Technology is essential in schools and classrooms in our world today. It can be used in a variety of ways, but it must be taught to be used safely and responsibly. Information literacy and digital literacy go hand-in-hand. Students must be taught how to navigate the internet safely and responsibly before they are taught how to find and evaluate information that they need. Information literacy skills are crucial for students to have in order for them to be successful later in life (Hobbs 2011).
Bloom’s Taxonomy is something we are all familiar with. Bloom’s Taxonomy helps teachers understand how to help their students. We are able to develop instructional strategies based on student understanding. This applies to technology as well. As teachers, we should select the technology tools that are most relevant and appropriate for our students. Renee Hobbs said it best, “School librarians, teachers, and educational technology leaders can help shift the focus to emphasize how digital tools are used to promote critical thinking, creativity, and communication and collaboration skills.” (Hobbs 2011).
Technology should be incorporated in the classroom, but it should be incorporated and utilized in the correct way. This applies to my current job as a kindergarten teacher in many ways. Even though my students are young and technology may be difficult for them to use, it is still necessary to teach them how to use technology to deepen their understanding and learn new things. Schools need to shift their focus to “deep learning”. Deep learning is described by Fullan and Langworthy as this, “(Deep learning) develops the learning, creating, and ‘doing’ dispositions that young people need to thrive now and in their futures. We will see that when teachers and students engage in deep learning, they partner with each other in more personal and transparent learning processes where high expectations are mutually negotiated and achieved through challenging deep learning tasks.” (Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. 2014).
References
Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A Rich Seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open- ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.
Hobbs, R. (2011). Empowering learners with digital and media literacy. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 12-17. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Huitt, W. (2011). Bloom et al.'s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http://www.edpsychinteractive.org/topics/cognition/bloom.
Kuhn, M. S. (2008). Connecting depth and balance in class. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(1), 18-21. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Rogers, E. M. (1963). The adoption process II. Journal of Cooperative Extension, 1(2), 69-75. Retrieved from https://archives.joe.org/joe/1963summer/1963-2-a2.pdf.
