New Literacies: Literacy skills required to communicate using ICT
What are New Literacies?
“Reading and writing have changed as new technologies have entered our lives. You can see the change probably most visibly in the new literacies that are required on the Internet. There are new literacy skills that are required for identifying important questions. There are new reading skills required for searching for information. There are new literacy skills required for critically evaluating information. There are new literacy skills that are required for synthesizing very disparate pieces of information that you pick up in your journey on the Internet. And finally, there are important new literacy skills that are required for communicating with e-mail technologies, instant-messaging technologies, or other technologies for communication. If we're really serious about preparing students for these new forms of reading and writing and the new contexts for reading and writing that are going to define their future, we have to take a little bit of a risk and integrate these technologies into our classroom.”
Dr. Donald Leu
(Retrieved 1 Nov/08 from http://www.learner.org/workshops/teachreading35/session5/sec3p1.html)
Why Should We Teach New Literacies?
There are so many important reasons to address New Literacies in our classrooms -
- They are essential to effectively use information
- They provide media though which students can acquire knowledge
- The Internet and other ICTs require new literacies to fully access their potential.
- Integrating ICT into education can help students learn academic subjects at higher levels (Partnership for 21st Century Skills)
- In only eight years the percentage of classrooms in the United States possessing at least one computer with Internet access went from 3% to 92% (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro & Cammack, 2004)
- The global community is largely based increasingly on the effective use of information and communication
What Resources are Available in Manitoba?
In 2006 Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth published Literacy with ICT – a developmental continuum aimed at supporting teacher in the development of new literacies. This document is available in poster format, with a supplementary guidebook, or in an interactive format at http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/index.html.
This document includes the following components
- a developmental continuum demonstrating how students extend their critical and creative thinking with ICT
- “snapshots” that show how emerging, developing, transitioning, and expanding learners demonstrate their literacy with ICT
- Supporting (ICT) Skills to support the continuum descriptors.
- assessment and reporting guidelines
The document is also supported by a parent information booklet which outlines what it means to be literate with ICT, how children develop their literacy with ICT, and how parents can support these efforts.
This is a very valuable document and has been a motivating factor in our selection of New Literacies as the I Love to Read topic for 2009. The activities below are some of the effective tools for developing literacy skills, and links have been made to link these activities with the descriptors that appear on the continuum. The following five “Big Ideas” are addressed:
Cognitive Domain
- Plan and Question (P)
- Gather and Make Sense (G)
- Produce and Show Understanding (Pr)
- Communicate (C)
- Reflect (R)
Affective Domain
- Responsibility and Ethics (E)
- Social Implications (S)
- Collaboration (Co)
- Motivation and Confidence (M)
Important Professional Development!
Dr. Donald Leu, co-director of the New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut, will be coming to speak on the topic of New Literacies in Brandon, MB on May 29, 2009. Dr Leu is a board member with the International Reading Association and has written more than 100 publications, including 17 books on topics ranging from phonemic awareness to new literacies.
Registration forms are available at www.readingmanitoba.org. Look for them in your schools in February, 2009.
Classroom Ideas: Early Years
Early Years |
Literacy with ICT Continuum |
Flat Stanley http://www.flatstanley.com/
Description: In this pen pal-type website project students make paper Flat Stanley’s and keep a journal with him. Then Flat Stanley and the journal are emailed to another school where students there complete the journal. Flat Stanley and the journal are then returned to the original sender. Students can plot his travels on maps and share the contents of the journal. NOTE: This project can also be completed using letter mail
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My Hero - http://myhero.com/myhero/
This website invites students to honour their personal heroes on an internet archive of heroes from around the world.
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Book Raps - http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/old_oz-teachernet/projects/book-rap/index1.html
This site allows whole classes to participate in web discussions about books they have read. A Book Rap is a book discussion conducted through Email. Individual students or whole classes from around the world can discuss the scheduled books. Teachers can coordinate discussions of books their class is currently reading.
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Earth Days Grocery Bags – http://www.earthdaybags.org/
On this site students are encouraged to design grocery bags to promote environmental awareness and return them to the grocery store to be distribute on/around Earth day.
