A colleague recently fowarded to me The National Council of Teachers of English’s (NCTE) official definition of 21st century literacies that it adopted this past year. As a former English teacher, it really got me thinking about the nature of reading and writing as it exists today now that high-speed Internet access is the norm in most of our homes. Click the link above to read the brief article NCTE posted to its Web site announcing this definition, or check out the definition in isolation below:
Twenty-first century readers and writers need to:
- Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
- Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and
cross-culturally- Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of
purposes- Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
- Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
- Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments
The first thing that struck me about the words above is that they don’t only apply to English teachers; they’re relevant no matter what subjuct you teach. Then, what really struck me about this definition is the way it speaks to the impact the Web has had on my own reading and writing practices. I now read more words and get way more information on the Web than I do in print, which simply wasn’t the case when I started teaching 10 years ago. And when I do this effectively, I definitely manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of information at the same time. Moreover, when I write for this blog, I feel myself writing in a genre that is new to me, one which forces me to be more keenly aware of my audience since my readers are only a click away from leaving comments about my posts–comments which, in turn, have the potential to reshape my own thinking. Talk about collaboration!
Many of you may feel that these “new literacies” have some downsides as well, but they can’t just be ignored. So please, try to take a few minutes out of your hectic day to let me know what you think about NCTE’s definition of 21st century literacies and what it means to us as educators in the 21st century.
I think there is much to be said about the whole 21st Century learning environment, however I only have time for two observations that I would like to share. One is that to reap the benefits of the Web 2.0 basics, especially regarding collaborative work, everyone has to be good net citizens. The ability to remain anonymous on the Web is very tempting for some folks and not everyone has the best of intentions. Educational environments can be controlled but ideally that shouldn’t be necessary.
The second observation is that computers basically carry out sets of instructions called programs, and for the longest time, all programs were very sequential in their nature (pre-Windows). Now, most programming is event driven and to take that one step further, no one is being guided through a sequential path. Students pick and choose what to do and where to go on the Web in almost any order that suits them. It is very much a real-time environment that presents a lot more choices for students. More life-like, less contrived, actual data and primary resources are out there for research. That environment can really foster critical thinking but teachers will need to understand how best to engage students and guide them to the right starting point(s).
The Internet really has made a HUGE difference in 21st Century Literacies, especially in the areas of collaboration and communication with the global community. I love the way our blogs allow for comments and discourse and this collaboration really does help to reshape our thinking, as you pointed out, Mike. I also appreciate the easy access we have that allows us to keep in touch with so many people from around the world. Recently, I was delighted to discover that one of my followers of a personal blog that I maintain (not my educational blog) was commenting from Thailand.
Art makes a very vital point about being a “good net citizen” and concerns with the anonymous nature of many cruising the Web. I do expect professionals to be professional and I think that by requiring those commenting on our educational blogs to be registered is a good precautionary measure.
I can only wonder how long it will be before many of the standardized tests that our students take–even in elementary schools–will be computer-based?
I’d love to hear what others are thinking, both about the benefits–and the pitfalls–of the Web as it pertains to the 21st Century Learning Environment.
Ruth
Thanks, Art and Rose for engaging! You both bring up excellent points. Having responsible users of Web 2.0 technologies is key, and I think the last piece of NCTE’s definition speaks to that. But it will require some pretty extensive training, especially for students.
And, yes, the real-time environment that Art spoke of takes some getting used to. I have to remind myself of my own learning curve as I began navigating the Web for info and started accessing some of the social networking/collaboration tools that are out there, like blogs and wikis. I expect that some teachers are very comfortable in this environment, but other will need some PD training to use these tools effectively in their classrooms.
My hope is that someday our students will have their own blogs read by students from places like Thailand. I’m sure they will be delighted to get feedback from members of the larger global community, just as Ruth was. What a motivator. However, I do understand the need to be careful about the nature of letting our kids publish on-line for the whole world to see. Edublogs offers some great security options that should ensure their safety.