Reflecting on the use of technology within a primary school.

Since beginning this module and completing the blogs and visits to a primary school, the importance of integrating technology and media within the curriculum has become clear. As supported by Medwell, Moore, Wray and Griffiths (2012) digital literacy is important to the learning of digital natives in society. In a school setting, developing digital literacy means giving students the opportunities to use digital technologies as well as encouraging active and creative uses of digital technologies. As a result, the digital literacy and subject knowledge of a child will significantly improve (Future Lab, 2010).

Despite this, before entering the primary school I had not expected digital literacy to have been integrated so much within the curriculum.  This is because commonly, when technology is used in some school classrooms it can sometimes be limited to making basic use of a computer (Future Lab, 2010). However, following the visit, I was pleasantly surprised with the implementation of digital literacy within the curriculum. It seems the school believes fostering digital literacy is an ongoing process and should be part of a students learning as they progress throughout their education (Future Lab, 2010). The tour and the talk about the schools use of digital literacy demonstrated a passion for the adoption of digital literacy, in order to motivate and engage children with their learning (Carrington and Robinson, 2009). It was delightful to see that digital literacy had been made a priority across each year group and was fostered effectively in terms of going beyond the functional and the presentational uses of ICT, giving students the opportunity to use a wide range of technologies collaboratively, creatively and critically (Future Lab, 2010).

In addition, the ease of producing multimodal texts also surprised me as I have always assumed they would be time consuming to produce.  The visit has convinced me that there are many digital literacy apps such as ‘Tellegami’ that are quick and easy to adopt and incorporate in to a lesson. This has therefore encouraged and ensured me further that digital literacy benefits both teachers and pupils due to their ability to generate a high level of pupil excitement and engagement (Stafford, 2011). 

A challenge I face will be filming and making a talking book with the children during my next visit to the school as I am apprehensive about how much the children will understand, given their age. It is therefore vital that I offer support accordingly in order for the pupils to feel confident with the task as well as enjoy producing the multimodal text.

 

Bibliography:

Carrington, V & Robinson, M. (Ed) (2009) Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices London: Sage Publications Ltd

FutureLab. (2010) Digital Literacy across the Curriculum. http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf(Accessed: 18/03/14)

Medwell, J. Moore, G. Wray, D. Griffiths, V. (2012) Primary English Knowledge and Understanding. London: Learning Matters.

Stafford, T. (2011) Teaching Visual Literacy in the Primary Classroom London: Routledge