21st Century Literacy and Technology

Check out this article on readingrockets.org:  21st Century Literacies.

This article has great suggestions of how literacy teachers can use technology to help writing instruction.  I can think of limitless ways to use their suggestions: wikis, blogs, podcasts, semantic webs, e-portfolios, etc.  (NCTE, 2007). I think the reason why all of this technology is so meaningful to students is because they have an authentic audience.  Authentic audiences can motivate students to revise and edit their writing, not only for spelling and grammatical mistakes, but to ensure that they are communicating effectively.  They want to make sure that the reader is understanding what they are trying to say.  Like in the article, "I learned that there's a state called Victoria and he has six blue-tongued lizards," having an e-pen pal motivated students to write more, to pay attention to etiquette, and to provide constructive feedback to others (Charron, 2007). 

Also, I viewed a cool video on teachers.tv called Blogosphere.  The video follows a school who is actively blogging.  Blogging is a great tool for both students, teachers, and parents.  Students have an authentic audience and purpose for writing.  Teachers can motivate students to write and then provide mini-lessons as situations arise.  Also, parents can become more actively involved with their child's writing at school.  They can see class projects, learn what their child is studying, and they can comment on the blogs.  This gets them more involved in their child's work!  Blogging helps students become proficient with 21st century technology while also going through the writing process.  If we want students to compete in a global environment, they must be able to design and share information cross-culturally.  Blogging is one great way to do this!