ELL and the 21st Century Learning

My interest is how best to teach and use digital literacy for English Language Learners (ELL).  It combines both my Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language (completed over 20 years ago) and my Diploma in Teacher Librarianship (which I hope to complete by next year).

Other reasons for my interest in ELL and the 21^st century learning are that I live in Vancouver, my boys have friends that are ELL, and I used to teach in the Vancouver School District.  According to the Vancouver School Board website, 25% of the 54,00 students are designated ESL. (VSB Our District, 2017).  That is about 13,500 students who have English as a Second Language.

Retrieved from https://www.vsb.bc.ca/about-vsb

Some of the strategies and resources that are effective for teaching ELL are providing graphic organizers, visual cues, background knowledge, collaboration in pairs or groups, differentiated instruction, personalized teaching, content building, and using resources that relate to their culture and have personal interest.  Since the world we live in is rapidly changing with new information and technology, I wanted to also inquire about other digital resources and strategies that would help ELL acquire 21st century skills and English literacy simultaneously.

Some of the essential questions for the inquiry of 21st century learning and ELL are:

What digital literacy skills are essential?

How can technology be used for ELL language acquisition, communication, and literacy?

How to teach digital literacy to ELL?

What are the best on-line tools to have  ELL become literate for the 21^st century?

What digital resources and technology will help build deeper information literacy, content, and big ideas in BC's New Curriculum?

How to engage ELL with inquiry-based learning?

Do social media sites help ELL?

How do you give a voice to ELL?

What are ways to develop innovation, creativity, and reflection?

What skills do ELL need for the 21st century?

Besides the references below to start my inquiry, the following video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmcOLzzdS_o) is also a good starting point to integrate technology, language development, content, communication, and literacy skills for ELL.

References

BC's New Curriculum.  Retrieved September 16th from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum

Broderick, Maggie.  (2016).  Technology for 21st-Century English Language Learners.  Hot Chalk.

     http://www.hotchalkeducationnetwork.com/technology-for-21st-century-ells/

De Luca, Rob. (2016)  Teaching ESL with Technology.  TESL Ontario.  [Blog]  Retrieved from

     http://blog.teslontario.org/teaching-esl-with-technology/

Jenkins, Rob.  (2015).  Integrating Digital Literacy and English Language Instruction:  Companion

    Learning Resource.  US Department of Education.  Retrieved from

    https://lincs.ed.gov/sites/default/files/LINCS_CLR-2_508_0.pdf

O'Brien, Anne.  (2013).  English Language Learners and 21st Century Literacy.  Edutopia.
    Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/english-learners-twenty-first-century-learning

Robertson, Kristina.  Preparing ELLs to be 21st-Century Learners.  Colorin Colorado.  Retrieved on
    September 16, 2017 http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/preparing-ells-be-21st-century-
    learners

Siarifah, Mariya.  (2017).  Teaching Integrated Skills Using Technology in EFL/ESL Classroom.
    [YouTube].  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmcOLzzdS_o

Vancouver School Board.  Our District. Retrieved September 16th, 2017 from

      https://www.vsb.bc.ca/about-vsb

Zakhareuski, Andrei. 10 Modern Ways to Use Technology in ESL Instruction.  Busy Teacher.  

    Retrieved September 16, 2017 from
    http://busyteacher.org/13732-using-technology-esl-instruction-10-modern-ways.html