Technology and Learning Colleagues,
In June, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released its 2016 Massachusetts Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) Curriculum Framework. (See last Enclosure at bottom of the linked web page.) The standards address core concepts in four key domains: Computing and Society, Digital Tools and Collaboration, Computing Systems, and Computational Thinking.
I was particularly interested in one of the Guiding Principles that makes a compelling case for the connections between computer technology skills, digital literacy, reading and reasoning:
Guiding Principle 4: Literacy Across the Content Areas
An effective digital literacy and computer science program builds upon and develops students’ literacy skills and knowledge.
Reading, writing, and communication skills are necessary elements of learning and engaging in digital literacy and computer science, as well as in other content areas. Supporting the development of students’ literacy skills will allow them to deepen their understanding of digital literacy and computer science concepts and help them to determine the meanings of symbols, key terms and phrases, as well as develop reasoning skills that apply across the disciplines. In reading, teachers should consistently support students’ ability to gain and deepen understanding of concepts from written material by helping them acquire comprehension skills and strategies, as well as specialized vocabulary and symbols. Digital literacy and computer science classrooms should make use of a variety of text materials and formats, including textbooks, notebook/journals, contextual problems, -Internet, and data presented in a variety of media.
In communicating, teachers should consistently support students’ ability to reason and achieve deeper understanding of concepts, and to express their understanding in a focused, precise, and convincing manner.
In collaborating, teachers should facilitate opportunities for digital literacy and computer science discourse using precise language to convey ideas, communicate solutions, and support arguments.
I was also interested in the description of the seven kinds of practices for which students need to be competent. They include:
1. Creating
students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative artifacts and processes using technology. Students engage in the creative aspects of computing by designing and developing interesting computational artifacts and by applying techniques to creatively solve problems
2. Connecting
Developments in computing have far-reaching effects on society and have led to significant innovations. The developments have implications for individuals, society, commercial markets, and innovation. Students study their effects and draw connections between different computing concepts
3. Abstracting
Computational thinking requires understanding and applying abstraction at multiple levels. Students use abstraction to develop models and to classify and manage information.
4. Analyzing
Students use critical thinking and analytical skills to locate, evaluate, and analyze information, information sources, their own computational artifacts, and the computational artifacts others have produced.
5. Communicating
Communication includes written and oral mediums, as well as tangible representations supported by graphs, visualizations, demonstrations, stories, and analysis. Effective communication is accurate, clear, concise, persuasive, and responsible.
6. Collaborating
People working collaboratively in teams, locally or globally, can often achieve more than individuals working alone. Effective collaboration draws on diverse perspectives, skills, knowledge, and dispositions to address complex and open-ended problems or goals
and
7. Researching
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information in a legal, safe, and ethical manner.
For those who have wondered about the difference between “computer skills” or “basic digital skills” and the kinds of technology skills students, including adult learners, need for work and life in the 21st century, this list of seven practices is a good summary. With the exception of collaborating, they are all now needed for the high school equivalency exam. If learners are adept at these seven practices, across a range of content areas or disciplines, and if they have adequate background knowledge in those disciplines, they should be able to handle post-secondary education, and at least the cognitive skills for career learning and daily living.
Do you agree?
David J. Rosen
Moderator, Technology and Learning CoP
Djrosen123@gmail.com