A Teacher’s Thoughts

A lot of talk in the halls about literacy today. Good conversations, face to face, thoughtful, you know with long reflective pauses. A conversation here, another there. At the same time we are moving forward with technology. People want to blog. At each turn I am seeing a way for technology and the tools of a read/write web to further the process. And each time, I leave a little seed, a suggestion, “you know this sounds like a wonderful application of _______, (fill in your favorite tool)” And I am only talking about getting the teachers going. Our newly formed Technology committee and the in-house Plymouth State University literacy course are moving along parallel lines. In fact the literacy course, taught and attended by people unfamiliar with web 2.0 and the power of the tools started with a paper blogging exercise. These two groups will need to blend together, support each other to move the school forward. A time like this is exciting.

Perhaps the largest task is to define literacy in the middle school But how do we define that for the 21st century? How aware, of the accelerating force of change the web has become, are people in our building? Can any written document, listing skills, clearly give a full picture of a 21st century literacy? For example, standards documents will suggest that students know how to word process. What does this mean? That students can type? Or does this mean they can process text, converting cognitive ideas into textual meaning. And then this is where the problem begins. If it was important to be able to word process (or spreadsheet) what does that mean in the 21st. century? Text for printing is rapidly becoming a niche so if students are to be able to convey text, including design of visual presentation, how does this change the skill set that should be taught? And if the meaning of word process is to cognitively process text, then how does that change in a world of linked ideas, participatory sharing and collaborative creation?