What Does it Mean to be Literate in the 21st Century ?

This Century’s graduates are different than those in the past. They are different in the way in which they learn. Prensky, believes that the brains of people who grow up with technology are physically different from those of past generations who did not. As a result they learn differently than past generations. What I know is that how I learnt as a child is not how my daughter is learning, nor my students. Telephones and face to face conversations with other students was the only way to collaborate in my childhood. The major sources I used to find information were books, magazines, newspapers and television. Today, these technologies are being added on to and/or being replaced with google, wikis, instant messenger and email (to name a few students have mentioned to me recently). Students in my room have made Youtube videos, websites, play games and use instant messenger - a lot. Even my four year old has made Photo Booth movies of herself making goofy faces, reading and role playing.

No longer are students passive recipients of a few people’s ideas which are distributed through media. Now students are producers and consumers of media. With this shift it follows that there needs to be a change in the skills that students will need to be literate and a full participant and citizen of the 21st Century. As the Annberg School for communication and Journalism’s New Media article suggests the skills of play, performance, simulation, appropriation, multitasking, distributed cognition, collective intelligence, judgement, transmedia navigation and networking need to be taught. NCTE notes that these are also the skills employers are seeking.

Technology is not going to go away and as a teacher I think it is my responsibility to help students develop the skills which will allow them to participate fully as citizens of the 21st Century.

The Value of Research

I can honestly say that I underestimated the value of research to my practice at the beginning of this program. It took some time for me to realize that it is important. I started off by using research to support what I was seeing in the classroom and through field studies found that research prior to designing a field study was most valuable. Research allowed me to learn through the experiences of others.

A couple of the most valuable reasons to me for continue to using research in the future are :

1) Research keeps me current with new findings and theory in education. I think keeping current as teachers is important to our practice as it can keep us engaged with the practice of teaching. It prevents teaching from becoming ‘stale’. If we hope students to become lifelong learners than we must expect the same of ourselves.

2) Knowing the whys behind what I do is important to me. At times, research has given me a way to articulate what I have been seeing in my practice. Other times, it leads me to question my assumptions. Research can provide the stimulus for reflection and keeps pedagogy at the centre of my practice.