How New Literacies are Relevant to Us

The two articles that I will mention in this blog are Teaching Skills That Matter, and Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice: more than just tools. Across both articles, the main takeaway emphasized the importance of teaching our students digital literacy, while keeping in mind that technology should not replace our instruction but enhance it. Digital Literacy is important because it is used daily in our professional and personal lives and we are constantly, fluidly switching between non-digital and digital resources. 

Main Take-aways

In the article, Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice, the author emphasizes the importance of preparing our students for a world outside of school, in regard to digital literacy. Students must have authentic learning goals, and then digital resources can be used as an extra tool to enhance the lesson. For example, Garcia mentioned English teachers “exploring social justice movements by looking at the rhetorical movement of hashtags in social networks” (International Literacy Association, 2018). While this is a great digital tool, it is secondary to the teacher's instruction. There are many different ways that teachers can incorporate both digital and non-digital resources of literacy in classrooms. To name a few, encouraging face to face conversations, instructing students to interview family members or other teachers, encouraging turn and talk conversations, exploring topics on the internet like twitter by searching hashtags and exploring the many different viewpoints and perspectives on that topic, and so on (International Literacy Association, 2018). However, digital instruction today needs to focus on practical forms of technology that we expect to be used in careers that our students might go into and cannot focus on outdated apps and technology. One example that the author mentions is the current form of reading. Reading novels on digital devices and listening to fiction stories through an e-reader is on the rise, and it should not be frowned upon to use within an ELA classroom (International Literacy Association, 2018). 

What Surprised me?

I was surprised to learn that “the foundational skills required to perform entry-level service work reported that 73% of workers in these positions lacked digital problem-solving skills” (Vanek, 2019). Many adults today are lacking these skills due to either an interruption in education, a lack of literacy skills, and/or a written language barrier (Vanek, 2019). Given this statistic, it is imperative that we are preparing our students to not only be able to read and write, but to enter the world in a way that they are able to navigate the constant fluidity of switching between digital and non-digital platforms. Students need to be provided with instruction that teaches them how to effectively navigate and utilize online information, and they need to be taught how to connect all of this information. 

I was also surprised to learn that while technology can provide tools to differentiate learning and instruction, it can also further widen the achievement gap. For example, one school district may have the accessibility to provide all of their students with ipads, while in a neighboring district, this may not be feasible (International Literacy Association, 2018). Students need to be taught how to locate access if it is not readily available to them. For example, teaching students to utilize hotspots or locations that offer free Wi-Fi, accessing libraries, etc. to locate access when it is necessary. Many job applications are digital, and there are many different instances where online documentation might be necessary (taxes for example), many different careers might require online meetings via platforms like zoom, etc. Given the achievement gap and educational inequity, it is also important that we teach young individuals how to locate access points. 

References

International Literacy Association. (2018).  Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice: more than just tools. 

https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-improving-digital-practices-literacy-learning-justice.pdf

Vanek, J. (2019). Digital Literacy. Teaching Skills That Matter.

Comments

  1. Myranda BurkeSeptember 27, 2024 at 7:21 PM

    Hi Kayla! I really enjoyed reading your post and one of the things that caught my attention, that I could relate to was when you were talking about reading on digital devices and listening to e-readers. My daughter is in 3rd grade and she got a Chromebook this year that she does a lot of stuff on from homework, class work, and reading. At first, I was a little apprehensive to let her spend 30+ minutes on it every evening to read but realized that she's learning how to navigate this technology and it's only going to be easier for her in the future. She likes to choose the books that read the words to her but I'm not sure how I feel about that yet becuase I feel like kids could definitley take advantage of that so the deal in our house is, you can have the Chromebook read 1 book to you but you have to read the rest. So far, so good! I also like to listen to an audiobook every once in a while so I get it, so much easier!

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    Replies
    1. Kayla MulvaneySeptember 29, 2024 at 4:08 PM

      Hi Myranda,
      Thank you! I love the idea of allowing the e-reader, but then also requiring that she does some of the reading herself! Every Friday in my reading class we do 30 minutes of independent reading. The goal is to choose a fiction book that sparks their interest, in the hopes that they develop a love for reading. I do of course have some reluctant readers. I actually encourage these students to use headphones and an e-reader. Instead of those students sitting there staring at a book that they are not actually reading, my hope is that if they at least listen to a book, maybe they will realize they do like books and eventually do the reading on their own! But I am with you, when I first started teaching I was very apprehensive to the amount of classwork done on the chrome books. I changed alot of the online curriculum to pencil and paper. However, recently I have realized the importance of students being able to navigate digitally, and have switched my classwork to about a 50/50 mix of digital and traditional pencil and paper.

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  2. Shaye GardinierOctober 6, 2024 at 4:35 PM

    Hi Kayla! I really liked how you broke this up into sections, I may have to steal it! I felt it was so much easier to follow along and read!

    I think one main takeaway that I could relate to was the mention of e-readers and listening to fiction stories is on the rise. I do agree that this should not be frowned upon because we have several kiddos who absorb information much better when they listen to it verses when they read it themselves. I do think it is important to implement both tools and methods, but they each bring different strengths and benefits with them. I loved how you listed ways of incorporating both face-to-face methods along with technology inclusion. The interviewing teachers and family members is something I have not thought of yet, but definitely am now! That is such a great idea!

    Locating access points was something I did not think I would have to do my first year teaching, but it became a much needed resource for my students. I remember we literally sat and looked them up on my Promethean board in the middle of class, because I never realized how vital that information was for many of them. We looked up our local libraries, and hotspots that were in safe neighborhoods walking distance for them. We had to go through the steps of how to set up this type of wifi on their phones and I showed them everything they would need to know. Many people overlook this part of teaching as I did, but it was crucial for many of them that I taught it.

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