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"I have been thinking a lot about the topic of literacy as I review iPad books at Digital Storytime. As the mother of a preschooler who is just now learning to read, the idea of digital books both delights and terrifies me. When I first read an iPad book to my son, back in April of 2010, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What did these new picture books, with their instant appeal, mean for print books and more importantly, for reading as a pastime? Would my son 'read' or would he instead be distracted by books he could passively watch, or even worse, books that were more like toys and less like educational tools for literacy?"

It establishes the "Big Ideas" and supporting concepts that all Americans should know about Earth sciences. The resulting Earth Science Literacy framework will also become part of the foundation, along with similar documents from the Oceans, Atmospheres and Climate communities, of a larger geoscience Earth Systems Literacy effort.

"Is Gaming the New Essential Literacy?"

"Digital Literacy is increasingly important in an age where many students read as much on screens as they do from books."

"The notion of digital literacy, or "Information, Communications, and Technology Literacy" (ICT Literacy), usually takes into account the vocational skills required to operate digital machines or the intellectual skills required to program or 'code' them. The concept does not account for the social and intellectual advantages that are available to affluent students with access to more, and better integrated, educational technologies. In other words, it is not only about skills, but also about cognition, etiquette, motivation, socialization and culture - the context within which one uses the tools."

"Money is a necessary tool, but like any other, it can easily lead its untrained users into uncomfortable - perhaps even painful - situations. So why, then is, financial literacy an educational requirement in less than half of the states in the U.S.? Students deserve to approach life armed with the knowledge they need to understand money matters. The following resources can give you insight into how to bring financial literacy into your classroom."

"With the amount of content that is shared on the Internet every minute, it's no surprise that many people feel overwhelmed by the quantity of information out there. This is why content curation is becoming an essential digital literacy skill for teachers and students. The act of curation requires critical and creative thinking, as decisions are made around what to keep, what to discard and how to connect and present ideas. Social bookmarking tools allow collaboration across the world to share and build collections. Thankfully, there are plenty of tools available to help us. In this article, I'll explain firstly the different ways in which I curate, and then describe some of the different tools I use for curation."

" "Even young kids have gotten very adept at Minecraft, so it can be quite intimidating for teachers," said Jason Schmidt, an instructional technologist for Bennington Public Schools who will teach the four-week MinecraftEdu MOOC, in a prepared statement. "If I can help get teachers over that hump, imagine how delighted students will be to have a learning environment tailored to their interests for a change." The other, Minecraft for Educators, "is a course for teachers who are wishing to gamify their learning experiences and deliver a unique pedagogy that will engage, enthuse and keep learners coming back for more," according to information released by the company. Both MOOCs are available through the Canvas Network. Minecraft for Educators will start January 26, 2015 and run through March 9. The company has also released a Minecraft app to allow students to submit assignments to the Canvas learning management system from within the game. Using the app, students can tag what they've made in the game for their teachers to visit, upload books they've written in game directly to the speed grader or use the game's circuitry tool to complete assignments that will be automatically graded. A video demonstration of the app is available at YouTube. Other MOOCs for teachers in the suite include: Digital Literacies 1; Digital Literacies 2; Five Habits of Highly Effective Teachers; Teachers without Borders: Educating Girls; and Tinker, Make and Learn. Among the other MOOC offerings in the new suite is a course designed specifically for parents, Parenting in the Digital Age, which aims to help them address issues such as cyberbullying, digital citizenship, exposure to inappropriate content, media literacy and screentime. Taught by Andrew Swickheimer, director of technology at Noblesville Schools, the self-paced course opens September 22. "Parental involvement in K-12 education has one of the biggest impacts on a child's commitment to learning," said Jared Stein, vice pres

Learning and Teaching Digital Literacies

"Applications of Digital Literacy"

"The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that children spend an average of seven hours a day consuming various types of media. This data illustrates that society's voracious appetite for media makes media literacy more important than ever. How can you teach your students to interact responsibly with the media? The following resources can help you plan thought-provoking lessons on the subject."

