Online Literacy Activity

The Writing Component

Online Literacy is the key to an unknown future for the students of today. Although this

future of careers are unknown, online literacy is the gateway to students success. Donald J. Leu,

J. Gregory McVerry, W. Ian OByrne, Carita Kiili, Lisa Zawilinski, Heidi Everett-Cacopardo,

Clint Kennedy, and Elena Forzani explain that skill with the new literacies of the Internet and other

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) will become an important determinant of

an engaged life in an online age This is true because the Internet and other ICTs are increasingly

an important source of information and require new literacies to effectively exploit their

information potential... Individuals, groups, and societies who can identify the most important

problems, locate useful information the fastest, critically evaluate information most effectively,

synthesize information most appropriately to develop the best solutions, and then communicate

these solutions to others most clearly will succeed in the challenging times that await us (2011).

For my online literacy activity I decided to create a lesson with skills of locating accurate

information. Locating accurate information, along with how to navigate a certain website to find

accurate information was taught prior to this lesson. The assignment created on my weebly is an

assignment to assess the students on their gate keeper skill of locating information. Donald Leu,

Gregory McVerry, Ian OByrne, Carita Kiil, Lisa Zawilinsk, Heidi Everett-Cacopardo, Clint

Kennedy, and Elena Forzani (2011), suggest Locating information is the first skill to master to

acquire online literacy skills. The reading ability required to search for and locate information on

the Internet may very well serve as a gatekeeper skill, because you will be unable to solve the

problem if you cannot locate information. My students were already taught to SEEK information

while reading online sources to understand if multiple or singular sources were of truth and
relevance. The procedure encouraged students to (1) think about the reliability of sources, (2)

evaluate the evidence and explanations provided, and (3) relate new information to prior

knowledge. This training encouraged students to consider not only information about the source

itself, but also the nature of the information presented by each source. The seek procedure

introduces yet another structure for teaching critical evaluation skills. Being that my students can

understand that evaluating sources to make sure the information is accurate helps them locate the

information needed to understand and create a popplet in small groups, which then allows me to

assess acquiring of this skill and it lets me know where to go next our online literacy journey.

International Society for Technology in Education

My online Literacy Component address the International Society for Technology Standards

one, two, and three. ISTE standard 1a includes, Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas,

products, or processes. The students will provide existing knowledge of Butterflies, and locating

information to generate new ideas of butterflies by locating new information on brainpopjr. Rindi

Baildon and Mark Baildon (2008) suggest, teachers need to show students strategies for finding

resources at their reading comprehension level, for finding kid friendly material, and for quickly

checking to see that a source is trustworthy in the context of their research. Students need to learn

systematic and strategic ways to make decisions about information they encounter in their

investigations. ISTE standard 2a involves, Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts,

or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. In which students will be

working in groups of three to locate and publish information gathered with peers on IPads and

computers. Standard 3b includes, Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use

information from a variety of sources and media. Students are going to ethically locate information

about the Butterfly life cycle online, evaluate the information and then work together to create a
popplet to show their understanding of the information given. Finally, ISTE standard 3d, Process

data and report results, is relevant in my lesson because students will have to process the data they

have collected about the butterflies life cycle and then report out to the class the results they have

established as a group.

International Literacy Association Standards

My lesson meets the following ILA standards:

1.2 Candidates understand the historically shared knowledge of the profession and changes

over time in the perceptions of reading and writing development, processes, and

components.

2.3 Candidates use a wide range of texts (e.g., narrative, expository, and poetry) from

traditional print, digital, and online resources.

5.1 Candidates design the physical environment to optimize students use of traditional

print, digital, and online resources in reading and writing instruction.

This online literacy lesson is based around technology and locating information through

technology because these prominent skills will be considered basic in students future. Having

the knowledge in this technological transition period is crucial to their growth in reading and

writing for now and future development. Research explains, The Internet is the defining

technology for literacy and learning in the 21st century (2011). Workplace settings are

increasingly characterized by the effective use of information to solve important problems within

a global economy (Friedman, 2006; Matteucci, OMahony, Robinson, & Zwick, 2005).

Moreover, the efficient use of information skills in workplace contexts has become even more

important as networked, digital technologies have provided greater access to larger amounts of
information (Kirsch, Braun, Yamamoto, & Sum, 2007) as presented by, Donald Leu, Gregory

McVerry, Ian OByrne, Carita Kiil, Lisa Zawilinsk, Heidi Everett-Cacopardo, Clint Kennedy,

and Elena Forzani (2011). I included these skills to promote the development of our ever-

changing technological society.

