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Transcript of The+Shift+to+21st+Century+Literacies
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4 th couil chroil novmbr 2007
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).
It is the plicy NCTE in its junals and the publicatins t pide a u the pen discussin ideas cncening the cntent and the teaching English and thelanguage ats. Publicity accded t any paticula pint iew des nt iply endseent by the gening bdies the ebeship at lage, except in annunceents plicy whee such endseent is clealy indicated.
Inquiies abut NCTE ebeship cunicatin egading change addess and peissin t epint shuld be addessed t The Council Chronicle, 1111 W. Kenyrad, Ubana, IL 61801-1096. Yu als ay isit the NCTE website (http://www.ncte.g). Inquiies egading adetising sales shuld be addessed t Adetising Assciate athe abe addess. F ad ates and deadlines, isit http://www.ncte.g/abut/patnes/junals/all/107746.ht
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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naioal couil of tahrs of eglish novmbr 2007
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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naioal couil of tahrs of eglish novmbr 2007
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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