Digital Literacy: A Powerful Tool for Educational Change Essay

In the article, Our Semi-Literate Youth? Not so Fast written by Andrea A. Lunsford, Lunsford tells about how youth today are perceived to be less intelligent and too dependant upon technology. She goes on to show that she doesn’t agree with that assumption, she states that she has been working with college writes for over thirty years and has conducted studies showing the opposite. Lunsford thinks that with the advances in technology students are actually gaining more of a range of writing technique and greater adaptability to the changing audiences that students encounter. Through the exposure to different social medias and excess to people across the world, students have become more well rounded writers and show no decrease from the writing

Classrooms are different today from those of previous generations, they have become communities of learners where students assume more responsibility for learning. As opposed to a place where the teacher is in charge the modern class room there is often a hum of students, talking about books they are reading and working together in small groups using digital as well as print text. The students are more culturally and linguistically diverse, many have English as a second language (ESL). This Critical- reflective essay will explore using the four resource model developed by Luke and Freebody, focusing on; how young children learn to read, the four roles within the resources model are Code breaker, text user, text participant and text analyst. This essay will also articulate the understanding of the three phases of reading and writing development. Phase one, experimental reading and writing. Phase two, early reading and writing and phase three, transitional reading and writing. This understanding will then be applied to an early years setting including and application of strategies for cultural differences.

In Michaela Cullington’s essay titled, “Does Texting Affect Writing?” the author tests the ongoing question of how today’s youth handles the effects of texting in the education system. Using successful evidence from both sides of the argument as well as participating in her own experiment, Cullington is able to fully demonstrate how texting does not interfere with today’s students and their abilities to write formally in the classroom.

Additionally, having social media and the internet, texting, email etc., also creates more chances of writing. Most parents and teachers think that this is causing a downfall in school and literacy capabilities but in reality its actually helping. According to Thompson (Source G), she believes we are in the middle of a literacy revolution. This generation writes more than any other generation before. Most peoples’ writing happens outside the classroom. It

Since children today have become digital natives; they will never truly know a world that is not touched with technology. This means that the educational paradigm has to shift in order to keep up with the needs of our young learners (Jo, 2016). In the last thirty years, technological advances

We carry our cellphones with us at all times, and with all this online connection, you would think that stepping back and disconnecting is a huge achievement. But this is a new way of life. Nathan Jurgenson, in his article “The IRL Fetish” says, “We have come to understand more and more of our lives through the logic of digital connection. Social media is more than something we log onto; it’s something we carry within us. We can’t log off.”. He explains how we are so deeply connected with technology that it is nearly impossible to stay ‘old-fashioned’. We are learning to accept technological advancements because they are inevitable. In other words, to adapt to this new form of literacy is much easier than avoiding it. In recognition that texting truly is literacy, one English teacher had her students put excerpts of Richard III into “text speak” to show that they fully understand the material. Educators are embracing texting as a new form of learning because it clearly is not going away. Students enjoy texting as a way to escape reality and fail to recognize the literary benefits. Texting will continue to encourage students to read and write as well as improve spelling with phonological

Not So Fast,” Andrea Lunsford argues that rather than leading to a new illiteracy, the digital technologies in the modern world help students to develop their ability of writing. Not only that students are daferrors than 25 years ago, actually with less spelling errors. In order to help students with the challenges, the teacher should offer solid instructions and encouragement rather than derision.

People claim that new developments have caused kids to be so dependent on their devices, that they can't think for themselves. This claim can also be turned around by saying that technology has given kids more opportunities and chances to learn, and in particular, more opportunities to write (Source 7, Clive Thompson). An example of this is a study done at Stanford University, where it was discovered that Stanford students did a stunning 38 percent of their writing outside of the classroom (Source 7, Clive Thompson). With the developments of E-mail, texting, and social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, younger people are constantly writing in their every day lives. In the past, people would, for the most part, stop writing once the finishes their education. Now however, people are more comfortable, and more used to, writing. And while the argument that technology has decreased level of the vocabulary and vernacular of young people is true in some cases, the increase in writing shown by young people has led to a greater ability to convey information to other people, and a greater comfort in talking to people they don't know (Source 7, Clive Thompson). As Andrea Lunsford says, "I think we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek Civilization" (Source 7, Clive

LaDwaina Barron-Lillard Mrs. Gage ENG 1301 14 September 2014 A Rhetorical Analysis of “The New Literacy” Clive Thompson Thompson employs the rhetorical appeal of logos and pathos effectively in his attempt to persuade his audience of the positive effect that social media and its platform has played in reviving literacy in the new generation. Although Thompson delivers a vivid picture of the progression of literacy; then and now by using factual statements and examples along with his warm tone, dissecting all of his persuasive appeals, shows that the lack of ethical appeal may cause his target audience to doubt his credibility.

