "is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education."

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Partnership for 21st Century Learning - ICT Literacy

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Partnership for 21st Century Learning - ICT Literacy

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ICT resources for teaching ICT literacy skills in a science or computer science classroom.

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Apply Technology Effectively Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information Use digital technologies (computers,

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8 Essential Digital Literacy Skills That Students Need

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8 Essential Digital Literacy Skills That Students Need

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Skills that students in any classroom need to increase their digital literacy knowledge.

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8 Essential Digital Literacy Skills That Students Need

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What was once called typing class is now known as technology class. Gone are the days where computer class was spent playing Oregon Trail and creating word processing documents. The networked world in which students exist demands an education that prepares students to produce and consume information in a variety of formats.

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A collection of digital literacy resources and collaboration from educators around the country.

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Discover Microsoft Digital Literacy courses. Learn how to use devices, software, and the Internet to collaborate and utilize information with digital literacy.

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For centuries, literacy has referred to the ability to read and write. Today, we get most of our information through an interwoven system of media technologies. The ability to read many types of media