Blog Post 2: How New Literacies are Relevant to Us

         My main takeaways from the readings were trust teachers, digital learning goes beyond the classroom, and some tips for teaching digital literacy. The International Literacy Association mentions at the beginning of their article that “faith must be placed in the expertise of teachers to sustain classrooms that reflect the contexts…outside of schools and in the real world”(ILA, 2018). Teachers are told to teach a specific curriculum from the start of the school year to the end of the year based on the state standards. In addition to this, they are also working to show students the connection it has to the real world, but also general skills to be productive members of society. The article says that “faith must be placed in the expertise of teachers”, this can be directed at teachers and everyone else in the world. Teachers could use the reassurance that they are doing a great job and everyone else needs to know to take a step back and trust the process. The part that challenges me and I’m sure other educators is time. Time isn’t always on our side, but hopefully with using digital literacy it will help with lack of time to accomplish all in such little time. 

        Digital learning can be used to help accomplish curriculum learning goals, but also skills being successful in life. Vanek mentioned that “digital literacy is much more than proficiency with discrete computer skills” (2019). There are different types of digital literacy, which I knew, but didn’t know that much about it or what they were. There are “basic computer skills”, “network literacy”, “digital problem solving”, “information literacy”, and “media literacy” (Vanek, 2019). I didn’t realize there was both network and media literacy. After reading about both I learned that network literacy is what my students most closely associate with rather than media. This kind of surprised me. Before reading, I thought they associated more so with media literacy. Network literacy “lent weight to one’s knowledge of online social networks, how to learn from them and through them, and how to use them to access and disseminate information” (Vanek, 2019). Many of my students believe everything they read or see on social networks. They are definitely spreading information, it’s a matter of is it true or not. Here is where one implements digital literacy in their classroom comes into play. If they aren’t taught how to critically think and analyze information, false information could be spread.  In my classroom I would like to educate students on “the skills and knowledge necessary to draw on inductive and deductive reasoning, systems thinking, and analysis so that one can evaluate evidence, opinions, and information” (Vanek, 2019). Where I struggle with this is how in a math classroom? 

References:

International Literacy Association. (2018). Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice: More Than Just Tools. https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-improving-digital-practices-literacy-learning-justice.pdf

Vanek , J. (2019). Digital Literacy . The Skills That Matter in Adult Education. https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/TSTMDigitalLiteracyBrief-508.pdf

Blog Post 1 - Defining New Literacies and Why They Matter

        My professional life consists of teaching middle schoolers math every week. Although I am not an ELA or reading teacher, their background with literacy plays a role in math class. It plays a role in all subjects. I also coach modified girls soccer. Both in and outside of the classroom the way I provide direction, ask questions, or just talk to my students/players matters. The vocabulary I use and the background each student has will determine whether or not they understand or how they will respond. In the classroom, math has vocabulary and some words are cross curricular and have the same meaning and other times are still cross curricular, but have different meanings. I think addressing literacy in math is important because students can see the connections to other subjects, but also since it can have a different meaning than they know. I always find it interesting when I explain something to a student and I see their interpretation. Word choice is huge. As stated in Expanded Territories of “Literacy”: New Literacies and Multiliteracies, “literacy education should address the corresponding issues in order to better prepare students to participate in social and cultural activities in the modern society” (Sang, 2017, p.17). Using the appropriate literacies to better prepare students not only to learn academically, but interact with peers is huge. Modern society is made up of all different cultures. Expanding students' horizons to not only be aware of this, but know how to connect with others who come from a different background from them is a great skill to have. New literacies make this much easier. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), “being literate means making choices and using texts and tools in ways that match purpose”(2022). This touches on the point that being literate isn’t just about being able to read and write. I had a 7th grader this past summer who was at a low reading level and had an accommodation where everything was read to him. He used features on his chromebook to help or another person read it to him. His struggle with reading didn’t hold him back from passing math over the summer. This goes to show that there are tools that can be used to help students be successful within literacy, even if they “can’t” read (or write). 
        In my personal life, new literacies play a role in my social life. When I interact with others, their experiences and background are different from mine so they may interpret ideas differently than me. Also my dialect might be different from the person I am speaking to (e.g. cashier, doctors, sales people, etc.). An example of a dialect where I personally struggled in high school (and college) was reading Shakespeare. That is a different dialect of English, that I am not good at understanding personally. I read it all through high school in my English classes and then again in a college course. Both times my teacher/professor ended up translating the “old English” to us as a class. Just because I struggled with reading Shakespeare doesn’t mean I was illiterate. The NCTE mentions “learners utilize and enculturate in current and future digital contexts” and how it is important to have a positive mindset about different dialects or “forms of languages” (2022). Instead of saying one is illiterate because they don’t understand, embrace the difference between typical English and that dialect of it. There is a bigger picture to be looked at and how to go about understanding it. New literacies have an influence on being more equitable. I feel like no matter where you go technology is being used. How it is being used varies, but it is understood by a lot of the younger generation. Using new literacies has expanded ways for people to communicate with each other. Whether it be from language to language or just to express oneself. 

References:
Definition of literacy in a Digital age. National Council of Teachers of English. (2022, April 19). https://ncte.org/statement/nctes-definition-literacy-digital-age/ 

Sang , Y. (2017). Expanded Territories of “Literacy”: New Literacies and Multiliteracies . Journal of Education and Practice , 8(8).