Education Week Issue 25 - Technology Counts 2014 - 30

Taking the Pulse
Of Digital Literacy
A growing chorus of educators is saying
schools should evaluate students' abilities
to apply technology to real-world issues

By Robin L.
Flanigan

30

EDUCATION WEEK

>> MARCH 13, 2014

A

handful of 10th graders from Assabet
Valley Regional Technical High School
in Marlborough, Mass., recently gave a
formal presentation for an audience of
educators during a technology conference at nearby Mount Holyoke College.
The students offered short, hands-on lessons for teachers, familiarizing them with various digital tools, applications, and simulations that could support their work in
the classroom.
"What could be better?" said Alexia Forhan, a science
teacher and technology coach for the 1,150-student vocational school. "Education used to be about learning
something and spitting it back to me. Now, it's about understanding and application. The more students teach me
and others what they know, the more I feel they're truly
learning."
The Assabet sophomores demonstrated an awareness of
multiple technologies, competence in using data analysis,
and other digital-literacy skills that a growing number of
educators and technology advocates say should be taught
and assessed more regularly by K-12 schools. No longer
just about how to use digital tools to gauge abilities in
core academic areas, assessments, in their opinion, need
to also measure a mastery of more abstract skills-ones
closely aligned to the technology skills students will need
to succeed in the workplace.
Helping to drive the conversation about how to gauge
those kinds of digital-literacy skills are two state-led consortia-the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for
College and Careers and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium-that are developing assessments tied
to the Common Core State Standards.
Jacqueline E. King, a Smarter Balanced spokeswoman,
said the fact that its assessment will be available online
in 2015, and will involve the use of digital-literacy skills in
answering questions, is "heightening the focus" on needing
to know where students stand in that area.
William De'Wayne Simpson, an instructional-technology coach and journalism teacher for the 1,000-student
Charles Carroll Middle School in New Carrolton, Md.,
judges his students' abilities to use digital tools to communicate and work collaboratively by keeping the classroom
atmosphere relatively quiet.
"I like to force them to be silent while allowing them to
work together as much as they want," he explained. "They

can use Google Docs, im with Draft, or a hashtag on Twitter to leave notes for each other and collect information,
and along the way, I assess who seems to be flowing with
it, who's an avid learner, and who's struggling. One of the
biggest things to realize is that it's not always about what
the kids know about technology, but their comfort level
with what they don't know, and then being able to figure
it out using whatever devices are put in front of them."

Strengths and Weaknesses
While testing a variety of digital-literacy skills is important, there's one standard for learning in a digital age
that stands out for Darri Stephens, the director of digital
learning for Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based
nonprofit organization known for research-based ratings
and reviews of media and technology used by children.
"The more important conversation needs to be larger
and one that's framed around digital citizenship," she said.
"It's not just about assessing answers as right or wrong,
but about really delving into a more nuanced realm of student behaviors and attitudes and perceptions."
Common Sense Media provides a comprehensive K-12
curriculum that helps teach and assess around topics such
as Internet privacy and security, online copyright issues,
and digital footprints.
Digital citizenship, in fact, appears to be an area of
strength for many students. For the past four years, the
Texas Computer Education Association, a membership organization based in Austin, has partnered with Portland,
Ore.-based digital-curriculum and -assessment provider
Learning.com to offer Texas schools a technology-literacy
assessment at no charge.
Results generally mirrored those found when the provider assessed elementary and middle school students
nationwide: Students earned solid marks in digital citizenship and technology operations and concepts, but did
not do well in online research and information fluency,
critical thinking, and problem-solving. The assessment
blends interactive, performance-based questions with multiple-choice, knowledge-based questions. Nearly 137,000
8th graders in 224 of the state's 1,227 public schools and
charter districts took the assessments in 2012-13.
Wendy Drexler, the chief innovation officer for the International Society for Technology in Education, a Washington-based membership association that promotes effective
uses of educational technology, would like to see more alternative assessments that take into account evaluations
from students, peers, and teachers. She says standardized
assessments alone may not paint a fair picture, given that
educators have such varying levels of knowledge about
synthesizing and creating digital content, collaborating
in a digital environment, and identifying other skills stu-
http://www.Learning.com
Education Week Issue 25 - Technology Counts 2014

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