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CyberGuides – http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
Each teacher-prepared lesson plan contains 4 separate activities that can be completed online based around a piece of Children’s literature.
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Children’s Literature Web Guide - http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dKBrown/
An extensive directory of Children’s author’s compiled by a Children’s Literature Librarian at the University of Calgary. Links are provided to Author’s websites where follow-up activities are often available. It makes a link between narrative texts and information texts.
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Kidlink - http://www.kidlink.org/kidspace/index.php
The Kidlink Project is run by the Kidlink Association, a newly created non-commercial, user-owned organization in Sweden, that helps children understand their possibilities, set goals for life, and develop life-skills. Its free educational programs motivate learning by helping teachers relate local curriculum guidelines to students' personal interests and goals. Kidlink is open for all children and youth in any country; most users are between 10 - 15 years of age.
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Between the Lions - http://pbskids.org/lions/index.html This site is designed for parents and students to surf together. The stories are from the PBS program, Between the Lions.
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Classroom Ideas: Middle Years
Middle Years |
Critical Literacy on the Internet
The following sites provide an opportunity for students to critically evaluate the stance of the authors and determine the validity and reliability of the information provided on the site.
Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus - http://www.zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
The Truth About Black Helicopters - http://www.zapatopi.net/blackhelicopters/
POP! The First Male Pregnancy - http://www.malepregnancy.com/
The Onion – This “newspaper” spoofs real world issues - http://www.theonion.com/content/premercial?target=L2NvbnRlbnQvaW5kZXg=
Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches - http://www.pmichaud.com/toast/
The Ova Prima Foundation -presents “ evidence” on the chicken-and-egg controversy - http://www.ovaprima.org/
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Interdisciplinary Middle Years Multimedia Model - http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/imym/
This site is the Manitoba site outlining many of the resources collected and written by Manitoba educators involved with the Developing Computer Literacy committee. For the middle years specifically, you will find Interdisciplinary Middle Years Multimedia. Here, you will find resources and instructional plans for grades 5-8.
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International Reading Association - www.reading.org is the International Reading Association site. This site provides links to their publications, brochures and related websites. Included on this site are brochures such as “ Reading, Writing and Technology” which may be downloaded free of charge.
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Read, Write, Think - www.readwritethink.org/beyondtheclassroom is a site of lesson plans and teaching suggestions created by teachers. The activities are collected by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English.
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Noodle Tools - A link to www.noodletools.com is also on the reading.org site. This site provides step-by-step guidelines for researching on-line. You will find think-aloud activities for on-line literacy development and critical thinking.
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Circle of Stories - http://www.pbs.org/circleofstories This site provides a resource for Native American storytelling. It uses photography, music, film and storytelling to convey information on aboriginal culture.
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Field Trip Earth - http://www.fieldtripearth.org/index.xml This site provides details on animals around the world and provides resources for students and their inquiry studies. There are discussion groups for students, resources for teachers and even opportunities to develop questions to be posed to a field researcher.
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Additional Classroom Activities:
Internet Scavenger Hunt-Show students how to conduct an Internet search. Divide class into small groups. Each group is to collect five Internet facts on a topic. Post all the facts collected and use the facts to create a graphic organizer. Read each fact aloud. Demonstrate how to create categories based on the facts. Ask each group to conduct further research on the topic. Each group could present their own graphic organizer to the class.
Top 10 Websites of the Month-Ask students to provide a list of websites they found interesting and helpful. At the end of the month, review their findings and share with other classrooms.
Family Fun Night-Invites students and their families to a Family Fun Night at the school. Students should set up activities to show how they are using computers in t he classroom. They might provide demonstrations and opportunities for participation.
