Session Information
09 SES 12 C, Computer-Based Assessments
Paper Session
Contribution
ICT literacy encompasses learning in networks, information literacy, digital competence and technological awareness all of which contribute to learning to learn through the development of enabling skills (European Commission, 2006). This paper reports on the development of an instrument to assess learning in digital networks.
Recent year have seen the steady emergence of more interactive ways of using technology (Greenhow, Robelia & Hughes, 2009). These have sometimes been characterised as Web 2.0 (a term that emerged in 2004) technologies but others have argued that they are better described as a continuous development of more interactive features in the Web (Leu, O’Byrne et al, 2009). In this paper we have formulated the main competencies that underpin these emergent technologies.
For this paper learning in digital networks has been conceptualised as being made up of four threads: For this exercise, the focus of ICT Literacy is on learning in networks, which is seen as being made up of four threads: functioning as a consumer in networks; functioning as a producer in networks; participating in the development of social capital through networks; and participating in intellectual capital (collective intelligence) in networks. The four threads are seen as part of learning in networks. They are conceptualized as parallel developments that are interconnected and make up the part of ICT literacy that is concerned with learning in networks.
Functioning as a consumer involves obtaining, managing and utilizing information and knowledge from shared digital resources and experts in order to benefit their private and professional lives. Functioning as a producer involves creating, developing, organizing and re-organizing information/knowledge in order to contribute to shared digital resources. Developing and sustaining social capital through networks involves using, developing, moderating, leading and brokering the connectivity within and between social groups in order to marshal collaborative action, build communities, maintain an awareness of opportunities and integrate diverse perspectives. Developing and sustaining intellectual capital through networks involves understanding how tools, media and social networks operate and using appropriate techniques for operating on those resources to build collective intelligence and integrate new insights into personal understandings.
We have formulated the elements of these four threads as hypothesized progress maps with an hierarchy of skills or competencies involved in each. At the lowest levels of each are the competencies that one would expect to see exhibited by a novice or beginner. At the top are the competencies that one would expect to see exhibited by an experienced person - someone who would be considered ICT literate. The progress maps are hierarchical in the sense that a person who would normally exhibit competencies at a higher level would also be expected to exhibit the competencies at lower levels of the hierarchy.
These ideas have been built into three modules of approximately 40 minutes duration based on scenarios that each incorporate a number of tasks to be used to assess student ICT Literacy. The modules are: Webspiration - a poetry-based environment; Arctic Trek - a natural adventure-based environment; and 2nd Language Chat - a peer-based language learning environment.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
European Commission (2006). Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. Official Journal of the European Union. Brussels, Author. Greenhow, C., Robelia, B, & Hughes, J. (2009). Learning, teaching and scholarship in a digital age: Web 2.0 and classroom research: what path should we take now? Educational Researcher, 38 (4), 246 – 259. Leu, D., O’Byrne, I., Zawilinski, L., McVerry, G., & Everett-Cacopardo, H. (2009). Comments on Greenhow, Robelia and Hughes: Expanding the new literacies conversation. Educational Researcher, 38 (4), 264 - 269.
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