By Michael Hilkemeijer
How to teach literacy in primary schools with ICT successfully is a key question that has emerged since the world of communication, literacy, and education has changed. Today, ICTs such as word processors, email, digital video and the Internet have resulted in another profound way in which we learn, work, and play.
The central question that arises from this is ‘how might we conceptualise the role of ICT within current understandings of literacy and literacy instruction?’
Literacy is the lifeblood of learning but literacy is no longer limited to reading printed books and other paper texts. There are new skills that need to be learned so that the children’s world continues to open and for you as the teacher, you also need to effectively communicate lesson concepts, learning objectives and assessment requirements.
What are the new skills for literacy learning?
In my k-5 online literacy workshops for teachers, I go through each of these five skills in more detail but they include these strategies:
- The ability to find information;
- The ability to develop critical thinking;
- The ability to re-present information;
- The ability to use new media as a creative space and;
- Personalised learning.
Each of these stems from the new literacies that have come from the new technologies.
Teacher Development
As technology increasingly becomes an integral part of what we understand to be literacy, you as the teacher will require a wider set of skills and the students will require greater skill sophistication and the ability to apply these more quickly than ever.
Now more than ever, your role as a teacher is more important as new technologies become central to everyday literacy instruction.
It is through ongoing professional development that you will find in my Academy online workshops that will further boost your capacity as a teacher in literacy instruction.
This will be important as the extent to which ICT can be effectively used to support the development of literacy will depend to a large extent on your own personal capabilities in ICT and in literacy teaching.
Research has indicated that those whose technology integration were lacking in ICT only haphazardly taught the development of ICT capability.
This is something I am sure that you want to avoid.
Instead, be one of those who has literacy lessons that strongly support the development of literacy through the use of ICT by making use of the provisionality inherent in it.
Teachers who have completed my literacy workshops for teachers have been more willing to explore teaching approaches that integrate their use of ICT with the spirit of structured literacy teaching.
For example, they have become more confident in their capacity as a teacher to use large screens to model drafting and re-drafting to improve the language to a whole class. They have also encouraged shared writing using ICT and presentation software for whole-class activities that focus on aspects of story writing, grammar, or comprehension.
Recommended Strategies for teaching literacy with ICT
Through our continuing technology integration professional development, we focus on “capacity building, where capacity is defined as the ability to continuously learn” (Fawcett & Snyder, 1998, p. 122).
Our literacy workshops for teachers goes beyond just focusing on the ICT itself, but on the strategies for learning about new technologies and the strategies for making decisions about whether and how these technologies might enhance literacy learning for students.
By the end of our online literacy workshops for teachers, you will be able to:
- Plan for ICT integration in English/literacy lesson;
- Plan for ICT integration in English and literacy across the curriculum;
- Plan on developing ICT capabilities alongside literacy capabilities;
- Understand the learning environment for effective literacy with ICT instruction;
- Teach effectively with ICT in literacy lessons and;
- Use assessment to inform decision-making in the technology-rich learning environment.
These strategies for teaching literacy with ICT are reinforced through your application of over 100 literacy with ICT activities that is suitable for any primary curriculum.
They will enable you to:
- Develop ICT capability and literacy capabilities concurrently;
- Develop literacy skills and consolidate ICT capabilities;
- Utilise the available ICT in the classroom such as word processors and DTP to focus on literacy objectives.
How to use our ICT in Education Teacher Academy to learn how to teach literacy in Primary schools with ICT?
The level of that ICT can effectively be used in teaching literacy objectives is directly related to your own level of capability in ICT.
It is, therefore, important that effective learning and development for young children to have high-quality care and education by you as the teacher.
This requires you as the teacher to have an understanding of the ICT potential of things to do with literacy instruction.
As a member of the ICT in Education Teacher Academy, you will have access to our online literacy workshops for teachers that will enable you to create personalised pathways that scaffold the development of literacy skills of every student, no matter their age or ability.
These online workshops for teachers will provide you with:
Scaffolding literacy with ICT in primary schools
With the Academy, you will be provided with the best scaffolding to your literacy with ICT instructions. These will include information sheets to do with the best strategies such as how to effectively provide a clear demonstration on a big screen, by asking a series of structured leading questions or by organising a class discussion of results.
Over 100 literacy with ICT activities
If you teach the Australian Curriculum, then you will find that these are aligned with the current requirements. All activities, however, can be applied throughout the workshops.
Become a member of our Academy today to gain instant access to these literacy workshops for teachers and learn how to teach literacy in primary schools with ICT today, plus over 60 + technology integration professional development online workshops.