Ellisa DeFur

September 8, 2015
EDCI Badge 2- Digital Literacy Narrative
To be an effective teacher in the 21st Century, you will need to have skills associated with
technology. Creativity is essential for teachers to connect technology with standards. I believe
that it is a skill to be able to use a variety of assessments, strategies, and testing to cover the
learning styles of each student. Constructing methods to meet specific learning needs is
important. I also believe that teachers should master the skill of communication. Sharing ideas
with other educators whether it be face-to-face, or over Internet sites such as Pinterest, is a great
way to be effective in the 21st Century. Teachers should also promote and model digital literacy.
Although being effective in the 21st Century isnt strictly about being fluent in technology
practices, I believe that willing to learn how to use new technology is a primary skill for
teachers.
Digital literacy impacts the teaching and learning of 21st century skills. Information
literacy is learning ways to be effectively and efficiently access, sort, evaluate and store needed
information. Tool literacy is needed in the 21st century because you have to learn what the
various tools are and how to effectively select the appropriate tools and how to use them. A key
to succeeding in the 21st century is instructional design. It allows you to understand and use an
ID process to analyze learners, objectives, and learning environments, and then bring together
the needed information and tools in order to create exceptional learning experiences. Another
type of digital literacy that is beneficial is social literacy. It focuses on how we share and
communicate appropriately and safely. With this skill it is easier to share information, which is a
needed skill of teachers and students in the 21st century.
Teachers who are not digitally literate in todays teaching and learning environment may
face the difficulty of being less creative and less connected. They may also be lacking in skills
needed to operate the technology itself. This can affect how much students get out of their
learning environment. Teachers that are not changing their ways with the flow of society might
be less likely to adapt, causing themselves further confusion in the technological times.
The ISTE Teacher standards are like a roadmap to develop skills to teach in the 21st
century because they model digital age work and learning. As it says on the ISTE official
website, Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology
to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation, in both face-toface and virtual environments. The teacher standards outline points of technology that educators
should become familiar with. The standards include ideas on digital citizenship and
responsibility. If teachers follow this roadmap laid out by the ISTE Teacher standards, it would
be simple to gradually incorporate technology into their educational environments.
Today, when it comes to teaching and learning, there is so much emphasis put on the
access and use of technology. I believe this is true because we are in the era of new technology, it
is everywhere. Teaching is not solely based on core academics. Educators are constantly finding
ways to incorporate other fundamentals into the required standards. Teaching students about the
efficiency of technology can create interesting and non-traditional lessons. I think that
continuously putting an emphasis on technology is not always a good thing. However, I will
argue on the side that I think it is more of a positive impact than negative. It can help making

Ellisa DeFur
September 8, 2015
EDCI Badge 2- Digital Literacy Narrative
connections easier and faster. Technology can keep education interesting and touch the various
learning styles of students. A downfall would be that students may not develop as good of nonvirtual social skills. Access to the Internet can be another downfall because students have to learn
how to sort information they find. Some things may be misleading or false. Overall, I believe
that technology in the classroom is a key to successful education.

Resources: http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-teachers
https://newby.education.purdue.edu/EDCI-270/ADE50FD/DigitalLit/presentation.html