New literacies are basically new forms of literacy, created by advancing technology, which increase the many ways in which we can communicate with one another. As technology moves forward, our literacies broaden and change to reflect these new forms of communication.
In order to communicate effectively, we have to have at least a superficial knowledge of these new technologies. We should have at least a high level understanding of what a blog is, how Twitter and facebook and text messaging work. If we want to prepare our students to function effectively in the world outside of school, we need to find ways to teach them these new literacies.
NETS for Students are a set of standards which essentially measure the skills that students now need in order to learn and function successful in an increasingly digital environment.
NETS for Teachers, then, are a set of standards which measure the skills that teachers need in order to teach successfully in the same technologically advanced environment.
In many ways, teachers can learn these new technologies right alongside their students. One particularly effective approach might be for a teacher to create and manage a classroom blog. The teacher could regularly post about upcoming assignments, tests, and field trips so that students can read the blog from home and be aware of upcoming events. The teacher could also invite each student to write "guest posts" for the blog, which other students in the class could comment on, thus allowing for meaningful class discussion outside of the classroom. In this way, a single blog would allow an entire class of students to connect with one another as well as their teacher, without even being physically present in the classroom.
Do you think a classroom blog is an effective way of teaching new literacies?
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