Where is literacy instruction going next?

So what is the new literacies perspective (Leu, Kinzer, Coio & Cammack, 2004)?

        Based on the readings, I’ve come to the conclusion that the new literacies perspective is based on the idea that technology has changed the way we teach reading and writing. Another important conclusion to note is that because technology is continuously changing, the way we teach our students needs to do the same. More importantly, we need to prepare our students to be able to learn new technologies as they are introduced.

The increasing use of technology for communication and business purposes has a profound impact in education and is changing the way we prepare students for a successful future. “Technological knowledge “provides opportunities to make their personal lives more productive and fulfilling” (1577) Furthermore, it is changing the way teachers are taught. There is a greater than ever need to make changes to the current curriculum to allow for larger use of technology in schools as well as explicit instruction on how to use these technological tools. Moreover, as educators, we need to be prepared to teach students how to adapt to the rapidly changing technologies that are available.

        According to the article, most of the essential literacies needed for school involve the internet, which means classroom instruction needs to teach students to analyze and synthesize the information they find. (And of course the other components we’ve discussed dealing with digital literacies.)

This was not a required question but I enjoyed this section:

I found the section of the article on the technological impacts of society very fascinating and a good reminded to how this current technological age is changing the way we conduct business globally. “Throughout history, literacy and literacy instruction have changed regularly as a result of changing social contexts and the technologies they often prompt” (1574) If we really want to understand this new literacy perspective we need to think about it in today’s social context and the implications it has for the future. I thought this image summed that section up very well:

Finally, our virtual showcase!

        Everyone did a wonderful job on their projects. I had a new wealth of knowledge after checking out the different projects. I think it’s interesting to look at the wide variety of projects we had. I was available via typewith.me for the final project showcase. I had a few visitors and also visited some of my peers’ typewith.me pages.