Integrating Digital Literacies into the Language Classroom

Gordon Lewis

Oxford Days Vietnam July 23-26, 2019

What are Digital Literacies? It’s a lot more than reading and writing…

Digital literacy is a set of skills that includes the ability to use digital technology to find information, to critically evaluate that information's authority and relevance, and effectively communicate it with others through digital mediums.

Digital Intelligence Framework

Digital Literacies are Evolving • From computers to networks

• From desktops to mobile devices

• From web 2.0 to AI and machine learning

And are just one part of

a much broader

21 century skills set…

Digital Literacy Breakdown: ELT perspective

Dudeney, Hockly, Pegrum: European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 2019

Don’t use technology, apply it!

• Make it fit your instructional model

• Embed it in your thinking and your lesson plans

• Integrate it into your teaching and learning

• Evaluate each technology for its concrete advantages

Gartner Curve

Gartner Curve

» Where on the curve do you see different technologies?

» Do some technologies fall off the curve?

» How does training impact the curve?

» Where are you on the curve?

Checklist for Integration of Digital Literacies into Language Lessons

Dudeney, Hockly, Pegrum: European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 2019

Keeping the Model Simple

• Investigate/explore

• Communicate

• Create

All the deeper elements discussed earlier in this talk are implicit in these three areas

Distances (web search activity)

3.11 Distances How far is it…?

From ...

To ... ?

My guess True distance

Interpreting Data

Communicate, Collaborate, Create • Wikis

• A wiki is essentially a tool which allows people to work together on a common webpage. Wikis are collaborative.

• Blogs

• A blog is an electronic journal which is arranged in backwards chronological order. Blogs are personal and/or express an opinion.

• Microblogs and messaging: twitter, whatsapp

• Social Media: facebook, instagram

Wiki? Blog? Both? » My ideal city

» The best film of all time

» What job deserves to get paid the most?

» My language learning journal

» Collaborative vocabulary lists

» A day in the life

» Student newsletter

» How to learn languages

Focus on Tools versus Objects Let the task determine the solution

• Brainstorm • Draft

• Outline, notes, first draft

• Revise • Peer edit, teacher feedback

• Edit • Check spelling, punctuation etc.

• Publish

Mobile Learning • Ubiquitous- anywhere, anytime

• Mobile is cool…students hang on their mobile…Using a mobile can make learning cool

• Customization and personalization:

• you control the settings…it’s yours!

• It can be intimate and personal or used to connect to the entire world

• Requires little training

Smart Phones: standard features

• Voice recorder

• Camera/video

• Calendars

• Texting

• Mobile browsing

• map/ compass

• Stopwatch

Anything else?