New+Literacies

=New (Critical) Literacies =

"New" is not actually so new when referring to the ways adolescents "read" on a daily basis nowadays. We have been functioning on a healthy diet of symbols as our most effective form of understanding and being understood since long before the radio or television was invented. Whether it was hieroglyphics, paintings, etc., we as people of the world have had to become literate in much broader terms then just the written word. "New Literacies" then, is more of an acknowledgment that the moving image, a song, a picture, a piece of fabric, or a narrative video game, etc., is an acceptable and highly effective way of displaying literacy. By incorporating these "new literacies" in classrooms, teachers are able to reach students in a place where the students are comfortable and familiar. For example, hip hop music could be used by both students and teachers in any content area to help students further understand a lesson. Sites such as [|Flocabulary] have hip hop "music videos" for Shakespear (Literature), Modern China (World History), and multiplying by 6 (math), in addition to several other content areas.

What does it mean to be 'literate' in the 21st century?

 * "literacy is a set of skills that reflect the needs of the time" (Beers, et al, p.7, 2007) [[file:Evolution of Literacy.pptx]]
 * Digital-Age Literacy, Inventive Thinking, Effective Communication, HIgh Productivity (Beers, 2007)

"V**ernacular"** vs. "D**ominant literacies**" (Kist, p.7, 2005)
(connected to experience, alternatives to print)
 * vernacular literacies offer possibilities of participation from more voices located in people's networks of support
 * -dominant literacies: "one-size-fits all approach to literacy instruction"

-Literacy is imbedded in a social context. Being able to "read" in a social context should therefore include the ability to critique the power structure within it. Teachers, then, need to challenge students to recognize and critique the power structure, allowing all voices to be heard, regardless of the medium (Kist, 2005).

What is discourse?
"...discourses are more than our uses of language; they are the combinations of the “saying-writing-doing-being-believing-valuing”(p. 127), and ways of participating in a variety of social contexts. He further suggests that “each of us is a member of many discourses and each discourse represents one of our ever-multiple identities” (p. ix). Thus, discourses are socially-situated identities and are constructed in relationship to power and impacted by political (power) and social ideologies (Miller, 2011).

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 * Internet Research Literacy"These Web searches involved new reading practices that differed qualitatively from their usual book-based research. Their reading paths (typical of Web-based, on screen reading) were far from linear (following a clear path from beginning to end as in the reading of many print texts). Instead, their reading took nonlinear pathways such as reading selectively, taking links as needed, reading only the necessary parts of webpages, and returning to their search results in search of other pages" (Ranker, p.414, 2008). With appropriate support, Alex and William were able to use digital video and the internet to produce meaning about the Dominician Republic. Doing research today requires a different skill set than what we probably used to need in high school. Not only were the boys building skills, but they were also delving into a topic that was meaningful to them. As educators, we should be able to find ways to incorporate student choice and allow for students to develop skills doing a high-interest project like the one described above. ||

"Today's explosion in media technologies has brought new literacies into being, transforming the way these kindergarteners read the word and read the world, even if our schools have been the last place to recognize this. These children have been growing up learning the language of our mass media culture since infancy, growing up on a steady diet of visual, aural, and print media messages. The media is now competing with the family and school to become their master story-teller and teacher" (Goodman, p.1, 2003).

Global media: "...wants young people to be spectators and consumers rather than social actors" Factory system of schooling: "...wants young people to be passive and willing vessels for a prescribed set of knowledge and skills" (Goodman, p.2, 2003)



The Importance of Understanding Adolescent Literacy
"Since the International Reading Association issued its position statement detailing a “deepening crises in adolescent literacy” (Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw, & Rycik, 1999, p. 1), adolescent literacy has become one of the hottest areas in the field of literacy education (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004; Cassidy & Cassidy, 2008). In the process of increasing awareness and understanding of literacy learning and teaching during the teenage years, an appreciation has developed for the significance of the wide range of “texts” adolescent literacy practices encompass, including websites, text messages, and blogs, in addition to trade books and school texts (Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1998; Moore et al., 1999; Reeves, 2004; Worthy, Moorman, & Turner, 1999). Yet, “traditional” print texts known as YA literature."-Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52(7) April 2009 doi:10.1598/JAAL.52.7.2 © 2009 International Reading Association (pp. 563–572)

Page from "Pedro and Me," a graphic novel written by and about AIDS victim Pedro Zamora's life by fellow Real Word: San Francisco cast member and friend Judd Winick: