Literacy and Technology

Literacy and

Technology:

Redefining

an Age Old Skill

for the 21st Century

By John Staber

Teachers still deal with

the expected "foci of reading and writing, but within those areas, they also work with alternative texts, modern media, popular images, and instructional technology" (Angus, Oliveria, and Shoffner, 2010, p. 75).

Web 2.0: emphasizes a collaborative framework in which users are encouraged to share ideas, edit media, create content, and solve problems collectively.

By far, the biggest consumers of technology is the youth generation. Their culture is a digital one. And the effects of this digitization is apparent. Thus, the definition of literacy must take into account this adolescent culture (Partington, 2010).

Digital story telling has become a powerful mode of delivering and/or expressing how students are comprehending material (Hull, 2003).

"The expansive influence Internet technologies have had on everyday users has outpaced education's ability to sustain the Internet's newly afforded literacies" (Fahser-Herro & Steinkuehler, 2006, p. 57).

Access is still a problem:

• A story of the haves and have-nots
• Children from lower SES do not have as reliable access to the Internet
• Teachers are reluctant to assign tasks that include Internet based technology
• As a result, simply learning the technology for these students becomes the end result, not a way to enhance the learning. (Cummins, et al., 2007); (Levin & Arafeh, 2007)

The ability to read

and write.

Civic literacy?

Technologically

literate?

How do we define literacy?

Health literacy?

In 2008, only 6 school districts in Iowa had a 1:1 initiative in place.

Current definitions of literacy are taking on new shape, one that emphasizes Web 2.0 technology (Ohler, 2009).

With such tremendous growth, it is impossible to ignore the impact technology is having on literacy.

21st Century Literacy

• reading
• writing
• multi-media

Including the one I work in.

Maybe we should

build a boat instead.

By 2011, 90 to 100 districts were in the process of 1:1 implementation (Dangerously Irrelevant).

SNS: Social Networking Sites and blogs promote more prolific communication among students, according to studies.

However, of the 85% of teenagers engaging in some kind of digital communication, only a third from that figure consider this kind of communication actual writing (Lenhart, et. al, 2008).

Jeanette Hughes (2009) found that "using new media in reading, writing, and representing of poetry motivates students if only because it offers a new and fresh classroom approach" (p. 269).

Mills and Levido (2011) found that struggling students who utilized technology were more likely to engage in the tasks, thus providing practitioners with a new ability to engage and motivate learners.

Adolescent culture rears

its head: attracts teens

with the "cool factor" (Boyd, 2008).

Provides a voice many teens wouldn't have otherwise

(Ellison, 2006).

An increasingly digital world is changing our definition of literacy.

Critical take away: "...how to transform predominantly print-based practices that have dominated Western schooling, to digital practices that more closely reflect the authentic uses of literacy beyond the classroom" (p.2).

So how does this affect teachers?

Of course it is easy to see the correlation to motivation here.

• Meskill and Mossop (2000) reported teachers observing an increase in motivation and cognitive engagement.

• This impact being especially pertinent to ELL students who were able "to participate in classroom instruction to the full extent of their intelligence and imagination" (p. 16).

Bridging the digital gap hasn't been easy.

• 1998: Student-to-computer ratio is 12:1

• More recently: 3.8:1 (Wells & Lewis, 2006)

In 2012, 78% of adolescents between ages of 12-17 were online (Levin, D & Arafeh, 2012, p.ii).

"...new technologies...offer distinctive

contrasts to the primarily alphabetic texts and the forms of textual reasoning that predominate in schools and universities" (Hull, p. 230).

• Virtual Textbook
• Virtual Tutor
• Virtual Study Group
• Virtual Guidance Counselor
• Virtual Locker and Notebook

Students wanted more "engaging--Internet activities that were relevant to their lives...this would significantly improve their attitude toward school and learning" (p. 18).

@jstaber

or

@MrStabes

If you want to read my review of literature on this topic, use the following link: https://sites.google.com/a/bettendorf.k12.ia.us/mr-staber-s-class-site/review-of-literature-the-role-of-technology-in-literacy?previewAsViewer=1

References

Vygotsky

References Cont.

“…to plod through material with which they are not really engaged for some obscure future end…They settle for giving answers and getting approval from their teachers. They give up the all-important belief that education has something to do with the construction of personal meaning” (Noddings, 2012, p. 32).

incorporating social

and cultural relevance

(Jackson, et. al, 2006)

References of Images

Dewey

Bruner

"Social constructivism emphasises the importance

of culture and context in understanding what occurs in society

and constructing knowledge based on this understanding" (Jackson, et. al, 2006).