Evolution of Literacy

After reading multiple articles on new literacies, I feel my eyes have been opened to a world that has existed around me for a large portion of my life yet I was unaware that I should be considering its existence. My perceptions of literacy have dramatically broadened.

            While none of the articles had an exact definition of what new literacies meant, they discussed new literacies as all of the new ways in which texts are incorporated into our lives outside of common printed text and the skills and strategies needed to comprehend and successfully use this new information. New literacies may involve television, Internet, video game technologies, search engines, web pages, etc. However, these new literacies change as new technologies are designed, improved, and implemented in society. Therefore, a more precise definition would change often too.

            These literacies are considered new because reading has changed dramatically throughout history. I had never before put thought into the idea that printed material dominated our culture for hundreds of years and was even a large part of the foundation of our country. Then, with the emergence of television and the Internet, culture shifted due to the availability of instant information. This idea was fascinating to me especially as I began to make a log of my reading and writing practices.

            I have always considered myself a reader. I love to read as often as I can. Prior to reading these articles, I thought of ‘reading’ as reading books, magazines, and newspapers (printed materials). When I read the articles and began to keep a log of all the things I read and write in a day, I realized my view of reading and writing was incredibly small and the actual amount of reading and writing that I did was tremendous. In one day alone, I read three children’s books to my class, an article in an educational journal, several emails from parents and colleagues which I then responded to, a couple webpages with lesson plan ideas and grants for schools, data reports for my students, the writing and work my students produced in class that day, directions for an online math game we were playing as a class, several text messages which I responded to, billboards and signs during my drive home, a newspaper, my mail, TV commercials, even more emails, instant messages, and statuses from family and friends which I again responded to, a couple blogs I stay current on, directions to put together a grill, and my nightly devotional.  Wow! Information is truly at our fingertips! I was not surprised then when I read the statistic that the amount of time people spend reading has almost tripled since 1980. How could it not with the prevalence of text messaging and Internet on cell phones we carry with us wherever we go?

            As a teacher, I have always felt that the ability to read and write fluently was important for my students to have in order to achieve their goals and become productive members of our society. I now realize that this is even more important than I ever recognized. Students will not be able to function efficiently in our society if they cannot read and comprehend text, think about it critically, and respond to use that information appropriately and with relative ease.

            In truth, I had never heard of the No Child Left Behind mandate that every student be technology literate by eighth grade or even that every state has technology standards. This especially stuck out to me when I read that often economically challenged districts, like the one I teach in, do not worry about technology or the new literacies since test scores are our focus and accountability to the state. This makes me sad for my students who are missing out on opportunities that children from wealthier districts are receiving. This fact, in addition to the importance and prevalence of new literacy my literacy log brought to my attention, motivates me to be more intentional in incorporating technology and lessons on comprehending, analyzing, and responding to new literacies into my classroom lessons. However, I will need to research and really think about effective ways to do this with the lack of technology in our school.

            Many of the articles I read focused attention on the importance of new literacies in upper grades, especially middle school. I enjoyed the article by Rachel Karchmer because it focused in on elementary teachers and how the Internet influences their instruction. One idea I will use from this article is publishing student writing on our classroom website. In the past, my students have typed their writing and used clip art to help illustrate the text, but I had not considered publishing it on the website as a way to broaden their audience and allow other family members and friends to read it outside of our classroom and their home. I look forward to finding and creating even more ways for my students to become more comfortable with online reading, writing, and responding.