New Literacies

The first sentence of the article we read put it right, "The essence of both reading and reading instruction in change." Everything we know about reading tells us that we are not the same person when we finish a book that we were when we started. The same goes for technology. We are not the same world we were before the Internet. We have been exposed to too many good (and some bad) things on the web that it's too late to turn back, nor would we want to. It's amazing how much technology has become infused into our curriculum. The article says that it is "likely that students who begin school this year will experience even more profound changes during their own literacy journeys. Looking back on my own "literacy journey", I remember playing Oregon Trail in elementary school by putting an original floppy disk(they were really floppy) into an Apple Computer. I also remember getting our first family computer. There was so much to learn about it and we were fascinated by the fact that we could chat in chat rooms with people from around the world. When I moved, it was much easier to stay in touch with friends because I had e-mail and instant messaging. In Middle School, we could no longer handwrite our essays, they had to be typed. By the time I got to high school, I was using the internet to help search for things for school assignments. College was the same and nowadays, I use the Internet every single day whether it be to shop, do online banking, check e-mail or stay in touch with friends.

I agree with the need to teach our children to become familiar with "new literacies" as defined on p.1572. There needs to be explicit lessons taught to children to help them with finding information, evaluating the sources, using the information to answer questions, and then communicating. In my district, in 4th grade, students need to do a research paper. This is their introduction to the research process and I love being the first person to introduce them to it. The teachers collaborate with the media specialist to teach the students how to tell if a source is valid and how to take the information and say it in your own words (i.e. NOT plagiarize) As older generations become more technologically literate, it trickles down into the younger grades.

Some facts that really stood out to me were that in 2002 (5 years ago) 60% of U.S. households had Internet access. It can be assumed that that number has gone up. Another shocking fact is that in eight years (1994-2002) the percentage of United States classrooms with at least one computer has gone from 3% to 92%!! (1578). Since 2002, the numbers have probably gone up here as well. It is evident that the Internet and computer use is pervasive, but what does that mean for us as educators? It is our job to prepare students for the "real world". Our economy is one where there is global competition. Students who take jobs in business fields will no doubt be communicating with people around the world. How will they do that? By using computers. The Internet is here to stay, so we need to teach our children how to be "literate" in it, that is how to get information and communicate it. It is likely that there will soon by more standards (I believe there is only one now in Languages Arts in NJ- Media Literacy) that will hold students accountable for their handling of technologies. Teachers will be held responsible for making sure all students are technologically literate as government becomes part of ensuring higher levels of literacy in the U.S. like it has been done in the U.K., Finland, Ireland, Australia and others.

It is evident that the idea of literacy is changing. It can no longer solely mean being able to read print material. In another class I took, we discussed literacy in detail. We read an article by Gee and discovered that being literate is social and in a given context it means that you are able to understand, interpret and communicate information. For example, I am literate with information about cooking. I understand terminlogy and I can communicate it to others. However, I'm completely illiterate when it comes to fishing. Even though I might be able to decode fishing books, I do not understand them and would not be able to communicate what something means. However, the great thing about literacy, as we know, is that it can be taught. If someone who was literate in fishing taught me the terms and showed me how to do things, then it can be assumed that I might become literate in fishing. This is the same idea we need to use when educating our students about the new literacies of technological devices.

Two of the things that I think are most important to remember from the article when teaching new literacies is that 1) new literacies are quickly changing (deictic) and 2) speed counts. What we teach our children this year may be an archaic way of doing something next year. However, we can be sure that each thing they learn about technology will serve as a stepping stone to the next thing. Also, since speed will begin to be more important, I think we will find a larger issue with our students with learning disabilities. It is difficult for them to skim webpages and quickly gather information. There will need to be alternatives developed for children who struggle. As we enter into a new world of literacy, we can only hope to prepare our students for what their futures will hold.