Communication on the Internet is often quite informal. It can appear to be in an entirely different language at times. This is because writing on the Internet is often done by amateurs with little to no revision and no requirements to get published. Getting an idea out as fast as possible is frequently the goal of these Web writers, which can result in failure to correctly apply the basics of writing, such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The essay “Literacy Debate: Online R U Really Reading?” by Motoko Rich is about whether or not reading on the Internet is as effective for today’s youth as reading books. Rich employs specific word choice as well as misleading statistics and quotations to show her opinion on Internet literacy without directly stating her thoughts.

Literacy, literacies and multiliteracies bears various meanings to different people. Some believe that literacy is developed by cultures, while others believe that literacy and cultures developed an individual. There are single and multiple definitions of literacy, literacies and multi-literacies. Based on research, literacy is very important and continues to be developed through our rapidly changing world. Throughout this essay, we will focus on views of literacy, literacies, and multiliteracies and how their different meanings affect our approach to teaching literacy.

Social media accounts, emails and text messaging all call for their own style of writing that is more flexible than formal writing, allowing for rapid changes. As a result, from the time children are born, they are learning a ‘system of meanings’ (Halliday, 1975), allowing them to engage and participate in the world around them. As described by Halliday (1975) much of children’s early language learning is ‘content-expression’ based, it has no grammar or vocabulary it relies on meaning and sound, which sets the scene for future language learning. Once children reach primary school, they are introduced to the different modes of language and are encouraged to explore the diversity of language. In addition, the ACARA links literacy learning to the development of language and communication skills (ACARA, 2016, p. 15) allowing multi-language learning to have the potential to benefit all students. As a result, the diversity and multi-dimensional features of language allows it to be a central

As schools promote 21st-century learning, there has been a push for literacies which encourage students to be 21st-century learners. The two overarching literacies, new and digital, has taken over the three R’s literacy, reading, writing, and arithmetic. New Literacies continuously change due to the new technology emerging providing different ways to get information and communicate with others (Leu et al., 2015). In contrast, digital literacy is the ability to use digital tools to access information for understanding and communication (Jose, 2016). New literacies and digital literacies also differ in aspects of use in the classroom. New literacies are the building blocks for digital literacy; which are the skills students need to understand the internet (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2017). New literacies can be taught without the use of technology because students are learning to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information. Teachers can demonstrate these skills using encyclopedias and journal articles to gain a minimalistic comprehension. Once students learn the necessary understanding, teachers can transfer these skills to online which will promote digital literacy; furthermore, digital literacy can only be taught using digital tools. Teachers would teach students how to use computers and the social practices of the new literacies to gain an understanding of the digital literacy (Jose, 2016). Furthermore, digital literacies

Eshet-Alkalai, Y. (2004). Digital literacy: A conceptual framework for survival skills in the digital era. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(1), 93-106. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/205852670?accountid=32521

Real-time communication and internet have changed the English language and its usage so online literacy is becoming as essential for communication as traditional methods of communication used to be. Teachers must now, not only understand the technology the students are using but how it can be used to teach English in the 21st century. Today, technological literacy is demanded and expected, so teachers must leverage on advancing their online literacy skills to remain relevant in the internet age. Since real-time communication and use of internet in teaching result in greater efficiencies, over time, use of the internet has replaced traditional methods of teaching (Fairclough, 2014) bringing significant transformations in teaching. The impact of this means that teachers must consistently update their technological skills to enhance learning and better understand their students. With the increased need for students to benefit from efficiencies derived from real-time communication and internet, the teaching landscape must evolve to fulfill such needs and adapt to the way the English language is now being used. Other challenges both teachers and students face when teaching and learning in this Digital Age is the necessity to learn the skills of the 4 C’s (Pittaway, 2015). That is Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity skills because teachers in the twenty-first century have an important responsibility to promote creativity and innovative methods of