Theme: The opportunities and challenges of digital literacy for children and adolescents who struggle with language
1. Nickola Wolf Nelson (Emerita Western Michigan University): Combining Digital Literacy and Writing Process Instruction to Foster Language Development (K-12)
Speech-language clinicians will learn how to collaborate with teachers across grades K-12 to provide three-pronged interventions targeting (1) digital literacy skills, while working on (2) writing processes, and (3) multi-level basic skills in language and communication. Clinical Application: Participants will practice aligning language and writing process intervention targets with digital features that can support their instruction at varied grade and ability levels. Examples include using digital picture searches to support idea generation while targeting communication skills; teaching digitized outlining and graphic organizer features for planning, while building executive skills and semantic awareness; using word processing and manuscript sharing features to support drafting, revising, and editing, while targeting basic language skills involving vocabulary, syntactic complexity, and discourse cohesiveness; and using publication and presentation features to foster communication skills, audience awareness, and self-confidence.
2. Carol Westby (Bilingual Multicultural Service): Digital Education for 21st Century Children
Research indicates that extensive use of digital media is associated with a variety of concerns regarding children’s physical and mental health, social-emotional-behavioral development, and critical reasoning/literacy skills. But digital media is ubiquitous and here to stay. It permeates all learning. 21st century children are considered digital natives. They appear proficient in the use of a variety of technologies, but are they truly digitally literate? True digital literacy has two components: (1) the ability to use technology to generate creative content and (2) digital citizenship – the ability to evaluate digital content, including accuracy/truthfulness and issues of safety when using digital media, as well as how to act online. As much as 78% of the time teens spend on technology is devoted to passive consumption; only 3% involves content creation. Clinical Application: Participants will be able to describe a multiliteracies approach for teaching students to comprehend and produce digital multimedia, and employ strategies to teach digital citizenship principles to students to enable them to use digital media safely and responsibly.
3. Barbara Ehren (Formerly University of Central Florida): Teaching Adolescents Who Struggle with Language How to Identify Fake News in Digital Environments
Countries around the globe are grappling with the proliferation of “fake news” that has the potential to wreak havoc, or at a minimum affect the views of their citizens. Although falsehoods and misinformation can be communicated via a variety of print and digital formats, for adolescents who rely heavily on social media and other digital platforms, the digital transmission of misinformation is a critical concern. It is essential that they identify the fake news they encounter on their smart phones, tablets and computers. While this is an issue for all teens, for those who struggle with language the challenge is greater. Clinical Application: In this presentation participants will work with criteria for evaluating credibility of digital sources using specific examples. Most importantly they will discuss strategies for teaching adolescents to utilize these criteria, paying specific attention to scaffolding for adolescents who struggle with language. They will take home practical information about addressing this problem with adolescents.
4. Sharon Moonsamy and Anniah Mupawose (University of the Witwatersrand): Digitalised Literacy: Writing as a Tool for Thinking from the Context of a Development Country.
Teaching and learning in Higher Education currently, reflects the circumstances of society and the world at large. In one instance you may think that there is equity, as the pandemic COVID 19 symptoms are experienced similarly across the world but on the other hand, the inequalities and inequities that may have been latent, have arisen between developing and developed countries, as well as within these countries themselves between the have and the have-nots. Context, therefore, is key to understanding digitalised literacy and its management in relation to communication development and disorders. Digitalised literacy and academic literacy are symbiotic with each other in the training of SLP students. We argue that it is important to facilitate digital and academic literacy by engaging the critical thinking abilities of the students via the writing intensive approach, as the mode of writing is a tool that promotes thinking. Clinical Application: Formulating reports that demonstrates integration of theory with clinical application is key, when managing clients with communication disorders. The SLP needs to write the application of knowledge so that the information is presented coherently for the reader. In this 4th industry revolution student SLPs not only have to navigate the digital divide but they need to know how to write professional reports. Writing in this space reflects their critical thinking skills. Writing strategies for report writing will assist clinicians in approaching the tasks of assessment and intervention, effectively.
