Digital Literacy Meeting

24.9.14

What is Digital Literacy?

Digital literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using information technologies and the Internet.

What is Digital Literacy?

Digital literacy is an important entitlement for all young people in an

increasingly digital culture. It furnishes children and young people with the

skills, knowledge and understanding that will help them to take a full and

active part in social, cultural, economic, civic and intellectual life now and in

the future.

To be digitally literate is to have access to a broad range of practices and

cultural resources that you are able to apply to digital tools. It is the ability to

make and share meaning in different modes and formats; to create,

collaborate and communicate effectively and to understand how and when

digital technologies can best be used to support these processes.

EVERY

minute of

EVERY

day…

Examples of Digital Literacy. • Understanding how to use web browsers, search engines, email, text, blogs,

Photoshop, Powerpoint, video creation/editing software , etc. to showcase learning.

• Evaluating online resources for accuracy/trustworthiness of information.

• Choosing appropriate media to showcase learning - understand what platforms will best illustrate your message and learning.

• Using an interactive whiteboard in the classroom for lessons and allowing students to use the interactive whiteboard on a daily basis.

• Encouraging students to use technology to showcase their learning.

• Using the web ( web sites video, music) to enhance the learning of your students.

• Students and teachers creating online content to be utilized both in and out of the classroom.

• Photograph and then describe scenes or objects.

• Blogging writing - fiction/non fiction/reports etc.

• Recording voice - speaking and listening

• Email and doc creating & sharing — collaborative work

• Projects with digital content

• Engaging online as a class - modern communication skill

• Research - IPC what is fact/quality of information

• Integration into everyday learning

• Share our learning internationally.

How we will use Digital Literacy.

School Website: www.westwoodwithiford.org

Esafety

• All children have their own unique username and password which we explain should not be shared.

• All posts and comments created by the children and beyond our school are moderated.

• Nothing appears on any blog without being seen by a member of staff.

• Blogging guidelines are on each blog.

• Blogging forms part of our esafety teaching and keeping ourselves safe online.

Some blog jargon…

• Post: These are found on the home page of the blog and contain a title and text. Some posts also contain photos, images, videos, slideshows and links to other sites. Posts sometimes end with questions for readers. Readers are encouraged to comment on posts.

• Page: You can find pages at the top of the blog (on some other blogs, they might be on the side). Pages contain static information that doesn’t change regularly such as information about the blog.

• Comment: Comments make blogs come alive! They allow the blog to

become an interactive space where people can connect, converse and offer their thoughts and opinions. The administrators of the blog moderate and screen all comments.

• Category: When posts are written they are usually put into a category. This helps people find collections of posts on topics that interest them.

Subscribing to a blog

To save you from having to check back to any of our blogs all the time to see whether there is anything new on there, we have set up an email subscription service. To subscribe, you simply need to enter your email address in the box on the right hand side of the blog. You will then get an email each time we post something new on the blog! You can click on the link in your email to visit the blog and leave a comment.

Getting involved

Leaving comments

• We love comments! Comments make our blogs come alive. It’s easy to leave a comment on our blog. Parents are asked to please avoid using their surname to not identify their child. All comments are sent to Mr Rockey or the class teacher via email for approval prior to appearing on the blog.

Replying to comments After each comment you will see a “reply” button. Press this button and then leave a comment as normal to reply. Your response will appear right under the comment.

We believe it is good blogging etiquette to reply to comments. This is a big job for the teachers to complete alone! The support of our families and children to help us reply to comments is very much appreciated, so if you see a comment that hasn’t been responded to, hit reply!

Blogging guidelines

We have a few simple guidelines and suggestions that will help us to keep our blogs safe and enjoyable for everyone to read. * Children should only use their first name when commenting. * Parents who leave comments are asked to use their first name only so as not to identify their child, or post comments as “Jack’s Mum” or “Alison's Auntie”. * An email address is required and your comment will be moderated before going live on a blog. * In class, do not post photos from, or links to other websites without permission from your class teacher. * All posts will be checked by a teacher or Mr Rockey before they are published to a blog. * All comments are checked by a teacher or Mr Rockey before they appear on a blog. * Be positive if you are going to comment. Say something that you like about a post and maybe even ask that person a question. * Please write in full sentences and use proper punctuation. Make sure you double check your comments carefully before sending them.

Blog structure

• As time goes on and more posts are published, older posts move down the home page of the blog. When you can no longer see older posts on the home page, they are still on the blog, you just need to search for them.

• On the right hand side of the blog you will find a search box. This is an easy way to find posts from throughout the year. Just type the key words in the box and hit the “Search” button. You will find a list of blog posts that should include what you’re looking for. Try searching for your child’s name!

Blogging together

• Blogging is all about being part of a community. Through Quadblogging, we will be developing blogging friends and international links from all around the globe.

• You can find links to some of our class blogs on the right hand side of the blog under “Links” or “Bookmarks”.

• It will be wonderful to have a large worldwide audience for our children to share all the fantastic things they are doing in the classroom with on their blogs. Share our blog with your family and friends and encourage them to subscribe or leave us a comment.

• We love looking at our Revolvermap on the right hand side of our blog to find out where in the world our visitors are coming from!

How can You keep them safe?

• Keep in touch with what they are doing

• Know what games or apps they are using

• Who are their friends online?

• Try the game or app yourself

• Be the person they tell

Keeping information Safe

Everything is underpinned by keeping information safe

Remind your child not to share personal information

Model good practice - Keep your passwords complex and don’t share them with your child

If they need to make a password help them to make one with numbers instead of letters e.g. Hotd0g4

How to be an online parent

• Set the ground rules

Use the Smart Rules and adapt them

to your household.

• Set up Parental controls and Safe

Searches.

Make sure you do this on all devices.

Safe search engines are available.

http://www.internetmatters.org/technologies/parental-controls.html

Pop Ups and In app buying

Teach your children to ask if they are going to click something. Especially younger children just want to make the pop up go away and aren’t always sure what they are clicking.

REMIND THEM

ABOUT SMART RULES

Cyber bullying

When online, we feel anonymous. We start to think we can say things we would not say in the real world. We teach children that they are digital citizens and the same rules apply in the digital world that apply in the real world.

How to deal with Cyber bullying

• Save all of the messages and do not answer back

• Contact school

• It is included in our Acceptable use policy, signed by every parent and child

Digital footprint

It is becoming easier and easier to upload things online.

This creates a digital footprint.

Although children are not yet using social media, they need to be aware of creating a digital footprint.

Thinking carefully about what they share online.

Employers and universities are now asking people in interviews to use social media to show why they are suitable for a role.

Links to our blogs

The Head's Blog – westwoodhead.schoolblogs.org Well Done Blog – westwoodwelldone.schoolblogs.org Thistle Class Blog – westwoodthistleclass.schoolblogs.org Clover Class Blog – westwoodcloverclass.schoolblogs.org Lotus Class Blog – westwoodlotusclass.schoolblogs.org Orchid Class Blog – westwoodorchidclass.schoolblogs.org ICT in the Community Blog – westwoodict.schoolblogs.org Westwood Writers Blog – westwoodwriters.schoolblogs.org

The internet is an exciting place for our children, full of games and answers to their questions. We must not make them scared of it, but support them to be safe in the digital world, just as we do in the real world.