• ISSUE: Educational    technology is nudging literacy instruction beyond its oral and print-based tradition    to embrace online and electronic texts as well as multimedia. Computers are    creating new opportunities for writing and collaborating. The Internet is constructing    global bridges for students to communicate, underscoring the need for rock-solid    reading and writing skills. By changing the way that information is absorbed,    processed, and used, technology is influencing how people read, write, listen,    and communicate.
• Although technology promises new ways to promote literacy, educators' reactions    to it have been mixed. Some have embraced technology with unbridled enthusiasm    while others have held it at arm's length with a healthy skepticism. Yet the    growing influence of technology has caused many educators to acknowledge that    they need information on teaching literacy skills in the Digital Age. To serve    that need, this Critical Issue offers research, best practices, and resources    that support integration of new technologies into literacy instruction.
• As Kamil and Lane (1998) comment, "It is too late to ask    questions such as whether we should allow students access to the Internet. Rather,    we should be conducting research that asks questions such as, 'What does it    take to use Internet connections successfully in teaching literacy?' " (p. 339).

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• Technology Literacy

       

    

   

     

   
       
   
   
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  How can students become technology literate while learning language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and fine arts? Embed this curriculum in middle school courses to address NETS•S standards in active, hands-on extended projects that cross three grade levels.
   
   
  • Embed technology literacy in the core curriculum for students ages 11-15
   
  • Create opportunities for authentic research, writing, and communication
   
  • Encourage critical thinking, decision making, and problem solving

• Technology is an advantage in the classroom for the following reasons:
  
  • Motivates students in their learning due to their enjoyment and ease of use with various technological mediums.
  • Reaches students of various learning styles. Technology use applies to and compliments  Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.
  • Allows students to create and design their own unique products reflective of their personalities and learning needs/styles.
  • Encourages students to manipulate media to construct their own meaning.
  • Enables students to easy share their learning with teachers, families and peers.
  • Gives students the chance to explore technological mediums which in inevitable increase job skills that employers look for in the workforce.
• The goal of all teachers is to promote higher order thinking skills in their students. Incorporating Digital -Age Literacies and technology into lessons and activities is a sure way for teachers to facilitate their student's construction of knowledge and meaning.
• A Vision for 21 Century Learning (see video at right), illustrates how as amyers3727 says "teachers become mentors, students become empowered and ultimately students learn."  Our students are digital natives and we cannot underestimate the ways in which they are motivated to and best suited to learn.
• The above list is not extensive and there surely are 1,001 (if not more) ways to incorporate Digital Literacy and technology into your classroom. When in doubt, have FUN with your teaching and your students will have FUN learning!

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• According to Kamil, however, that's not necessarily a bad thing: "The important aspect, from my perspective, is that these were classroom programs that replaced about 10 percent of instructional time. What that means is that since there was no difference, the software programs were as good as the teacher." Such findings, Kamil explains, could signify a shift from teachers using technology as merely a supplement to using it as the means of instruction.

   

  Now, Kamil notes, newer and better technology is coming out all the time to make the option of classroom technology even stronger, especially for struggling readers and writers. He points to advances in speech recognition technology, such as Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh's research-based Reading Tutor project or programs such as Pearson's Quick Reads, as examples of tools that can improve students' reading fluency.
• Despite the lack of data showing that technology has a tremendous effect in the classroom, teachers have found that using technology may help address students' specific learning needs.
• According to MacArthur, word-prediction software, which generates lists of potential words as students type initial letters into the computer, can also help students dramatically improve the legibility and spelling of their writing. In a 2006 article in the

• Additional Resources

   

  Dynarski, M., Agodini, R.., Heaviside, S., Novak, T., Carey, N., Campuzano, L., et al. (2007). Effectiveness of reading and mathematics software products: Findings from the first student cohort. Retrieved August 12, 2008, from U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences Web site: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pdf/20074005.pdf.

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