Theme: The opportunities and challenges of digital literacy for children and adolescents who struggle with language
1. Nickola Wolf Nelson (Emerita Western Michigan University): Combining Digital Literacy and Writing Process Instruction to Foster Language Development (K-12)
Speech-language clinicians will learn how to collaborate with teachers across grades K-12 to provide three-pronged interventions targeting (1) digital literacy skills, while working on (2) writing processes, and (3) multi-level basic skills in language and communication. Clinical Application: Participants will practice aligning language and writing process intervention targets with digital features that can support their instruction at varied grade and ability levels. Examples include using digital picture searches to support idea generation while targeting communication skills; teaching digitized outlining and graphic organizer features for planning, while building executive skills and semantic awareness; using word processing and manuscript sharing features to support drafting, revising, and editing, while targeting basic language skills involving vocabulary, syntactic complexity, and discourse cohesiveness; and using publication and presentation features to foster communication skills, audience awareness, and self-confidence.
2. Carol Westby (Bilingual Multicultural Service): Digital Education for 21st Century Children
Research indicates that extensive use of digital media is associated with a variety of concerns regarding children’s physical and mental health, social-emotional-behavioral development, and critical reasoning/literacy skills. But digital media is ubiquitous and here to stay. It permeates all learning. 21st century children are considered digital natives. They appear proficient in the use of a variety of technologies, but are they truly digitally literate? True digital literacy has two components: (1) the ability to use technology to generate creative content and (2) digital citizenship – the ability to evaluate digital content, including accuracy/truthfulness and issues of safety when using digital media, as well as how to act online. As much as 78% of the time teens spend on technology is devoted to passive consumption; only 3% involves content creation. Clinical Application: Participants will be able to describe a multiliteracies approach for teaching students to comprehend and produce digital multimedia, and employ strategies to teach digital citizenship principles to students to enable them to use digital media safely and responsibly.
3. Barbara Ehren (Formerly University of Central Florida): Teaching Adolescents Who Struggle with Language How to Identify Fake News in Digital Environments
Countries around the globe are grappling with the proliferation of “fake news” that has the potential to wreak havoc, or at a minimum affect the views of their citizens. Although falsehoods and misinformation can be communicated via a variety of print and digital formats, for adolescents who rely heavily on social media and other digital platforms, the digital transmission of misinformation is a critical concern. It is essential that they identify the fake news they encounter on their smart phones, tablets and computers. While this is an issue for all teens, for those who struggle with language the challenge is greater. Clinical Application: In this presentation participants will work with criteria for evaluating credibility of digital sources using specific examples. Most importantly they will discuss strategies for teaching adolescents to utilize these criteria, paying specific attention to scaffolding for adolescents who struggle with language. They will take home practical information about addressing this problem with adolescents.
4. Sharon Moonsamy and Anniah Mupawose (University of the Witwatersrand): Digitalised Literacy: Writing as a Tool for Thinking from the Context of a Development Country.
Teaching and learning in Higher Education currently, reflects the circumstances of society and the world at large. In one instance you may think that there is equity, as the pandemic COVID 19 symptoms are experienced similarly across the world but on the other hand, the inequalities and inequities that may have been latent, have arisen between developing and developed countries, as well as within these countries themselves between the have and the have-nots. Context, therefore, is key to understanding digitalised literacy and its management in relation to communication development and disorders. Digitalised literacy and academic literacy are symbiotic with each other in the training of SLP students. We argue that it is important to facilitate digital and academic literacy by engaging the critical thinking abilities of the students via the writing intensive approach, as the mode of writing is a tool that promotes thinking. Clinical Application: Formulating reports that demonstrates integration of theory with clinical application is key, when managing clients with communication disorders. The SLP needs to write the application of knowledge so that the information is presented coherently for the reader. In this 4th industry revolution student SLPs not only have to navigate the digital divide but they need to know how to write professional reports. Writing in this space reflects their critical thinking skills. Writing strategies for report writing will assist clinicians in approaching the tasks of assessment and intervention, effectively.
