The Missing Link

Literacies for the New Millennium

Over the weeks I have explored some controversial issues regarding technology and literacy in our nation’s schools. Underlying all of these controversies is ‘the missing link’, the fact that ‘new millennium’ students need multiple literacies. Traditional notions of literacy have evolved to encompass a synthesis of language, thinking, and contextual practices through which people make and communicate meaning. Additionally, the concept of ‘text’ now encompasses non-print forms that are digital, aural and visual.

At Secondary school I was merely afforded the opportunity to learn Basic Programming, which is now primitive by today’s standards. The ‘New Millennium’ learners represent the first generation to have been immersed in digital technologies, video games, cell phones, instant messaging, and the World Wide Web, thus making them the first generation to have spent their entire lives in ICT. This I find exciting.

New literacies are underpinned by students’ abilities to read and write to learn hence they must be able to:

1. Identify important questions
2. Navigate networks to locate information
3. Critically evaluate information and synthesize it to address questions
4. Communicate the answers to others

These skills are critical for success in the New Millennium and we are increasingly challenged to link our classroom practices to them.

Keep reading the Millennium Reading Specialist for more interesting discussions on digital literacy.