IT and VELS

"ICT provides a rich and flexible learner-centred environment in which students can experiment and take risks when developing new understanding. "

Drawing on my experience of teaching an ICT task this semester to my year 7 ESL students I can whole heartedly say that ICT has a strong place in language acquisition. Learning the infinite possibilites that are made available for myself and my students in terms of how learning can be achieved or articulated through ICT has been an eye-openig experience. Digital literacy seems to be an open book of choices, particularly in the ESL classroom where diveristy is central to all learning. I guess the fundamental question at heart for me as a teacher is what choices do I make?According to one theorist, digital literacy is more about a deep understanding of the media pupils are working with. He adds, digital literacy is the ability to distil information, validate it's worthiness and put it in a form that audiences are able to make sense of. (Kenny, 2011) When working with students from myriad cultural backgrounds it seems imperative to broaden their knowledge of the plethora of different types of communication.
For me, ICT does provide a rich learner-centred environment where students can take risks. But it is important to recognise that risk-taking is a complex and profusely confronting task in the ESL classroom. For me taking risks in my own teaching of ICT involves reconceptualising my view of what literacy means. According to Turner research over the past few years suggests new literacies build on traditional elements of literacy, such as comprehension, phonics, and writing, but demand new strategies, skills. and dispositions to navigate through complex semiotic systems and critically synthesise, evaluate, distribute and produce new knowledge in a timely way using emergent technologies. (Turner, 2011). In attempting to foster a risk-taking environment in my ESL classroom I've made every effort to incorporate ICT tasks that aim to develop student's critical and digital literacy skills while at the same time broadening my own understanding of technology in the classroom. For me literacy today is about mulit-platforms in communication.
By allowing my students to script, present and perform a text analysis related task and record and edit it through imovie I'm essentially integrating the metalanguage of media into my ESL classroom. And according to Callow, contemporary studies in sociocultural theory suggest there is a strong need to develop metalinguistic skills in developing conecptual and discursive understandings. (Callow, 2008). For me providing a range of meanigful tasks that allow my ESL students to express themselves and become critical users of technology is my undestanding of what a "rich and flexible learning-centred environment" is.

References:
Kenny, Jack. (2011) ICT-Caught out, The Times Educational Supplement (Feature)

Turner, K.C. Nat. (2011) "Rap Universal": using multimodal media production to develop ICT literacies: instead of teaching reading and writing universally applicable neutral skills..., Journal of Adolescant & Adult Literacy.

Callow, Jon. (2008) Show me: principles for assessing students' visual literacy: artisitic elements were the focus of lessons on reading and responding to literature in one third-grade class.

Notes from Hanson-Smith E., (2001) computer-assisted language learning (chapter 15), The Cambridge Guide to teaching English to speakers of other...

"'Constructivism' involves the use of problem-solving during tasks and projects, rather than or in addition to direct instruction by the teacher. In CALL this theory implies learning by using computer tools to explore simulated worlds, to build presentations and websites that reflect on personally engaging and significant topics, and to undertake authentic communication with other learners around the world."

In repsonse to this reading I think it's incredibly important to allow ESL students to explore their own identities through the use of engaging and authentic communication tasks embedded in ICT.