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Silje Gryteselv

Rolling On The River

Digital competence and cross-curricular activities


Introduction To have some digital competency is very important to use and understand tools that are around us every day. Computers, iPads, smartphones and other products on the market are popular among children and young people. Pupils are often very good at searching for information, playing games and chatting online, but they can have less competence in simple things like making a PowerPoint presentation or know little about the tools that they can use in Word or MovieMaker. The English subject curriculum states that
Digital skills in English means being able to use a varied selection of digital tools, media and resources to assist in language learning, to communicate in English and to acquire relevant knowledge in the subject of English. The use of digital resources provides opportunities to experience English texts in authentic situations, meaning natural and unadapted situations. (Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2014)

The digital tools should assist the pupils language learning, but it also has a value in itself. Digital tools enable us to communicate, to express ourselves and to be creative. Authentic reading materials in English would for example be an online newspaper, a blog or Twitter. What and how one should teach digital competence in the classroom depends on the digital competence of the teacher. Far from all teachers are experts, but a basic knowledge should be a part of a teachers competence. If the teacher is struggling he/she could use the competence of a pupil or another teacher. Teachers can work together with cross-curricular activities and build on each others competence like they do with the pupils. Gardners multiple intelligences can be a theoretic tool to use when we want the pupils to use their different competences and to develop other competences. In the tasks in stop 1 (and in the other stops) we try to include the different intelligences. It is difficult to include all intelligences in one task, but it is not Gardners point either. The point is that all

Silje Gryteselv

Rolling On The River

intelligences should be challenged during a year at school and that differentiated learning can open up for many ways of solving the same task. This is what we have tried to achieve with the tasks in stop 1, that the pupils should use and develop their digital competence through cross-curricular activities that give them some freedom on how the process and product should look like. We have named stop 1 Get to know your state. This is an introductory stop where the pupils will have their first experience with the state of their choice. Task one is about cooperation and creating a good working environment and group identity. In task 2 and 3 the pupils will learn more about indigenous people, culture and society in their chosen states.

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