Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom

     As I sit and ponder this question I realize that I grew up during a time when technology was really beginning to take a strong hold in our public schools.  In the days prior to the 21^st century classrooms were full of blackboards with teacher centered instruction.  Students would often tire and tune out of that days lesson because of the monotony from one teacher to the next.  I remember these days in my elementary and middle school years.  It was in my high school years that I began to see the use of SMART boards and computer labs.  A transition was taking place that allowed each student the opportunity to locate information in a different and faster way.  It also allowed us to create, share, and collaborate with each other in ways we had never experienced.  In doing so we were able to learn on a new level how to read, write, collaborate and critique. 

     In Literacy 2.0 Reading and Writing in 21^st Century Classrooms Frey, Fisher, and Gonzalez make a clear cut as to the difference between literacy 1.0 and literacy 2.0.  They encourage us to look at literacy 1.0 as a means of accessing information where as literacy 2.0 is a means of finding, using, producing, and sharing information (p.1, 2010).  I can see this clearly now that I am an educator myself.  As when I was younger literacy 1.0 was prevalent by the use of paper, pencil, and textbooks.  Today Literacy 2.0 is the star of the show, allowing students to show case their work and collaborate with each other.  Often times my students are using blogs, wikipages, twitter, and facebook to communicate with each other.  It only makes sense for us to use and promote accurate, safe, and logical use of these tools in the classroom since this is the way of communication for this generation.  Frey et al. goes on to say, “Today’s students have a deep-seated need to communicate and collaborate, to access information at any time of the day or night, and to have the tools that will enable them to synthesize, evaluate, and create information”(p.5, 2010).  By allowing students to use technology while becoming literate students they are able to critically think, write, and respond in ways they never would with paper and pencil.  It is my goal to always be using literacy 2.0 but I realize that often times students can use literacy 2.0 without know literacy 1.0.  With this in the back of my mind I plan on showing my students how to access information first and then dig deeper into the depths of literacy 2.0.

References

     Frey, Nancy, Douglas Fisher, Alex Gonzalez. Literacy 2.0 Reading and Writing in 21st Century Classrooms. Bloomington, IN:Solution Tree Press, 2010. Print.