How to Effectively Integrate Socioemotional Learning and Innovation into Student-Driven Classroom Instruction

Abstract

The rapid and continued global proliferation of internet usage and digital tools and technologies over the last 26 years since the introduction of the World Wide Web has been well documented. Equally well documented are ever-changing shifts in skills necessary for learning, working, and engaging in the world with new networks, digital tools, and technologies. Researchers and policymakers agree that deep learning experiences with digital texts and tools shape life options. Accordingly, supporting students’ development of what we refer to as digital literacies is critical for teachers, school leaders, community educators, and other educational stakeholders. However, many educational settings, including schools and community centers, do not have the necessary resources, including trained teachers and personnel and access to technologies and digital networks, to make digital literacies a central component of all instruction and learning. The lack of clear policies to guide teaching and learning, professional development, leadership, infrastructure building, and research is a key factor driving these disparities. Based on a review of research related to digital literacies, this policy brief identifies five action items related both to supporting the development of digital literacies through improving literacies instruction and increasing access to digital literacies for all learners.