KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� Aug. 3, 2023 — The auditorium was a beehive of activity. A dozen or so round tables were set up on the floor, and there were laptop computers open on each one. Education professionals moved from table to table, chatting with a representative of the team that was created that week. They were sharing the final projects that they hope will change their schools鈥� perspectives on using digital learning in their professions. Most took notes and some exchanged business cards and talked about new ideas for using and sharing technology. This was the 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 2023 Summer Institute in Digital Literacy held recently in Providence.
鈥淥ne of our students said this was like a summer camp for adults!鈥� said 溏心vlog免费B站 Professor of Education Julie Coiro, director of the Summer Institute in Digital Literacy. Coiro, along with eight other Summer Institute facilitators from around the country, spent the weeklong program guiding the participants in developing their voices as agents of change in the world of digital literacy. This edition was the 11th year for the program. It attracted 30 participants from around the country. Some are teachers, others are librarians, still others work in non-profit organizations, and one is a PBS education official and more. They share the goal of better understanding the rapidly expanding world of this technology.
鈥淧eople are kind of grappling with what do we do with all the digital material that we now have access to,鈥� said Coiro. 鈥淗ow do we prepare ourselves as teachers or librarians to adjust our mindsets to things that are constantly and pretty quickly changing? We get a lot of teachers who are trying to figure out, 鈥榃ell, how do I teach media literacy or critical evaluation skills?鈥� Or they鈥檙e addressing a lot of the fake news that’s out there.鈥�
One participant, Colleen Kenyon, is the director of digital learning at Rhode Island PBS. She spent the week refocusing and restructuring PBS鈥� education department. 鈥淒igital literacy is already a part of what we do with workshops for children, parents, and teachers. PBS offers programs that focus on computational thinking using broadcast content to encourage discussions around that concept. Being able to talk to their 2- to 5-year-olds and point out where these things are happening even when they don鈥檛 realize it is so important. We incorporate broadcast programs and apps and offer different supports for them, so that parents don鈥檛 feel like we鈥檙e just handing materials out and not helping the parents know what to do with them.
鈥淲e need to change our communication plan, getting out into the community and promoting digital literacy to the public. All our resources are free, and sometimes cost is a barrier, so we make sure that people are aware that these materials are available to the public.鈥�
Coiro says success in the digital world will require flexibility. 鈥淓verything comes from mindsets about what digital literacy is. The mindset to be flexible enough to address when it changes. The mindset of being curious and asking questions. The mindset of taking risks and making mistakes and not being perfect. And that’s what we emphasize in our design of the Summer Institute. And then, a really big focus is that everyone learns from everyone. We don鈥檛 differentiate between those entering the profession and those who are veterans; everyone has something to offer and teach to others.鈥�
Kelly Clifton is a librarian at Brown University who sees part of her mission as encouraging people to feel welcome in the library and has been experimenting with ways to do that digitally. 鈥淏asically, it鈥檚 all about fostering belonging and engagement in the library; lessening anxiety about using it and increasing use.鈥�
To that end, she鈥檚 been experimenting with a kind of scavenger hunt using digital tools. 鈥淎 student can log into the system, put the title of a work they鈥檙e looking for, learn to think, 鈥榃hat am I finding, what am I looking for?鈥� It鈥檚 a way to get the student moving around the system.鈥�
She鈥檚 also considering using Jamboard to afford students the chance to post a kind of electronic sticky note about what they would like the staff to know about them or their concerns regarding the library. 鈥淲e are an academic library first and foremost. There is not a lot of fun, and I want to bring a little fun to the library.鈥�
Coiro says she knows changing mindsets back in their home environments may not be the easiest thing to accomplish after the headiness of being surrounded by like minded people for a week fades. Still, she spent part of the week addressing that issue with the participants. She encourages them to regard themselves as leaders. Administrators may not always see the importance or need for things like digital literacies that foster learning.
鈥淲e really try to help even first-year teachers understand that they might not have a title of director or administrator or district leader, but they can very much play a leadership role. Maybe a teacher and a librarian can begin to collaborate as they promote digital literacy. And as they start to embody some of those leadership practices, administrators will begin to notice and invite them to share their vision and ideas with others.
Ratings for the Institute were effusive. Jennifer Edwards of Barnstable, Massachusetts thought it was the best professional development opportunity she鈥檇 ever had. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot, it鈥檚 intense learning, but the community building and forming of relationships are as important as the learning.鈥�
Olga Cruz-Peralta, a Providence teacher, summed it up this way: 鈥淚 learned a lot about digital tools that I can apply directly to my classroom on a daily basis. They created a safe environment. It was a wonderful experience. They combined rigor with fun!鈥