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THE CoUNCIL CHroNICLE (ISSN #1057-4190) is published u ties a yea, in mach, July, Septebe, and Nebe by the Natinal Cuncil Teaches English, 111W. Kenyn rad, Ubana, IL 61801-1096, as an exclusie beneft ebeship. $5 yu ebeship dues is allcated t The Council Chronicle. Peidical pstage paiat Ubana, IL, and at additinal ailing fces. PoSTmASTEr: Send addess changes t The Council Chronicle, 1111 W. Kenyn rad, Ubana, IL 61801-1096.

Cpyight 2007 by the Natinal Cuncil Teaches English. vlue 17, Nube 2 (Nebe 2007).

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by Lorna Collier

SceneOne:A20th-centurysecondaryEnglishclassroom.Ateachergivesa

presentationonanovelunderstudy,usinghandouts,thechalkboard,anda

poster;studentstakenotesusingpensandpaper,inpreparationoranessay

assignment.

SceneTwo:A21st-centuryEnglishclassroomthatuses21st-centuryliteracies.

Here,studentsandteacheraregroupedaroundcomputers,wheretheyarecollabora-

tivelyusingmovie-makingsotwaretoeditavideobooktraileraboutanovel,which

willbepostedonaclassroomwiki.

Obviously,bothtraditionaland21st-centuryclassroomsinvolvemorethanthesequicksnapshots,andshareclassroommethodsandgoals.But21st-centuryliteracy-

orientedteachingoersadditionalbenetstostudents,allowingthemtoincorporate

thetechnologytheyincreasinglyuseintheireverydaylives,andwhichtheywillneed

tomasterinordertondsuccessintomorrowsworkplace.

Literacyhasalwaysbeenintimatelytiedtoatechnology,saysKyleneBeers,

NCTEvicepresident,whonotesthattowritersinearliercenturies,advancedtech-

nologiesincludedchiselsandstones,inkandpapyrus,ortheprintingpress.

Yet,saysBeers,thedemandso21st-centuryliteracyaremorecomplexandchal-

lengingthanthoseo18th-centuryliteracy....Astechnologycontinuestoevolve,

alwaysmovingtowardthemoresophisticated,ourliteracycapacitiesmustalsogrow

moresophisticated.

Tohelpstudentsthriveintheworldo21st-centuryliteracy,teachersneedto

becomefuentinthelanguageonewertechnologiesbutthisisnttheonlyway

toincorporatemoremodernthinkingaboutliteracy.Thedenitiono21st-century

literaciesalsoincludesnewideasaboutwhatcanbeconsideredtexts.

Wehaveopenedupwhatcountsasvaluedcommunicationintheclassroom,says

SaraKajder,assistantproessoroEnglisheducationatVirginiaTechandprogramdi-

rectororEnglisheducationattheschool,whohaswrittenonthetopic.Otherorms

ocommunicationmightincluderaplyrics,graphicnovels,stillimages,audiotext,

andoralperormance,shesays.

Itsnotthatthosearenecessarilynewtoolsornewwaysoengaging,butIthink

thatwearealotmoreopenintheEnglishcurriculumrightnowinthinkingabout

thoseaswaysoengagingandcommunicatingmeaning.

As technology

continues to evolve,

always moving

toward the more

sophisticated, our

literacy capacities

must also grow more

sophisticated.Kylene Beers

The Shift to

21st-Century Literacies

Copyright 2007 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved.

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Continued on page 6

Thoughraplyricsandgraphicnovelsarentnecessar-

ilyhigh-tech,manychangesseenin21st-centuryliteracy

classroomsarebeingdrivenbytherapidadvanceonew

technologies.Studentstodaytypicallyarriveintheclass-

roomfuentinthelanguagesotext-messaging,instant-

messagingandblogging,otentoaargreaterdegree

thantheirteachers.

Thisshitromapage-basedtoascreen-basedsoci-

etyiscausingadrasticchangeinliteracy,saysWilliamKist,associate

proessoratKentStateUniversityand

incomingdirectorotheNCTECom-

missiononMedia.Itsadierentway

oencounteringcommunicationor

thoughtorhumanexpression.

Asaresult,studentshavechanged,saysKajder,and

teachersneedtoalterteachingmethodsaccordingly.

Thisisnotonlytokeepstudentsengagedandmotivated,

buttobetterpreparethemoratechnologicallyoriented

workplace.

