21st Century Standards to be Literate
The ability to alter your language in order to best communicate under expected standards of a particular platform is what determines where a student is literate in the 21st century.
After reviewing various sources, as well as my own experiences as a student and a teacher; I have seen many students lose interest when they just write for the teacher. Students are a lot more engaged and committed to the work when they know it will be shown to their peers or be on display. There are many ways to incorporate an audience other than the teacher into the assignments. This is not only for essay writing that will be peer reviewed; but presenting science experiment findings, writing short stories or childrens’ books to explore a topic, constructing a pamphlet that can be used by others, and many other options are simple ways to reinvent assessment.
Below you will find the ways the platform and the audience alter the way language is used. The platform could include social media, text messages, emails or in person. And for audience, the variation is with authority figures such as an adult, boss or teacher and with a friend or peer.
Ever since a young age, students are told to respect their teachers, parents, adults and other authority figures in their life. Children are taught to address adults with a title such as: Mr., Mrs., Miss, Dr., etc.. These terms place adults at a level of power above the students. While it is a parents hope their child is acts with respect to all who they interact with, it is particularly important to show this consideration with adults.
When interacting with a friend or a fellow student, children are allowed to speak casually. This casual language, includes the use of slang or abbreviated terms.
When addressing an adult, whether it be a teacher or boss, there is a proper format to the email. You must begin by addressing it to the recipient; then using full sentences, in paragraph form, write the reason for said email; and finally you must sign the email with appreciation and your name.
When addressing friends through a technological device, such as a text message or direct message on a social media platform, abbreviations and slang terms are accepted. improper grammar is also the way these messages are written.
As shown above; each platform has various standards for how we use language. It is largely influenced by the audience. In a classroom, involving this “audience” can be beneficial. Earp reported that the “students came alive when they realized they were writing to real people for real reasons” (Earp, 2015). Students want to see the value in their work, not all students are motivated to do the work if they know that only the teacher will be viewing it and then forgetting it right after adding a grade. Creating activities that allow students works to be displayed, published, shared and more inspires more students to put their best work out. Possible activities that would incorporate this real audience, involve: pamphlets or flyers that can be used in other classes; writing a short story, novel or children’s book (Davidow, 2014); doing a living museum or poster night to hold at the school; going to an offsite location where a non teacher adult requests assistance from the class. There are many ways to have your students’ work shared so that it is not just for the teacher. It allows the students to consider the standard of work that they are expected to complete. As well as it makes students feel as though their work is valued and it matters.
Today’s society is constantly growing and adapting, so we can no longer rely on the same technologies and sources that we used as a student. Teachers now must adapt their strategies to keep up with the evolving literacies (Barone, 2008) brought by todays standards of society. It is the duty of the teacher to learn these new literacies as they arise, since their job is to prepare their students for the future and the “real world”. Today’s world, expect people to change technologies and develope new ways of doing things at a fast rate. When teachers incorporate how to decode and use the information on various platforms effectively, students comprehension and involvement increase.
Overall, there is many ways that education can introduce literacy in various platforms into the classroom. Literacy is no longer restrained to giving and receiving information from a textbook, essay or novel, but it has grown to incorporate the various technologies that the 21st century has developed.
Outside Sources:
Barone, D., & Wright, T.E. (2008, December). Literacy Instruction With Digital and Media Technologies. The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 292–302. doi: 10.1598/RT.62.4.2
Davidow, S., & Cunnane, M. (2014, December 04). Mixing literacy with innovation. Retrieved September 13, 2018, from https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/mixing-literacy-with-innovation
Earp, J. (2015, October 14). Authentic literacy — writing for a real audience. Retrieved September 13, 2018, from https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/authentic-literacy-writing-for-a-real-audience