Reflection/Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

Reflection Week 8
Blog posting for Walden University
EDUC 6712: Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom
At the completion of this course I am inspired to create screencasts to share with my first grade class. In the past courses I have learned about how to make a wiki, blog, voicethread and podcast. The new knowledge of a how to make a screencast is a wonderful way to help my class learn about the internet. With a screencast I will be able to enhance my teaching of how to navigate the internet. My first grade class is in the beginning stages of how to find things on the internet. With the viewing of a screencast my students will be able to see visually how to find information about their animal. We make animal books and each student writes about the animal of their choice. They will be looking for animal facts which include their physical features and habitat. Explaining to my class that all of the information on the internet is not accurate is a difficult task. At the first grade level, most of my students are unaware that a web site could be inaccurate. Information literacy can start as early as first grade, but it is only a piece of the technology skills needed for success is learning 21st century skills. Students need to understand that everything on the internet is not factual. They also need the skills to determine what can be factual. Another good skill would include how to find information. Teaching my first grade class the specific search engines and specific extensions will help them find the reliable web sites.
The one thing that I would like to share with my first grade class is the ability to express themselves in a blog. There are many obstacles within my school district, but I hope soon that those obstacles are lifted. With detailed lesson plans and objectives clearly stated, my hope is that each teacher will have access to blog websites for 21st century learning. I know how much my students would enjoy having other students comment and encourage each other in the writing process.

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.
November, A. (2008). Web Literacy for educators. Thousands Oaks: Corwin Press.