Workplace Demands in the21st CenturyOut-o-school[andworkplace]literaciesarebecoming

moreandmoredivergentromin-schoolliteracies,warns

Kist.Blogging,instantmessaging,podcasts,videopro-

duction,desktopvideoediting,andgraphicdesignareall

thingskidsaregoingtoencounterastheymoveoutinto

theworkplace.

Teacherswhoassumestudentsalreadyknowallthe

techstu,andneedonlytohavetheirwritingandthink-

ingskillssharpened,missthepoint.First,notallstudents

havetechnologicalknowledge;second,eventhosewho

dohaveitneedtoknowhowtomanagetheseskills.

Theystillneedteacherstobeworkingwiththemtoteach

themhowtolearnandcommunicatewithanemerging

tool,saysKajder.Studentsneedtolearnromushow

toengageinonlinespacesandstillhaveacademicdis-

course,todoitorpurposeul,unctionalneeds,because

thetoolsetcantbecompletelydierentwheneverthey

stepintowhatevertheiruturejobsmightbeandyet

thatiswhattherealityisrightnow.

Inorderorteacherstoknowhowtoteachstudentsus-

ingtechnology,saysKajder,theyneedtousethistechnol-

ogythemselves.Thismeans,shesays,thatteachersmight

wanttostarttheirownMySpacepagesandkeepblogs,as

justtwoexamples.

Kajderherselistryinganeven-newertechnology

SecondLie,avirtualworldwhereparticipantsinteract

graphicallywithotherpeople,tothepointoholdingvir-

tualjobsandspendingvirtualmoney.Shehasntnished

Out-of-school [and workplace] literacies are becoming

more and more divergent from in-school literacies.William Kist

Students today typically

arrive in the classroomfuent in the languages

o text-messaging,

instant-messaging, andblogging, oten to a ar

greater degree than their

teachers.

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21st-Century literacies Continued from page 5

planningyet,butbelievesshecanworkthe

worldoSecondLieintoclassroominstruc-

tion.Itsanattempttokeepupwithtechnolo-

giesthatseemtobefyingasterandmore

uriouslyeveryday.

Heresthedeal:technologyisnotgoingto

slowdown,saysKajder.Becausethetechnol-

ogyisalwayschanging,andbecausethetools

arealwayschanging,itsahugelychallenging

timetobeateacher.

Not All Schools Are CreatedEqualDespitetheneed,notallschooldistrictscan

provide21st-centurytechnologiestotheirstu-

dents.Somesimplydonothavetheresources

orcomputers,videocameras,andhigh-tech

sotware.

Accessisverymuchanissue,saysKajder,

whoworkswithavarietyourbanandrural

schooldistricts,somewithmuch

lessequipmentthanothers.[Some

schools]areluckyitheyhaveone

computerinaclassroom.

Yetthisdoesntmeanthatthose

studentsmustbeshutouto21st-

centuryliteracies.Eveniaclassroom

hasbutasinglecomputer,ithereisaWeb

connection,studentscanstilldeveloppod-

castsandsetupclassroomwikis.

Ischoolshavenovideocamerasorvideo-editingsotware,theycanstillbenetrom

theconceptsbehindthetechnologybycreat-

inghand-drawnstoryboards,withwrittentext

beneatheachpicture;thisway,theycancon-

ceptualizevisualcommunication,andpractice

transitionsanddramaticstructure.

Oneomydoctoralstudentstaughtina

ruralschoolwithlimitedaccess,saysDavid

Bruce,outgoingdirectorotheNCTECommis-

siononMedia,andproessoratKentStateUniversity.Theyonlyhad

acoupleofcomputers.Shegotthemrawfootageandhadthemmake

astoryoutofexistingfootage.

WithPowerpointanddigitalstillcameras,saysBruce,youcando

atremendousamountwithaairlylow-endapproach.Nonetheless,

headds,thereisnoquestionitheschooldoesnothaveaccessto

thosematerials,theyaregoingtobemorelimitedtowhattheycan

do.Itsunairbecausethestudentsaregoingtobeexpectedtoknow

howtodothosethingsinthebusinessworld.

Because the technology is always changing, and because

the tools are always changing, its a hugely challenging

time to be a teacher.Sara Kajder

Although technology is important to literacy inthe new century, other dimensions o learning

are essential. Studies o workorce readiness

show that employers rate written and oral

communication skills very highly.21st-Century

Literacies: an NCTE Policy Research Brief(seethis issue, pp. 1320)

Resistance by Teachers, AdministratorsSometimesteachersarenteagertoincorporate21st-centurylitera-

cies,whichtheyseeasanattempttoreplacetried-and-truemethods

oprintliteracy.However,expertssaywhentaughtproperly,bothtraditionaland21st-centuryliteraciescan,andshould,co-exist.