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Classroom Ideas: Senoir Years
Senior Years |
Social networking sites facilitate meeting people, finding like minds, sharing content. These sites use ideas from harnessing the power of the crowd, the network effect and individual production/user generated content. Some well-known social networking sites are:
www.myspace.com
www.facebook.com
http://fo.rtuito.us/
http://www.flock.com/
http://www.bebo.com/ |
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Online Multimedia Storage - One of the biggest growth areas on the Web has been amongst services that facilitate the storage and sharing of multimedia content. Well known examples include YouTube (video) Flickr (photographs) and Odeo (podcasts). These popular services take the idea of the ‘writeable’ Web (where users are not just consumers but contribute actively to the production of Web content) and enable it on a massive scale. Millions of people now participate in the sharing and exchange of these forms of media by producing their own podcasts, videos and photos.
Some well-known photo-sharing services are:
http://www.flickr.com/
http://www.ourpictures.com/
http://www.snapfish.com/
http://www.fotki.com/
Some well-known video sharing services are:
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.getdemocracy.com/broadcast/
http://eyespot.com/
http://ourmedia.org/
http://vsocial.com
http://www.videojug.com/
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Wiki - A wiki is a webpage or set of web-pages that can be easily edited by anyone who is allowed access (Ebersbach et al., 2006). If you want to see the potential of what teachers and students can do with wiki technology, take a look at what a couple of students have created in their Flat Classroom Project.
Other examples of wikis:
http://wiki.oss-watch.ac.uk/
http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/CETIS_Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.wikihow.com
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Blogs in Education - http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/weblogs/
A “blog” is a website on the internet created by an individual for that individual’s personal publication of information. The information published may include – anything! A blog might simply be a compilation of a person’s thoughts and opinions on a specific topic – or on a wide range of topics. A blog may include photos and/or videos, feedback links and/or further web links or any number of adornments. The Department of Education and Training in Western Australia provides marvellous information on blogging and applications for the classroom on the above web address called RESOURCING THE CURRICULUM. There are even links for downloading free blogging software! A new blog comes online every second, and the Technorati.com directory lists more than 57 million examples on every conceivable topic.
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Podcasts - A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. Though the same content may also be made available by direct download or streaming, a podcast is distinguished from other digital-media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added. Like the term broadcast, podcast can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. In the upper grades, students can produce weekly podcast reviews of the content they studied during the week, which could then be used for review throughout the year. Students could use iPods to interview community members and create oral histories, including images.
Some well-known podcast sites are:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcasts.html
http://btpodshow.com/; http://odeo.com/
http://www.ourmedia.org/ ; http://connect.educause.edu/
http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/index.php
http://www.impala.ac.uk/
http://www.law.dept.shef.ac.uk/podcasts/
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Classroom Ideas: All Grade Levels
Classroom Ideas: Just For Teachers
Just for Teachers |
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WebQuests - http://www.webquest.org/index.php
A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. This site contains a search bar for finding WebQuests on specific topics and links to online authoring systems in which webcasts can be created.
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ICT Applications in Literacy - http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primaryframework/literacy/ictapplications
This document demonstrates how the use of ICT can add value to aspects of literacy learning across the Early Years. The site indicates that they may also be adapted for use beyond the age ranges specified.
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Classroom Websites – Giving Students an opportunity to publish their work online is a powerful tool for motivating students and helping them to see the importance of their writing.
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Internet Workshop – In this model students are tasked with using the Internet to gather information and then come back together to share and compare the information that they have gathered.
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Internet Project – In this model classes collaborate with other classes around the country or around the world to gather and evaluate information on a topic.
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| Internet Inquiry – In this model students identify questions that are important to them, gather information and prepare a presentation based on what they have learned. |
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Educause - http://connect.educause.edu/ is a non-profit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.
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Moodle - http://moodle.org/ Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for rich interaction. Its open source license and modular design means that many people can develop additional functionality, and development is undertaken by a globally diffuse network of commercial and non-commercial users, spearheaded by the Moodle company based in Perth, Western Australia.
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The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA) collects, analyzes, synthesizes and disseminates information about language instruction educational programs for English language learners and related programs. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement & Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA). The "In the Classroom" Toolkit is designed to bring research and practice together for those involved in the education of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. The project has the specific goal of making research-based lessons, activities, and curriculum accessible to all teachers of English language learners (ELLs), whether within bilingual education, ESL, or English-only settings available at http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/practice/itc/secondary.html .
