What is Literacy 2.0?

I was intrigued by this video presented on the NetGenEd website http://netgened.grownupdigital.com/. I have watched it more than once and thought about the teaching methods that I used in the past. One of the students commented that “I can’t create my future with tools of your past.” How often do we use tools or our past in the classroom?

I am not currently teaching in a classroom, but I am working with many current/future educators on a daily basis and know of the prevalence of tools of the past. The internet, with web 2.0, literacy 2.0, Second Life, etc, is not going to disappear. As educators, we must learn about it, respect it and find ways to make it a part of our educational experience and the students’ experiences. We cannot rely on using textbooks, wall maps, posters, pencils and paper (the technology of the past) alone to develop literacy. In the Educational Leadership publication on www.ascd.org, Jason Ohler stated that “Digital fluency is much more of a perspective than a technical skill set. Teachers who are truly digitally fluent will blend creativity and innovation into lesson plans, assignments, and projects and understand the role that digital tools can play in creating academic expectations that are authentically connected, both locally and globally, to their students' lives.”

The literacy involves the use of reading, writing, listening, and speaking in new ways. Teachers and students need to be able to add media graphics, sound clips, videos, etc. Students must develop the ability to integrate the information in a collage of sorts and share the information in a social media. This is a time for great opportunity and challenge in education. The exciting aspect of this is that many students are already there-involved in technology. They have the ability to search the internet, create videos, download music, etc. We need to demonstrate how to use this with curriculum and make it matter to the students in the classroom. They are using the technology. We must add more context and help students further develop the technological skills. Angela Maeirs, on http://www.angelamaiers.com, stated what we want all of our students to feel “Reading is not desk work - it is lifework. I understand it is through and with others that I acquired knowledge, gain perspective, deepen awareness, and begin to understand myself and my place in the world.”

How can we, as educators, help students develop literacy 2.0? What can be done to influence administration to allow this paradigm shift? How have you used technology to encourage student interaction in the classroom? What technology would you like to see developed further in your own school?

A challenge to you: Find a way to use technology in a new way this week. It can be for your own use or for use in the classroom.

One example: Sign up for twitter. Find a way to use it in the classroom or for your own professional development. Here are a couple of places to go to find out about twitter and using it in the classroom.

As always, come back and share!

http://tiny.cc/eMOr9
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