Idontbelievethatthese21st-centuryliteraciesshouldbe

thoughtoasbeingincompetitionwithprintliteracy,saysKist.I

thinkitstoobadsomeEnglishteachersseeitthatway.Ithinkits

justanenrichmentorbroadeningooureldtoincludemoreorms

orepresentation.

I21st-centuryliteraciesareusedwell,theydonteliminateexist-

ingcurricula.Instead,teacherscanusetheseliteraciestobroaden

andcomplementwhattheyvealwaystaught.

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Theresaallacythatkidsarentreadingandwritinganymore,

saysBruce.Theyare,buttheyjustarereadingandwritingdierent-

lythanwhatwevetraditionallydoneinschools....A21st-century

approach[doesnt]saythatprintwritingisbad.Itsnotcompeting

literacies;itscomplementary literacy.

Sometimesteachersareeagertoincorporatenewliteracies,but

cantduetoadministrationordistrictpolicies.Manyteachersare

constrainedbyaveryprescriptivecurriculumthatisorcingthemto

covergreatworksoliteratureinlockstepashion,saysKist.Many

teachersmayeelthattheyareatriskobeingpenalizeditheydo

openuptheirroomtoalittlebitmore21st-centuryliteracy.

Kistalsondsolder,moreveteranteachersaremorelikelyto

havethereedomtotry21st-centurytechniquesthanthosewith

lessseniority.

Ihatetocomeacrossasnegative,saysKist,butIjustthinkthe

wayourschoolsarestructured,itsdiculttoincorporatesomeo

thesethings;itsachallenge,especiallyorbrand-newteachers.

Statestandardstestsalsoareaactor,

pointsoutKajder.Weareteachingandworkingrightnowinenvironmentswhere

verydiscreteskillsarevaluedbythetests

andtheexamsbywhichourstudentsare

heldaccountable.Thatsabsolutelyareal-

itythatteachersareconsideringacrossthe

country.

21st-Century Literaciesin ActionButwhenteachersarereetouse21st-century

literacies,theresultscanbesatisyingortheir

students,andtheycanbeappliedatanygrade

level.

Forinstance,childrenatWillowdaleElemen-

tarySchoolinOmaha,Nebraska,regularlypro-

duceaudiopodcasts(calledWillowcasts)about

topicstheyhavelearnedinschool;thepodcasts

canbeaccessedbyanybodyintheworldwith

anInternetconnection,romtheirparentsto

strangersinothercountries.

Brucehasusedvideoproductiontohelpstrug-

glinghigh-schoolersimprovetextliteracy.While

teachinghighschoolvideoandEnglishclasses,

Brucenoticedthatthekidswhocouldntwrite

wellwouldproducethesemarvelousproduc-

tions.Theyspentallthistimeediting,compos-

ing,allthesethingstheycouldntdowithprint.

Brucehelpedthemseethatthetransitionsandstructuretheyimposedontheirlmprojects

wereelementsintext-writingaswell.

Ihaveseenitempowersomanystudents,

saysBruce.Theysay,Icanunderstandwhat

atransitionis,andhereswhatitlookslikein

print.

Brucealsosuggestscapturingstudents

interestinatraditionaltopicbyallowingthem

topursuenontraditionalmethodstoexploreit,

suchasbytranslatingShakespeareanpassages

intotextmessages.Doingthiswouldinvolve

One way to capture students interest in a

traditional topic is to allow them to use

nontraditional, 21st-century methods to

explore it.

Theres a fallacy that kids arent reading and writinganymore. They are, but they just are reading and

writing differently than what weve traditionally

done in schools.David Bruce

Continued on page 8

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8 th couil chroil novmbr 2007

I 21st-century literacies are taught well, they dont

eliminate existing curricula. Instead, teachers can usethese literacies to broaden and complement what theyve

always taught.

areallyclosereadingothetextwhilebeingaccessibleto

kids,hesays.

Nomatterhowteachersmakeuseo21st-centurylitera-

cies,thosewhodoopenthemselvesuptoitspossibilities

shouldndrewards.

IthinkitsagreattimetobeanEnglishteacher,says

Kist.Itsarichtime.Youcouldmakeanargumentthat

weveneverbeensoinundatedandimmersedbylanguage

andcreativityandimagination.

Lorna Collieris an author and freelance writer based in northern

Illinois.

21st-Century literacies Continued from page 7

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