21st Century Literacies

           We all know that literacy typically deals with the different learning skills, such as reading and writing, but over the years literacy has grown to be much more than that. Nowadays, literacy has several different components involved within it, helping us to be able to use other skills within literacy such as language, numbers, etc.

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            As Lane (2016) states within her lecture, there are other components tied in with literacy now, which helps children expand on their literacy in a number of ways. For example, Lane (2016) discusses about critical literacy, and how this is a newer way of intensely looking at literacy through critiquing things such as relationships between things, allowing us to view literacy through multiple perspectives.

           Within lecture, Lane (2016) also shows the progression from the traditional literacy to what literacy is now like in the 21st century. She discusses how literacy is expanding so much that the idea of "what is literacy" is reexamined as there are now multiple types of literacy surrounding us. One specific example of this is the influence technology has on children's learning. Children are exposed to technology in which through the technology they are still exposed to literacy, but in a different non-traditional type of way, as technology formats and displays texts differently. This is how technology, i.e. the internet, social media, is a new example of literacy, as it still allows the children to read from this and learn the literacy skills, but in a more creative, digital, up-to-date way.

           I believe that with technology advancing and schools resources and access to information advancing, literacy in the 21st century has become more than just reading and writing. It focuses on different ways to read and write/learn these literacy skills, through the internet, critically analyzing things, and by applying literacy to things within our society/world, such as within politics, the environment, cultures, media, etc.

 

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I think that this is very cool and important to be involved in. It does not get rid of the traditional literacy, more so that the traditional literacy is enhanced by being applied to other aspects, furthering our knowledge and abilities that literacy teaches us. I believe this can strengthen people's literacy skills and abilities, as they are able to apply it to several aspects and access these skills through multiple resources.

 I would definitely promote this within my future classroom. I believe that not every child learns the same way and since some children might struggle with reading or writing, the different types of literacy within the 21st century could really help these children through an alternative way of learning. This would help benefit the student(s) and their learning, while still learning literacy, but through a more suitable way meeting those children's needs. Also, another reason I would promote this within my classroom is that I believe the different types of literacies are crucial for children to learn, as our society is constantly changing and updating/advancing, and this would help them learn the skills they need through multiple resources, which is very important, and can be applied within their lives as they grow up.

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                                 Thanks for reading! Enjoy this video (below) to further your understanding 
                       of Literacy in the 21st Century

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References

(L. Lane, personal communication, January 6th, 2016)