Emily Cseh

Dr. Newby September 3, 2015

EDCI 27000 Digital

Literacy Badge
In order to be an effective 21st century teacher it is important to
understand and correctly teach the concepts of problem solving,
creativity, analytical thinking, collaboration, communication,
ethics, and accountability. Problem solving is important because it
teaches students how to generate a solution for a particular
situation. I believe that teachers who use this concept frequently
help their students on a deeper, more intellectual level. Creativity
is also important because it gives students the ability to express
themselves through their course work. Therefore, teachers who
allow and encourage creativity in the classroom are benefitting
their students in the long run. Analytical thinking helps students to
figure out problems successfully in a small amount of time. This is
an important skill to have because it will help students to thinker
at a higher level. Collaboration and communication are also vital
skills for a teacher to pass onto a student. Not only do these help
to develop key social skills, but they are key to group work and life
skills in the future. Students that stay true to who they are tend to
have more self confidence and become more successful in the
classroom. Teachers that help students understand their ethics
and help them to bring it into their school work are excelling at
allowing them to grow academically and as a person. Skills such
as problem solving, creativity, and analytical thinking help
students to develop ways to think which will be beneficial in
allowing them to compare, contrast, and process information at a
much deeper level. Digital collaboration and communication allow

to students to learn how to communicate in more ways than ever

before. Videos, screencasts, online education opens so many
new doors for students. Lastly, ethics and accountability allows
students to learn ways of living by learning to stay true to values
and beliefs while still being open to the world around them.
Holding students accountable for their work and to a certain
standard is also a necessary skill that is beneficial to their overall
growth. All of these skills are important skills that should be
included in curriculum in order to make students more applicable
in the twenty-first century. The ISTE standards for education and
teachers are vital to ensuring that students get properly educated.
These include, inspiring student learning and creativity, being able
to design and develop digital age learning, and experiences,
modeling digital-age work and learning, promoting digital
citizenship and responsibility, and engaging in professional growth
and leadership. Teachers who demonstrate this skills are helping
their students to grow and learn on a deeper 21st century level.
The ISTE Teacher standards are very helpful for me as I learn to
become a digitally literate teacher in the twenty-first century
because they demonstrate all of the new things I will have to learn
and accomplish along the road. These skills will help me to better
myself as a future teacher because I will be able to pass the skills
I have obtained onto my students. Due to this, my students will
also become digitally literate. I will focus on using technology in
the classroom so they can grow and learn around technology.
Being digitally literate is a characteristic all current teachers
should have so that they can pass on the benefits of using
technology to their students, while also informing them on how to
use it. Teachers who are not digitally literate will face multiple
challenges in todays learning environment because students use
technology on a daily basis and it can be helpful to use in the
classroom as well as, not being able to use the technology that is

provided for them, being unable to teach their students about how
technology works, or only doing things "old school". Not that there
is anything wrong with the by the book methods some teachers
use, the world around us is changing and it is important to accept
and allow this improvement to occur. In order to do this, we have
to modify our way of learning to allow our students to be the best
they can be.
There are so many opportunities for growth by using technology
that teachers who do not take advantage of it in the classroom are
putting their students at a disadvantage as growing people in the
twenty-first century.
Emphasis is put on learning technology in school because it is
new and important to the future that our current students know
and understand how it all works so they can use it to benefit them.
It is usually a good thing when used correctly. When teachers use
technology as a reward or out of context it can be unproductive.
However, teachers who use it to further enhance the education
process it can be extremely beneficial. For example, when a
teacher is presenting a lesson and technology can be applied it
can help the student to better learn the material as well as
introduce students to new ways to use technology in their daily
lives.