ABC’s of Technology and
Literacy Integration
By: Heather Keck
hkeck@gmx.com
st
21
Century Literacy
Literacy has evolved, becoming now a mastery of communication,
rather than simply a mastery of text.
Students in the 21st Century still need to know how to read and
write, but they also need to know how to speak and listen
effectively.
Their audience is no longer the person sitting behind the teacher’s
desk – it is global. The tools to get there are no longer limited to
pencils and paper. Technology provides the key to increased
student engagement, motivation, and education by providing
students with meaningful uses of tech to teach them to become
literate. These are just a few ways to shape 21st century students
into 21st century masters of literacy.
Stop Animation is comprised of a series of images taken in
which only a tiny potion of the picture changes. The images
are then played in sequence to give the illusion of a film.
A blog is like a digital diary that everyone can see and
comment on. There are some well written, professional
blogs out there, as well as a growing variety of student
work.
Comic Life is a program that allows students to create
comic strips by providing an easy drag and drop interface
that they can use with their own images and photos.
Dropbox is like a virtual briefcase. You can store your files
on it and access them anywhere. This program allows for
multiple connections from one user name, so it’s really easy
to have a class account.
eBooks are books in a digital format. They can be read on computers,
tablets, or eReaders. Typically their pages scale automatically to fit the
device they’re being read on. You can also include sound, video, and
clickable web links in an eBook, where you can’t in a printed one.
Facebook is the largest social media site. Rather than shy
away from the media our students use, we should embrace
it. If you make the tools meaningful to the students, you’ll
find their motivation to succeed goes up.
Google Docs is a free service provided by Google. It allows
multiple users to work on a single document at the same time
from anywhere without anyone overwriting anyone else.
Hands on, minds on is a catchphrase that perfectly
describes the increase in engagement when the
students are given something ‘fun’ to work with.
The internet is a series of computers all connected together. You access it by
‘connecting’ your device to it. The benefit of the internet is that it allows you a
way to instantly communicate through email, or messaging. It allows you instant
access to photos, files, articles, music, and video. It allows you to create your own
space (webpage) that anyone can see where you can publish your work.
Just Right Tech refers to using the right tech for the right job at the right level.
Just because that iPad app is designed for kindergarteners it doesn’t mean that
they will find it easy to use or engaging. Just because you put an iPhone in the
hands of a student and ask them to take photos, while they may be engaged,
they may not be doing what you want them to.
A Kindle Fire is a type of eReader. This specific model is able to access the internet, and
has speakers so it can play audio books, or books that will read to emergent readers.
Most eBooks purchased can be installed/used on six devices from one license. Many
libraries today also allow you to ‘rent’ digital editions, and there are several websites that
provide free eBooks. That really lowers the cost of class sets!
A laptop is a portable computer, and is different from a tablet
because it has a keyboard where a tablet has a touch screen.
Laptops should be used the same way you would use a computer,
where as a tablet should be used as a paper-free machine to create
only digital media.
Minecraft is a sandbox game where the users create the
content and set the rules. Anything goes in Minecraft, and if
you can imagine it, then you can do it. It can be used to
engage and educate in many ways.
MrNussbaum.com is a website with thousands of
educational games. This is a great way to engage
students in learning about language arts in a fun way.
Open Source Software is free software that’s being developed by
anyone. Wikipedia is a great example of an open source concept.
You can get word processors, image editors, webpage design
programs, and many, many more types of software of professional
caliber with full support at no cost.
Pinterest is a digital cork board or a visual bookmarking tool for
websites. After you have an account, you can browns the web and ‘pin’
interesting things to your board. You can have more than one board at a
time, and can pin from multiple computers/devices at once.
A QR Code is like a digital fingerprint. If you scan it with a
QR reader, usually on a smartphone, and it will take you
to a website, or generate text based on the ‘picture’.
Little Reader is a line of iDevice apps that focus on teaching
emerging readers to read by pairing words with images and
sounds. It’s sort of like a digital flashcard program that’s fun.
A Smart Board is a brand of interactive whiteboards. It’s like a normal
whiteboard except it’s hooked up to a computer so you can show anything on it
like you would through a projector. You can save what you write on the
whiteboard to a file for later use. It also is touch sensitive, so you can run
educational apps directly on the board like an oversized iPad.
Twitter is another very popular form of social media
familiar to many students. It’s a micro-blogging site that
allows users to make short posts that others can follow.
User safety is important to consider. While students may have access to tech
at home, their parents/guardians may not know how to use it effectively.
Lessons on ‘Netiquitte’ , ‘Cyber Bullying’, and ‘User safety’ should be
considered when planning your lessons. Just like you teach students not to
run with scissors, they need to be taught not to make themselves targets.
Video Capture is a fancy term for recording something to video. By making a
video of students’ work, they are more motivated and engaged by raising the
level of concern. You can even post the videos on a class or student website so
friends and family can share in the student’s learning.
In the digital world, websites are user created pages published for
the world to see. They can contain stories, facts, pictures, art,
opinions, sound clips, videos .. Anything! They are a permanent
public portfolio highlighting their author’s opinions and education.
Texting, short for text messaging, is a way of communicating through quick, written short messages usually
sent on a cellphone or through a text messaging program on the computer such as MSN. Texting will make
you stupid. I know I’ve heard that one before. However, what most people fail to notice is that every time
someone sends a text, they have to write it first, and someone else reads it. This makes students today
prolific readers and writers, creators and communicators. Why not harness this passion and use it to
differentially teach kids, participate in a silent group-discussion, or poll students?
YouTube is a video hosting site. There are thousands of videos posted in
a user moderated forum. With YouTube students could view books being
read to them, share their own reader’s theatre presentations, watch
plays being preformed, and learn how to do things visually. Make sure
you preview the videos you plan to show, and turn off ads.
Reading A-Z is an online leveled reading program with a strong
emphasis on emergent literacy. This program has 875+ stories
and Raz-Kids integration, allowing for differentiated learning for
all students.
Index
A – Animation
B - Blog
C – Comic Life
D – Desktop, Document
E – eBooks
F – Facebook
G - Google Docs
H – Hands on, Minds on
I – Internet
J – Just Right Tech
K – Kindle Fire
L – Laptop
M – Minecraft
N - Mr. Nussbaum
O – Open source
P – Pinterest
Q – QR Code
R – Little Reader
S – Smart board
T – Twitter
U – User Safety
V – Video Capture and edit
W – Webpages
X – Text
Y – YouTube
Z – Reading A to Z