"Digital citizenship is an essential 21st century literacy that empowers students to navigate the digital world more safely, respectfully and responsibly. It is a set of interconnected skills that, taken together, form a holistic pedagogical framework to foster students learning in a digitally focused environment. To help teachers incorporate the ethos of digital citizenship in their classrooms, Common Sense Media has put together this interesting resource titled 'Digital Literacy and Citizenship (teacher edition)' . This is a curriculum designed specifically for upper elementary to help students  learn the basics of digital citizenship while also developing their digital literacy skills."

"Newark, Del. It's no secret that American workplaces are becoming more reliant on technology. But what may surprise the country's K-12 educators and policymakers is how work at nearly every rung of the employment ladder is becoming more digitized. Often, the skills needed to succeed have less to do with computer programming than what experts call "digital literacy"-the ability to interpret, create, and strategically use digital information. "Everyone's job is changing," said Mark Muro, a senior fellow and policy director at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. "The ability to read and then conduct first-order analysis of digital information is highly valued in almost all work environments." To better understand the central role of digital literacy in the workplace, Education Week took a deep look at four occupations in the Christiana Care Health System. It's the largest private employer in Delaware, with 11,600 employees and an expected 1,500 new hires this year."

"It's no secret that students today spend a lot of time online, and that's why educators need to ensure that our students are equipped with digital citizenship and media literacy skills to help them navigate the terrain. Students need to know how to find reliable sources and spot misinformation. They need to know what information is appropriate - and inappropriate - to share. Often, educators try to instill this information via traditional instruction in a classroom. But when presented this way, it can fall flat. The key to helping students make good decisions online is to mentor them in their spaces and allow them to pursue their interests. This personalized learning approach, which addresses several of the ISTE Standards for Students, has real-world application that hooks our students and helps them internalize media literacy and digital citizenship skills. Here are five practical steps that educators can take to help graduate media literate digital citizens - those who learn, curate, collaborate and contribute thoughtfully to social media networks."

"Dr. Alison Head and her Project Information Literacy (PIL) research team recently released the findings of a new national study on college students and how they consume and interact with a vast and deeply polarized news ecosystem. The News Study findings are the result of an online survey of 5,844 respondents and telephone interviews with 37 participants from 11 diverse colleges and universities. The research also included computational analysis of Twitter data associated with respondents, as well as a Twitter panel of 135,891 college-age people. In the study's press release, Dr. Head shared: News is fast, social, and visual and typically delivered to students in posts, alerts, tweets, and conversations that stream at them throughout the day. And young news consumers are left to assemble and interpret what news means, while many take this evaluative step, others do not. So what? The News Study's Executive Summary offers Five Research Takeaways as well as Six Recommendations."

"Teaching news literacy is more necessary and challenging than ever in a world where news is delivered at a constant pace from a broad range of sources. Since social media and filter bubbles can make it challenging to access unbiased, factual information, we must equip students to be critical as they access news sources for a variety of purposes. This live, interactive edWebinar will give an overview of the phenomenon of fake news going viral and tools educators can use to help students develop news literacy skills."

"Developing critical reading skills with media literacy apps on Chromebooks"

"Teaching in a digital world, while essential, can be a difficult task. The digital world is constantly evolving, and it can be hard to keep up with new trends. And while students often enter the classroom with a high degree of digital awareness, it is often confined to the world of social media. How then, do educators learn about digital literacy, so they can model and teach it to their students?  Thankfully, there are tons of apps, tools, and resources that can help. We decided to profile the best ones."

"Information literacy has been a hot topic of recent conversation. Many folks believe that web sites that traffic in false information and 'fake news' may have influenced the last United States presidential election. Traffic on the Snopes web site, which debunks false rumors, has never been greater. Ideological separation also is being driven by the ways that we sort ourselves in our schools, neighborhoods, friendship groups, political affiliations, and faith institutions. Already often isolated from the dissimilar-minded, we then also self-select into individualized news media and online channels that can result in walled-garden 'echo chambers' or 'filter bubbles.' To combat our growing concerns about fake news and filter bubbles, we're going to have to take the task of information literacy more seriously. And that means rethinking some organizational and technological practices."