Digital Literacy

Project Explanation and Assessment Guide

Total points possible: 40
Purpose:
Technological advances and increased levels of information access have led to the need for learners and
teachers to be digitally literate. This badge requires you to explain and demonstrate digital literacy and
how it can be used to acquire needed 21st Century skills.
Background scenario:
Your younger sister, Julie is in the middle of her junior year in high school. In most ways, Julie is really
down to earth and knows what she wants in life. She declared a number of years ago she was going to
eventually become a third or fourth grade teacher and she seems to be one who would do very well in that
type of profession. Julie and you have always been close and even though you are now away at college,
she frequently sends you emails or calls you on the phone just to check in.
This morning you opened an email from Julie. She was ripping on one of her current teachers at the high
school. You had this teacher also and you knew exactly what Julie was writing about. It seems that this
teacher is one of those that sits at his desk, points to the reading assignment listed on the board, gives you
a fill-in-the-blank handout about each of the reading sections and tells you to quietly work on that for the
whole class period. This is repeated daily. Every few weeks, a test over the material is given. Julie
complains that this course is a total waste of her time. She will not ever remember or want to remember
anything from this course once the final test has been taken. Julie writes, Isnt there more important
things we should be learning in school besides how to fill out worksheets? I really want to teach, but I
dont want to teach if this is what good teaching is all about.
Part 1 (7 pts.)
While taking classes in the College of Education at Purdue, you have been reading and studying a number
of things about skills that are needed by students and teachers in the 21st Century. Moreover, you have
really begun to understand what it means to be digitally literate. Use that knowledge to respond to your
little sister. You need her to understand that there are better ways of teaching and a lot of that has to do
with being digitally literate and understanding what 21st Century type skills are, why they are needed, and
how they are acquired.
Complete the following:
(7 pts.) Write a response back to Julie and briefly explain to her what those key skills are and most
importantly, what her potential role will be as a teacher to help her future students gain those skills.
Remember -- Julie may be your younger sister, but she loves to play teacher and will critique your
response for the quality of the writing. Make sure you include a 2-3 paragraph response that is clear,
concise, and free of grammar and spelling errors.
Part 2 (8 pts.)
A day or two after receiving your email response, Julie calls you on the phone. She thanks you for your
insights, but now she really wants to know what she can do to influence this teacher and how he currently
teaches her class. Yes, your little sister doesn't mind making waves.
You promise Julie you will search and find a video that accurately describes good teaching in the 21st
century. This video should serve as a means to help highlight for her what the possibilities could be. She
could then review it and possibly find a way to introduce it to her teacher.
Complete the following:
1. (5 pts.) Research and review YouTube or other relevant video sources (e.g., TeacherTube, TED
talks) and identify a video that will help Julie to the greatest degree. Make sure your selected
video focuses on 21st Century skills and the need for digital literacy. It may also focus on the
relationship between learning and the potential impact of technology. Here is an example video

that might work well for Julie (The 21st Century Learner). It is an example, do not use it for your
selected video.
2. (3 pts.) Using a word processor, write a short note to Julie explaining what the video is about and
give highlights of the key areas of the video that would be of most importance to her. Include a
link to the video.
Part 3 (15 pts.)
A couple weeks after sending Julie the video link, you get a phone call from your old high school
guidance counselor, Mrs. Hardy. She explains that Julie had actually talked with her about what you had
shared concerning 21st century skills. Mrs. Hardy was interested because she is always looking for ways
to impress upon students the types of skills they will need to live and work in the real world. Moreover,
she knows how closely those skills align with understanding technology, its impact, and the overall need
to be digitally literate. She wanted to discuss the possibility of you helping her prepare a workshop for the
high school teachers that would help them learn about 21st century skills and what it means to be digitally
literate. Most importantly, she wants to help the teachers see that these skills are needed in order for them
to be able to teach the skills to their students.
You are excited about this possible workshop and promise to send her an outline for the training. This
outline will consist of a list of relevant topics within the area of 21st century skills and digital literacy that
should be addressed during the training.
To fully describe your thoughts and ideas, you decide to create the list of topics and then create a
screencast (e.g., Jing video) of the list with you describing on the video exactly what each topic is about
and your thoughts as to why it is important to include.
Complete each of the following:
1. Brainstorm a list of relevant topics that deal with 21st Century skills, digital literacy, and with the
ISTE standards for teachers. Include between 5 and 7 items on your list. Be able to explain to
Mrs. Hardy why those items are relevant.
2. (3 pts.) Create a word processed list of the items in logical order for a workshop discussion and/or
activity.
3. (12 pts.) Create a screencast video (e.g., Jing or SnagIt) for Mrs. Hardy that focuses on your list
of workshop topics. In the video, show her the list and verbally walk her through your thoughts
on each of the items. On the screencast, record your thoughts as to why each topic would be
important for her teachers to know. The screencast video must be less than 5 minutes in length.
4. Save the screencast to YouTube (or another convenient web location), post the web address
below your list of relevant topics you generated.
Part 4 (10 pts.)
Complete the following:
1. (10 pts.) Using a word processor, write a reflection/narrative that addresses the following
questions:
o In relation to technology, what are the primary skills a teacher will need to be effective in
the 21st Century?
o What difficulties will teachers without 21st Century skills encounter in today's
teaching/learning environment?
o In what ways are the ISTE Teacher standards a roadmap for you as you develop skills to
teach in the 21st Century?
o Today, when it comes to teaching and learning, why is there so much emphasis put on the
access and use of technology? Is this always a good thing? Why or why not?
2. Your written narrative should be 1-3 pages in length (single spaced), well formatted, concise,
clear and free of spelling and grammatical errors.