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Just For Parents
Just for Parents |
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Literacy with ICT is for Me!: A Parent Handbook on Learning with Information and Communication Technology - http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/parents/lict/full_doc.pdf
This Manitoba education, Citizenship and Youth document provides a practical view of Literacy with ICT in the classroom. Parents or guardians will find ideas ways to support their children's use of ICT at home in safe and responsible ways. |
Noodletools - www.noodletools.com
This guide to researching online has a section for parents as well as students. |
Kidsites - www.Kidsites.com
This site provides guidance in technology-based activities for students to access at home. |
Resources
Web Resources
GlobaLearn™ http://www.globalearn.org/
GlobalSchoolNet.org http://www.globalschoolnet.org/index.cfm
Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum: A Developmental Continuum http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/index.html
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, ICT Literacy Map: English. http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/matrices/ictmap_english.pdf
The Semantic Web in Education - http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/TheSemanticWebinEducation/47675
Webcasts
Dr. Donald Leu – Canter Video Library. This site contains multiple video segments around an assortment of topics related to New Literacies, including integrating technology, models of Internet use (e.g. Internet Workshop, Internet Project, Internet Inquiry), Communication Beyond the Classroom, and Using the Web as a Resource. Available at http://ctell.uconn.edu/canter/canter_video.cfm
Dr. Allen Luke – “The New Literacies” (53 minutes). This webcast has a specific focus on critical literacy in the use of technological resources. Available at http://www.curriculum.org/secretariat/may31.shtml
E-Literate - A 15-minute video for introducing information literacy to young people. Available at http://www.newliteracies.gseis.ucla.edu/video/index.html
Print Resources
Bertram, B., Ed. (2003). Literacy in the information Age: Inquiries Into Meaning Making with New Technologies. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
Carroll, M. (2004). Cartwheels on the Keyboard: Computer-Based Literacy Instruction in an Elementary Classroom. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
Groenke, S. (2008). “Missed Opportunities in Cyberspace: Preparing Preservice Teachers to Facilitate Critical Talk About Literature Through Computer-Mediated Communication.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(3), 224-233.
Hancock, J. , Ed. (1999). Teaching Literacy Using Information Technology: A Collection of Articles From the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association. Victoria, Australia: Australian Literacy Educators’ Association and Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
Larson, L. C. (2008). “Electronic Reading Workshop: Beyond Books with New Literacies and Instructional Technologies.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(2), 121-131.
Leu, D.J., Jr., & Leu, D.D. (2004). Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times (4th ed.). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Leu, D.J. Jr. (2002). Internet Workshop: Making time for literacy. Reading Online. [Article reprinted from the Reading Teacher, 55 (5)]. [Online Serial] Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/RT/2-02_column/
Leu, D.J., Jr. (2001) Internet project: Preparing students for new literacies in a global village. Reading Online. [Article reprinted from the Reading Teacher, 54, 568-585]. [Online Serial] Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/RT/3-01_column/
Leu, D.J., Jr. (2000). Our children's future: Changing the focus of literacy and literacy instruction. Reading Online. [Article reprinted from the Reading Teacher, 53, 424-431]. [Online Serial] Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/RT/focus/
Leu, D.J., Jr., Kinzer, C.K., Coiro, J., Cammack, D. (2004). Toward a theory of new literacies emerging from the Internet and other information and communication technologies. [Article reprinted from R.B. Ruddell & N. Unrau (Eds.), Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading, Fifth Edition(1568-1611).International Reading Association: Newark, DE.] [Online Serial].Available: http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=/
Schmar-Dobler, E. (2003, September). Reading on the Internet: The link between literacy and technology. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(1). Retrieved Nov 1, 2008: http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=/newliteracies/jaal/9-03_column/index.html
Tapscott, D. (1998),GROWING UP DIGITAL: The Rise of the Net Generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Wepner, S., Valmont, W. and Thurlow, R., Eds. (2000). Linking Literacy and Technology: A Guide for K-8 Classrooms. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
