Group items tagged

ABSTRACT: The teaching of digital literacies is regarded as an important facet of literacy teaching in the 21st century. With many literacy tests continuing to indicate that students' levels of achievement tend to be differentiated along socioeconomic lines, it seems timely to consider the connections between home and school and how these play out in relation to digital literacies. This is particularly important in light of the considerable evidence that has demonstrated how important home-school connections are in ensuring improved traditional literacy outcomes for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. With these points in mind, this article reports on an investigation into the usage of digital technologies in two middle-years classrooms in low socioeconomic suburbs in a regional Australian city. Using a range of ethnographic techniques, the study explored two teachers' approaches to teaching students how to use digital technologies in one school term. Through snapshots of digital practices in the two classrooms, three issues are considered: teachers' pedagogical approaches; students' access to digital technologies at home and at school; and the teachers' recognition of students' prior knowledge of digital technologies. The article concludes by reflecting on the need for teachers to draw on the digital literacies that students are using in their out-of-school lives, to make bridges to school learning and thus address the challenge of preparing students to be literate in the 21st Century.

Researchers have suggested that public school Internet use policies are not aligned with the realities of the 21st century, thus contributing to a culture where Internet technology is fully integrated in students' out-of-school experiences, but marginalized within the school walls .

A study from 2009 through 2011 looked into the fastest growing job categories and the top 10 had the words computer or software in them. Clearly technology and computer abilities are key to becoming a valuable and successful employee. In the past centuries our automation process have grown substantially, need for computer operating systems and employees who can handle this type of technology.

By Sue Gregory in New Media and Digital Culture. Learning theories have been around for more than a century, however, the theories of how adults learn are relatively new, having only been developed in the past 50 years. These theories are all based

As an instructional tool, teachers have the option of showing previously created digital stories to their students to introduce content and capture students' attention when presenting new ideas. Teachers who are able to create self-made digital stories find that they can be particularly helpful not only in engaging students in the content, but also in facilitating discussion about topics presented in a story and helping make abstract or conceptual content more understandable. A multimedia-rich digital story can serve as an anticipatory set or hook to capture the attention of students and increase their interest in exploring new ideas.

"The 2009 "Horizon Report" called mobile technologies "an opportunity for higher education to reach its constituents in new and compelling ways." The report implied that academic libraries would find them to be the ideal tools for bringing reluctant researchers to the library, mainly for their convenience. It's not hard to see why--in 2008, mobile phones were in the hands of more than 4 billion users, a 61% penetration rate worldwide. By 2012, the mobile phone is expected to outsell the personal computer. The leaders in mobile communication are, not surprisingly, adults in the 18 to 29 age group, the traditional college-age student. Academic libraries are not blind to this--a 2009 "Library Journal" survey found that 65% of academic libraries either already offer or plan to offer mobile services. If one's library is in that 35% with no plans for mobile outreach keep reading--one will find ideas to make his/her library a true 21st-century information hub." [Abstract from ERIC Database.] Link to the full-text article in the ESC EbscoHost Education Source database: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.library.esc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=28&sid=777400f5-917a-43a0-83b8-26cdc83f8315%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=63993342&db=a9h Kosturski, K., & Skornia, F. (2011). Handheld Libraries 101: Using mobile technologies in the academic library. Computers in Libraries, 31(6), 11-13.

Hi Robert, the proliferation of mobile technologies and the need for all Internet using facitilties, including libraries, to make their content available and searchable is definitely here. My personal experience is that I keep toggling back and forth between my smartphone and my laptop. However, I notice that my children (now in their 20s) are using their phones for everything. So keeping abreast of the changes this requires, like keeping everything legible within the relatively small screen, expecting users to use the 'portrait' version more frequently than landscape, is something that all web designers have to adapt to. Thanks for this article. M

The mobile revolution is here. More and more schools are moving toward mobile learning in the classroom as a way to take advantage of a new wave of electronic devices that offer portability and ease of use on a budget.

Freedman pays homage to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and recognizes the triumph that it has produced for many with disabilities. However, now she believes there needs to be major reform to educating all students with disabilities in the 21st century.

An essay discussing the creative process of AI and how it relates to understanding art and artists in the 21st century. The authors urge for a collaboration between humans and AI capability to "maximize both partner's creative strengths".