Striving for 21st century literacy

Eagleton & Dobler (2007) quotes Coiro (2003) which states that … “many web-based environments introduce a new set of cognitive barriers that can cause competent readers of conventional text(s) to be cognitively overloaded and emotionally frustrated…Teachers need to be aware of these new cognitive challenges posed by Internet environments before we unnecessarily confuse our competent readers or overwhelm the struggling ones” (p. 1). The stark reality of these words in light of 21st century skills that must be developed in students encapsulates my take away from the course, “Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom”.

Jukes (2008) provides a summary of the essential 21st century fluencies and literacies that today’s digital citizens (Ribble, 2008) need to possess and demonstrate in order to be adequately prepared for their adult working life. These 21st century skills have transformed traditional speaking, listening, reading and writing literacies to dimensions that incorporate not only the personal and professional, but also the informational, technological and partner (group) skills; skills that have evolved consequent to the rise in popularity of the Internet. Thanks to this course, I have been made aware of these new literacies and my newly found knowledge has made me more determined to adjust my teaching practice to integrate technology as seamlessly as possible (Laureate Education, 2009) making its use in all my classes as natural as breathing.

As I reflect further on what I have learned from this course, several aspects of the journey stand out prominently in my thoughts. Firstly, there is the use of teacher-tested and time-evaluated strategies that are readily available to facilitate the teaching of online informational literacies that each student must possess in order to use the Internet safely and intelligently. Strategies such as the QUEST model (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007) and GET REAL (November, 2009) are the two major procedures that have provided clearer insights about my role as an educator to help my students access, search, synthesize and transform online data that are largely unedited and questionable. By using these strategies, my students can and will be able to develop the critical thinking skills and apply the necessary literacy skills to make sense of information on the Internet (Eagleton & Dobler, 2008).

Secondly, I hope to implement more inquiry projects that will address curricular standards in a real world context (Laureate Education, 2009) that will make my students more self-motivated and self-directed (November, 2009). If I do this, I am “embrace(ing)…technologies in (my) own practice and add(ing) an important expectation for learning to (my) curriculum and classroom” (November, 2009, p. 28).

Thirdly, assessment and evaluation inform instruction (Shellard & Protheroe, 2004) and I cannot make light of the need for rubrics to be used to formatively and summatively assess class work content, effort and creativity.

Similarly, it is only as I strive to professionally address my own competencies as an educator that I will also strive to meet the needs of my students (Richardson, 2009). I hope, in the foreseeable future, to be ready to partner with another school or an author or a science expert and engage in online collaboration that will have my students connecting and communicating with other students or experts across the globe.

In order to achieve this greater goal, I hope to create a unit inquiry plan that will detail the project in light of the QUEST model. This project will shift my role dramatically from being a dispenser of knowledge to that of co-learner with my students. As we work well together, that is, my administrators, students and online partner, great benefits will be achieved and realized, particularly for my students. I shall research as much as possible on making such a partnership, modeling to my students, the importance of being a life-long learner, seeking for new knowledge daily.

In conclusion, my aim is to create an environment where active learning is the norm, where technology is used daily and in a seamless manner and where communication between students and teacher is solely about making connections; connections that are vehicled by the information under study.

Jewel Meikle
HS English/Literature

Eagleton, M.B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York, NY: The Guilford Press

Jukes, I. (2007). 21st century fluency skills: Attributes of a 21st century learner.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Supporting information literacy and online inquiry in the classroom. Author: Baltimore
November, A. (2009, March). Becoming network-wise. Educational Leadership, 66(6), 26-31.

November, A. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Ribble, M. (2008, December). Passport to digital citizenship. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36 (4), 14-17.

Shellard,E., & Protheroe, N. (2004). Writing across the curriculum to increase student learning in middle and high school. Alexandria, VA: Educational Research Service