Literacy as an Ever-Changing Educational Goal
While the term “literacy” may have had a stationary definition in the education system decades ago, literacy is a concept that is consistently evolving with the world to house the quickly changing technological advancements and accommodations of society today. The definition of literacy has moved past the traditional definition of having the ability to read and write. Today, literacy can be defined as having the ability or desire to learn how to encompass different skills or interest sets. In today’s society, it is vital that students are learning how to become literate in a variety of different spaces, specifically digital spaces. In a world that is becoming more geared toward technology and the use of digital spaces daily, it is necessary that students are learning how to properly navigate fields that extend past typical print text. Now, it is more vital than ever that students feel confident in knowing which informational sources are trustworthy and how to best use technology or online affinity spaces to supplement learning. It is essential for today’s educators to embrace technology and digital learning in the classroom as the modern student has most likely grown up in a technology oriented and advanced society. In order for teachers to best educate today’s students, it is crucial that students are educated using a variety of texts, online affinity spaces, and use social media sites like Twitter to share what they are learning in the classroom.
In the past, text has been thought of as traditional print like textbooks, novels, or words on worksheets. However, it is important to note that the definition of text is not concrete and texts can encompass anything that holds a concept or a means of learning. Examples of this could be a variety of different tools that include, but are not limited to, graphic organizers, videos, or online learning games. A study conducted by Jennifer Rowsell and Anne Burke in 2009 concluded that online texts often require additional and more challenging skills for students as compared to traditional print text. According Reading by Design: Two case studies of digital reading practices, digital texts are “capable of inviting skills that foster literacy” (Rowsell & Burke, 2009, p. 106) that all students, whether struggling, excelling, or somewhere between, can enjoy. While some students do not enjoy learning from linear print texts, most students are able to find a digital space in which they enjoy learning. With evolving technology, students are gaining access to digital texts, and these texts help students bridge a gap between stereotypically boring school work and online affinity spaces which they enjoy.
Multimodal texts are an example of how today’s educators can reach beyond linear print text to teach students. Multimodal texts are wide ranging and can encompass many means of learning including videos, graphics, or experiences outside of the classroom. Donna Alvermann and Alexandra Wilson conducted a study to better understand the use of multimodal texts in a science classroom. While analyzing the learning patterns within Ms. Thompson’s class, it became clearer that multimodal texts are beneficial in understanding “meaning in science, [and that] theories of multimodality are appropriate for conceptualizing literacy instruction in this discipline” (Alvermann & Wilson, 2011, p. 118). Additionally, it is important to note that these multimodal texts are beneficial to all areas of education as certain multimodal texts, such as photographs, “may afford the visualization of spatial relationships more fully than written or spoken words because photographs simultaneously display multiple objects in a given space” (Alvermann & Wilson, 2011, p. 118). Therefore, today’s students are becoming increasing literate in typical school subjects and various digital spaces while working with multimodal texts because they are able to better understand how various modes intersect to form meaning.
Although it is important to foster a desire to learn in conjunction with multimodal texts within students, it is important that they have the opportunity to create their own multimodal content that allows them to express what they are learning in a creative manner. A study conducted by Nathan Lowien of the Australian Literacy Educator’s Association notes that multimodal learning is beneficial to all learners, but specifically supports students who have “low literacy achievement” (Lowien, 2016, p. 1). Lowien explains in his article entitled ‘It’s easy!’ Scaffolding Literacy for Teaching Multimodal Texts that using scaffolding along with multimodal texts helps students develop a deeper contextual understanding, orientation, and eventual transformation of information. The use of multimodal texts in the education system work to enhance literacy for all students, specifically students who may be struggling in school. Multimodal texts are able to guide student thinking by reminding students that it is important to make references across texts, distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, and reflect on past knowledge to understand recent and future learning (Alvermann & Wilson, 2011).
Becoming digitally literate as a student today often entails becoming a member of an online affinity space. In the early 2000s, a study conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts found that teen students were becoming less engaged with print literature and were becoming more comfortable working with digital media (Curwood, 2013). Affinity spaces are defined as “physical, virtual, or blended spaces where people interact around a common interest or activity” (Curwood, 2013, p. 417). These online affinity spaces have becoming increasingly popular as adolescents have come to these digital spaces to discuss literature and enhance their experiences with reading. Affinity spaces allow for students to become both digitally and traditionally literate in the sense that they are becoming more comfortable discussing literature and better understanding the meaning behind various works of literature. It is important to note that affinity spaces are constantly changing. While these spaces have proven to be beneficial, it is still important to allow “time and attention for deliberation in the classroom . . . [this] is another practical implication of the notion of deliberative affinity spaces” (Bommarito, 2014, p. 416).
The social media site Twitter has become a popular affinity space with adolescent students. Educator Janelle Bence of New Tech High School encourages her learners to tweet out what they learned for the day. Allowing students to tweet about their learning allows them to reflect on what they have learned and get excited to learn more. Additionally, it allows for educators to keep track of what students are finding to be the most important information of a lesson. Using tweets as a form of formative assessment allows for students to share what they feel is important for others to know and keeps them accountable for learning information (Teaching Channel, 2018). Additionally, Twitter has become a popular affinity space for teens as they are able to curate an identity through this form of social media. Digital and multimodal texts present on Twitter allow for users to easily share or publish digital content on the internet. Young people are able to grow from being able to evaluate the perspectives of other Twitter users and find their own identity through the use of social media. With Twitter, students are becoming more involved in their communities, and therefore more literate with digital technology, creativity, socialization sills and personal beliefs. With this form of digital curation, students are beginning to feel more comfortable in the area of knowledge construction (Warner, 2017, 129).
It is vital that educators change outdated teaching techniques in order to create learners that are literate in many different skills, specifically in today’s digital world. Being digitally literate is a skill that students will both require and benefit from as they transition into higher learning institutions or career endeavors. It is necessary that students be confident in their abilities to sort out trustworthy online information, communicate effectively in digital spaces, and learn how to adapt to ever-changing technology in today’s society. In order to be successful today, students must be literate in many definitions of the word, extending beyond the traditional definition of having the capability to read and write. It is crucial that students are being educated using supplementary online affinity spaces to learn and become curious about literature. The use of multimodal texts is beneficial to all learners and are known to advance the knowledge of students more effectively than traditional linear text. Educators must learn to embrace technology and social media sites like Twitter for positive use in the classroom.
Sources
Alvermann, D., & Wilson, A. (2011). Comprehension strategy instruction for multimodal texts in science. Theory into Practice, 50, 116–124.
Bommarito, D. (2014). Tending to Change: Toward a situated model of affinity spaces. Sage Journals, 11, 406–418, Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com.libproxy.clemson.edu/doi/pdf/10.2304/elea.2014.11.4.406
Curwood, J. (2013). The Hunger Games: Literature, literary, and online affinity spaces. National Council of English Teachers, 90(6), 417–427.
Lowien, N. (2016). ‘It’s easy!’ Scaffolding literacy for teaching multimodal texts. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 24(1), 38+, Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.clemson.edu/apps/doc/A446412304/AONE?u=clemsonu_main&sid=AONE&xid=095cb0c4
Rowsell, J., & Burke, A. (2009). Reading by Design: Two case studies of digital reading practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), 106–118.
Teaching Channel (2018). Series: Preparing youth for civics & politics in the digital age [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/formative-assessment-twitter-ypp.
Warner, J. (2017). Adolescents’ new literacies with and through mobile phones. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
