Darphin - Computational Literacy in Elementary ELA Instruction

As I read the articles this week, I felt the answers to our most frequent critique of classroom computer programing start to unveil themselves.  In every class and in many blog posts our class asks: How?  How do these theories work in real life?  How can a teacher teach the standards asked of them and integrate meaningful computer programing?  How can students learning computer programing in parallel to their other studies with less background knowledge of the former?  How do we teach teachers to teach programing? I see these questions beginning to be answered by fostering computation literacy in elementary ELA classes.

Coming from an elementary perspective, I saw many of the Wilensky’s examples for programing integration with science as intriguing but not applicable for the younger learners.  I’m not sure much of the thinking in levels (as we read about it with traffic jams) is developmentally appropriate (1) for students in grades kindergarten - third grade.  However, these are the grades where we develop the crucial foundations for all types of literacies.  In these grades, students develop their own ideas of what is valued in education.  If we think computational literacy is integral for future generations, it needs to be introduced at young ages.   This leads to the question: How do we teach teachers to teach programing?

Digital storytelling answers is applicable for teachers in classrooms right now.  Digital storytelling builds on our current models of teaching narratives. Burke illustrates how digital storytelling can be used with Lucy Calkins’ writing workshop. (2012, pg. 125).  The mini-lesson is an opportunity for students to learn storytelling and computer skills.  Teachers know writers workshops.  They use it every day.  Writers workshops focus on the process and leads to opportunities for easy integration.  Teachers would need the training.  Wilensky said, “we found that brief but intensive professional development experiences, accompanied by carefully crafted curricular materials, are sufficient to support high school science teachers in bring computation modeling into their courses” (2014 pg 24).  I expect the same could work for integrating computational literacy in the English language arts.

We see digital storytelling every day.  It is in advertisements, movies, TV programing, digital billboards, apps, and social media.  To me this means it is accessible to all.  Students and Teachers have a metaphor on which to build their experiences. Elementary teachers use visualizing cues to help improve writing and comprehension.  For example: “A movie is playing in your head as you’re reading”.  These cues would be more meaningful to students if they could create a digital version of their story.  

1 I am vehemently angered by the frequent use of “developmentally appropriate” when used in conjunction with comments like “our sweet babies” to guide teaching practices that do not challenge students.  However, cognitive development does play a consideration. See the intutitive thought substage of Piaget’s theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget%27s_theory_of_cognitive_development