[Advisors] How do you teach digital literacy -- CIRA forum

[Thompson, Darlene]

I just wanted to highlight one point that James made that the learning achi=
eved by his daughter sprung from an interest that she had.  I think this is=
 of vital importance to teaching digital literacy to any age group.  Gone a=
re the days when people will take the time to take a course without seeing =
a specific need or fulfilling a want in their lives.  So how do we move peo=
ple from the YouTube/Facebook applications to something more productive in =
their lives?  By designing workshops/courses around what people are interes=
ted in and showing them how ICTs can help them get there.  This is much mor=
e challenging but grab people's attention and motivate them.

D

Darlene A. Thompson
CAP Administrator
N-CAP/Department of Education
P.O. Box 1000, Station 910
Iqaluit, NU  X0A 0H0
Phone:  (867) 975-5631
Fax:  (867) 975-5610
dthompson@gov.nu.ca
________________________________________
From: advisors-admin@tc.ca [advisors-admin@tc.ca] on behalf of James Van Le=
euwen [jvl@ventus.ca]
Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2013 8:48 PM
To: Marita Moll
Cc: TC Advisors
Subject: Re: [Advisors] How do you teach digital literacy -- CIRA forum

Marita,

that's a great question.


We all know that nobody can teach us anything if we aren't interested to le=
arn.

Which is to say, we teach ourselves.

What you are describing is mentoring, which is exactly the direction I thin=
k this discussion needs to go.



In the space of half a day, my eight year-old daughter has become more comp=
etent in the mechanics of PowerPoint than I have become in over twenty year=
s of using this tool (it has been around since 1990).

Indeed, I am now learning some of the finer nuances of PowerPoint from my d=
aughter, because she has a distinctly different aesthetic and technique fro=
m my own.

I have never gone in for the 'bells and whistles' features of PowerPoint, a=
s I have always regarded them to be distractions from the content of my pre=
sentations.

My daughter has now provided me with a solid example of how, in a particula=
r context, a particular visual effect can enhance the impact of an image.

It helped her to make a point more effectively, even if she wasn't consciou=
sly aware of the point she was trying to make.

She could only tell me that "It fits", and she was dead right.



As I was learning new technique from her (which she was eager to help with)=
, I was mentoring her in the art of effective communication.

What is your point, who are you trying to make it to, and WHY?

Once she has properly answered these questions for herself, she can better =
shape the WHAT and HOW of her presentation for effectiveness and efficiency=
.


All of this learning has taken place in relation to her interest in develop=
ing a PowerPoint story about her own life, which she is interested to share=
 with family and friends.

Her interest in PowerPoint was piqued last night as she watched me working =
on one of my own presentations, a copy of which I have attached in PDF form=
at.

She recognized the relevance and power of the tool to one of her imperative=
 interests, which is to know how she matters to others.

By inviting family and friends to watch and listen to her presentation (she=
's adding audio just now), she will be developing a better sense of how she=
 matters to us, and how much she matters to us.

There is nothing more important to a child, and this points directly to the=
 most essential value of ICTs.

They can help us all to live more happy and fulfilling lives, by helping us=
 to to better understand ourselves, each other and our world.



Developing digital literacy is really just learning how to use a new set of=
 tools.

We should approach this important task the same way we have approached deve=
lopment of mastery and skill with other tools.

I am talking of course about the master-apprentice relationship, more gener=
ally described as the mentor-learner relationship.

A good master/mentor helps an apprentice/learner to draw out (educe) their =
talent and develop their abilities, including mastering the use of their to=
ols.

They also help the apprentice/learner to understand the value of their tool=
s, which directly addresses your point about distinguishing between communi=
cation that is helpful and communication that is useless or harmful (critic=
al thinking, as you put it).

ICTs now provide us with the ability to learn just about anything we want t=
o learn, and to communicate just about anything we want to communicate.

Perhaps the most important role of the mentor is to foster better practice.



The master/mentor also seeks to help talented apprentice/learners develop d=
iscipline in relation to their craft, and to develop stronger commitment to=
 their craft (stay focused, be authentic, be patient, keep trying).

In return, the master/mentor gets to learn new tricks and techniques from t=
he talented apprentice/learner as they develop.

They also get the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping to fulfill =
the potential of talented people, while advancing the pragmatic and aesthet=
ic value of their craft.

I.e., they get to take greater pride in their work.


In the process of implementing this tried, trusted and timeless model of le=
arning (or any other model for that matter), I agree that we should strive =
to avoid using terms like digital literacy or any other language that is ir=
relevant or mystifying.

The vast majority of us would not care to point out that we drive a car wit=
h a gasoline-powered motor, a diesel-powered motor, or an electric-powered =
motored.

We just drive our cars, and what is most important to us is what they enabl=
e us to do.


Speaking of cars (you know where this is going), I submit once gain for eve=
ryone's thoughtful consideration my discussion paper for the concept of an =
eCitizen Club.

Building on the talents and interests of local youth, and hopefully a few s=
upportive sponsors, I am planning to implement a pilot initiative around th=
is concept in the year ahead.

I plan to collaborate with our local library and (former) CAP site, which c=
ontinues to build the suite of communication tools and services that it mak=
es available to the community at large.


This brings me to another point that I think is timely to make.

I no longer see a clear distinction between a CAP site and a library.

Both are places where people go to access communications and communication =
tools, and (sometimes) to access mentors.

Perhaps we need a new name for libraries and CAP sites, which more accurate=
ly reflects their evolving and expanding role(s) in advancing the communica=
tion and learning capacities of the communities they serve.

I believe we are witnessing the emergence of a new generation of community =
institution, which deserve proper attention from a design and development s=
tandpoint.

Exactly what purpose do we want this institution to serve, and how?

How will it need to function in relation to traditional institutions like s=
chools, colleges and universities?

I find this a very exciting topic to discuss, because I believe this new in=
stitution will enable communities to rebuild their natural or organic role =
in contextual learning and communication, a role they played before the eme=
rgence of industrialized education systems.

Enough on that topic for now.


In summary...

The ICT Revolution has put into the hands of lay people a powerful set of t=
ools that were previously the domain of a small group of elites with highly=
 specialized knowledge and skills.

We are now confronted with the challenge of putting these tools to full and=
 constructive use, on vast new frontiers of opportunity where guides and me=
ntors are still few and far between.

I see this challenge of developing 'digital literacy' as entirely an issue =
of developing mentoring capacity, and I am wondering aloud if there is a mo=
re appropriate role in the world for an organization like TC.

JvL








On 2013-03-02, at 3:23 PM, Marita Moll <mmoll@ca.inter.net<mailto:mmoll@ca.=
inter.net>> wrote:

So here is the posting on that CIRA site under digital literacy.  This (TC)=
 is the community where the experts are.  What have we got to say in respon=
se?

How do you teach digital literacy? There was a lot of talk at the CIF about=
 teaching digital literacy to children. It seems to me the question isn't s=
o much about digital literacy as it is critical thinking. The Internet ampl=
ifies by orders of magnitude the number of voices we hear. We need to teach=
 children how to distinguish the facts, then determine the truth as it appl=
ies to them, rather than some nebulous buzz word like digital literacy.

Marita

On 2/28/2013 4:34 PM, Garth Graham wrote:

Following from CIRA CIF 2013, CIRA has opened an ongoing online forum calle=
d myVoice at:

http://cif.cira.ca<http://cif.cira.ca/>

GG_______________________________________________
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