To ensure the gate keeper skill of locating and evaluating information online, I will have used

a variety of traditional print text prior to this lesson to help students understand digital and online

resources. Prior to this lesson, students would have explored The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and

The Butterfly Lifecycle texts whole group. We would have compared and contrasted

information from both text to help activate prior knowledge for this online activity. Prior to this

online activity, the students and I will have used those two texts to activate information about the

butterfly habitat and food they eat on line through a reliable source; brainpopjr. We would also

have reviewed our SEEK method to activate prior knowledge of the information gathered, and

how to navigate a reliable resource for information in their groups, on iPads or desktop

computers. So during the online activity students will be able utilize these skills in their groups

to locate information on the butterfly life cycle and then complete a graphic organizer together

on popplet.

KY Teacher Standards

My Online Activity addresses the Kentucky Teacher Standards, but for this lesson I will

focus solely on Standard 6: The Teacher Demonstrates the Implementation of Technology- The

teacher uses technology to support instruction; access and manipulate data; enhance professional

growth and productivity; communicate and collaborate with colleagues, parents, and the

community; and conduct research. To be more specific, my lesson centers around sub standards

6.1 Uses available technology to design and plan instruction, 6.2 Uses available technology to
implement instruction that facilitates student learning, and standard 6.5 Demonstrates ethical

and legal use of technology. The lesson was created using the technology provided by my

school; technology that myself and my students use on a daily basis. I used my computer to

design the lesson so that students will be able to complete the lesson on familiar digital devices.

My students are able to use our classroom desktop computers, or the iPads provided from our

STC in our school building. Students will be able to log on to our class weebly from either

device to locate the Butterfly video on brainpopjr. Then students will be able to complete an

organizer on Popplet to print out and share out to their peers in the classroom.

Common Core State Standards

The CCSS addressed in my lesson are RI.K. 10 Actively engage in group reading

activities with purpose and understanding, and W.K. 6 With guidance and support from adults,

explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with

peers. RI.K.10 and W.K.6 address the collaboration properties of the lesson. Together the

students and I read books and explore information about butterflies to create and grow our

knowledge of the insect. Through developing knowledge we use different resources and

technologies, from books to computers, to videos, to iPads. After collaborating on many lessons

using the digital tools, students are put in groups to collaborate on gathering information to grow

their knowledge about butterflies and then publish what they have found to be presented to the

class.

All of the necessary components are integrated into my lesson to ensure that I am giving

student tools to be technologically literate. Randall S. Davies (2011) explains, Learners must

become aware of the available technology and its basic purpose, then implement and practice it

in authentic situations if they are to reach the higher levels of technology literacy. This
framework of technological literacy was designed to help educators understand, evaluate, and

promote effective technology integration. TPACK has helped me to understand the importance

of being literate in traditional print and in technology. Seeing as though the world is in a

technology transitions and there is rapid growth in technology, I have the responsibility to start

my students off with basic knowledge on how to be technologically literate. TPACK has helped

me understand that it is not just how to use digital devices, it is how we use them, what we use

them for, using them appropriately, and sharing and communicating through them that make us

and our students technologically literate. Technology literacy in educational situations is defined

as the ability to effectively use technology (i.e., any tool, piece of equipment or device,

electronic or mechanical) to accomplish required learning tasks. Technology literate people

know what the technology is capable of, they are able to use the technology proficiently, and

they make intelligent decisions about which technology to use and when to use it Davies (2011).

As a teacher, it is a part of my teaching philosophy to prepare students as much as possible for

the future. The content embedded in my lesson was taught through a gradual release of

responsibility method. I started with modeling how to navigate websites to locate reliable

resources and information. The next step was to collaborate with my students using grade level

and reading level search engines to locate information. The you do piece is this lesson in

collaboration with peers using digital devices, as I walk around and support students as needed.

Davies (2011) states, to gain instructional effectiveness and efficiency, guided practice seems to

be much better than self-discovery. Technology literacy is the gateway to a better future for us

and our students, and the teachers are in charge of starting the students on the right path to learn.

Once students start focusing on the goal of completing a learning task, using technology
becomes merely a way to accomplish the expected learning (Davies, Sprague, & New, 2008b)

Davies (2011).
 References

Davies, R. S. (2011). Understanding technology literacy: A framework for evaluating

educational technology integration. TechTrends, 55(5), 45.

Lapp, D., & Moss, B. (Eds.). (2012). Exemplary instruction in the middle grades: Teaching that

supports engagement and rigorous learning. Guilford Press.

Leu, D. J., Gregory McVerry, J., Ian O'Byrne, W., Kiili, C., Zawilinski, L., EverettCacopardo,

H., & Forzani, E. (2011). The new literacies of online reading comprehension: Expanding

the literacy and learning curriculum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(1), 5-14.

Baildon, R., & Baildon, M. (2008). Guiding independence: Developing a research tool to support

student decision making in selecting online information sources. The Reading

Teacher, 61(8), 636-647.