MODULE WEEK NO.

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TAGOLOAN Community College
Baluarte, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental
Tel.No. (08822)740-835/(088)5671-215

College of Education
COURSE CODE: Educ 5 (Building and Enhancing New Literacies)
Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021

Introduction

Literacy is defined by dictionaries as the state of being able to read and write. Although it is the ultimate thesis of
this chapter that such a traditional definition no longer suffices in the information age, a thorough understanding of
literacy and its past nuances will give us a solid foundation in exploring and discussing the new literacies of the 21 st
century and why possessing them is now mandatory for both teachers and students in all levels of education.
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Rationale

Explore several definitions of literacy and what being literate means in the multiplicity of contexts in the 21 st
century, with the global of raising awareness in readers who might be presently unaware of the evolving
perspectives on literacy and giving teachers the opportunity to pause and reflect on their own literacies even
as they attempt to teach the new literacies to their students.

Intended Learning Outcomes

A. define conventional literacy;

B. expand views of literacy in the 21st century
C. engage in new literacies and increase availability of communication technologies
Discussion

To become fully literate in today’s world, you must become proficient in the new literacies of 21st-
century technologies. This will help you as future educators to have a responsibility to effectively integrate
these new technologies into the curriculum, preparing students for the literacy future they deserve.

The Internet and other forms of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are redefining the
nature of reading, writing, and communication. These ICTs will continue to change in the years ahead,
requiring continuously new literacies to successfully exploit their potentials. Although many new ICTs will
emerge in the future, those that are common in the lives of our students include search engines, webpages, e-
mail, instant messaging (IM), blogs, podcasts, e-books, wikis, nings, YouTube, video, and many more. New
literacy skills and practices are required by each new ICT as it emerges and evolves. Literacy educators have a
responsibility to integrate these new literacies into the curriculum to prepare students for successful civic
participation in a global environment.

Expanding Our Conception of Literacy There is extensive debate about what new literacies are— the
term is used to mean many different things by many different people. However, there are at least four common
elements that apply to nearly all of the current perspectives being used to inform the broader dimensions of

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new literacies research (Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, & Leu, 2008): (1) The Internet and other ICTs require new
social practices, skills, strategies, and dispositions for their effective use; (2) new literacies are central to full
civic, economic, and personal participation in a global community; (3) new literacies rapidly change as
defining technologies change; and (4) new literacies are multiple, multimodal, and multifaceted; thus, they
benefit from multiple lenses seeking to understand how to better support our students in a digital age.

Although there are multiple ways to view the changes in literacy and communication emerging from
new technologies (Labbo & Reinking, 1999), it is not possible to ignore them. We need only to consider the
experience of students who graduate from secondary school this year to see how literacy is changing their
experiences at school and in their everyday lives. Graduates began their school career being taught the
literacies of paper, pencil, and book technologies. Many will finish their secondary school careers familiar
with the new literacies demanded by a wide variety of ICTs: wikis, blogs, avatars, podcasts, mobile
technologies, and many others unimagined at the beginning of their schooling. Because of rapid changes in
technology, it is likely that students who begin school this year will experience even more profound changes in
their literacy journeys. Changes to literacy are defined by regular and continuous change (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro,
& Cammack, 2004). Thus, the new literacies of today will be replaced by even newer literacies tomorrow as
new ICTs continuously emerge among a more globalized community of learners. In addition, the changes to
literacy are taking place with breakneck speed. Finally, networked communication technologies such as the
Internet provide the most powerful capabilities for information and communication we have ever seen,
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permitting access to people and information in ways and at speeds never before possible. Such changes have
important implications for instruction, assessment, professional development, and research. The literacy
community needs to quickly turn its attention to these profound changes.

Traditional Literacy is the ability to read and write.

The traditional or conventional concept of literacy can be divided into subcategories:

1. Basic Literacy, which is the ability to recognize letters and words;
2. Comprehension Literacy, which is the ability to understand the meaning of what is being read; and
3. Functional/Practical Literacy, which is the ability to read written materials needed to perform everyday
vocational tasks.

Expanded Views of Literacy

While traditional literacy and a liberal education are still important (Nussbaum, 1997; Delbanco, 2012;
Ferrall, 2011), in the 21st century students need to know more and be able to do more than they did in the
past. Students need 21st century literacy. This new literacy includes traditional literacy skills, such as
reading, writing, and arguing. But more importantly, it includes new literacy skills, such as critical thinking,
scientific reasoning, and multi-cultural awareness (NCTE, 2008; Wagner, 2008; Grubb, 2003, p. 3; Sagan,
1996, p. 325).
Like older forms of literacy, the new literacy requires both the "effective use" of language and "large amounts
of specific information" about the world (Hirsch, 1988, pp. 2-3). In addition to traditional literacy, students
also need to learn about how knowledge is created, especially how the most reliable knowledge is made
through scientific methods. Science has become the primary tool of the 21st century knowledge economy;
therefore, students should be exposed to all major scientific methodologies. Students need an understanding
of both qualitative (Cushman, Kintgen, Kroll, & Rose, 2001) and quantitative literacy (Paulos, 2001; Steen,
2001; Steen, 2004). And while knowledge of most scientific methodology does require advanced
mathematical literacy, students with only minimal mathematical knowledge can still be introduced to both
qualitative and quantitative scientific methods through an understanding of key concepts, theories, and data
(Wilson, 2013). To fully understand scientific methodology, students need to know about the research
university, academic disciplines, and the specific work that scientists do within their disciplines. Only then
will students be able to concretely grasp how knowledge is created, debated, and refined through the
scientific process.

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-Modern views of literacies equate it with knowledge.
-New literacies, have risen due to increased reach, increased means of communication and increased breadth
of content. These new literacies are globalization and multicultural literacy, social and financial literacy,
media and cyber/digital literacy, ecoliteracy, artistic and creative literacy and critical literacy.

3 things to be considered in the rise of the new literacies:

1. Increased Reach – We are communicating with more people, from more diverse cultures, across vaster
distances than ever before.
2. Increased means of communication – We are communicating in more ways and at faster speeds than ever
before.
3. Increased Breadth of Content – We are communicating about more things than ever before.

Exercise

Questions to Ponder

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answers in the space provided.
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1. Given the traditional/conventional concept of literacy, how literate are you?

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2. How deep is your level of comprehension?

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3. As a pre-service teacher, what kind of written materials should you be able to read and understand?
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4. Which of the new literacies are you knowledgeable in? Which do you lack knowledge in?
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5.
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Compare and contrast the traditional concept of literacy to the modern view of literacy.
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Reflection

Idea Tracker

Idea
Why it is Things to keep in mind
/Activity/ Why it may be relevant for my
Topic important to (possible modifications,
Resource chosen degree
me limitations, etc.)
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/Quote

Resources and Additional Resources

 Alata, E.J.P. and Ignacio, E.J.T. (2019). Building and enhancing new literacies across the
curriculum. First Edition. Rex Bookstore: Manila, Philippines
 Barton, D. (2007). Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language. Oxford, UK:
Blackwell.
 Jakes, D.S. & Brennan, J. (2005). Capturing stories, capturing lives: An introduction to digital
storytelling. Retrieved from http://ww.jakesonline.org.dstory_ice.pdf