Exploring Literacy in Cyberspace

 

How does reading online differ from reading print? Prior to taking LIBE 477, I had not given much thought to this. However, this week's group discussion has really helped me formulate some ideas about how we read online, along with how we write and think online.

Reading online

The move from “print-centric texts” to “sreen-based reading” certainly requires the adoption of some new reading strategies. Here are three that I think are key:

To begin with, reading online is less linear- with texts embedded with hyperlinks one has to develop a sense of when to follow links and where to stop before becoming lost. Prior to taking this course, I was very much a linear reader. I am now more efficient at selecting links to follow and being able to navigate back to the original. Following these links can be of great value; I have discovered some amazing professional development resources by doing so. Through following a link, I recently discovered the work of Sir Ken Robinson, an educational leader with very intriguing ideas about creativity and the need to revolutionize education.

Reading online also requires visual literacy. “Visual literacy should be included of we truly want to prepare students for this new kind of reading” (Kist, 2010, p.25). As an art teacher, I really appreciate this and feel this is a skill that society has tended to undervalue; reading images effectively requires knowledge of the elements and principles of design. Teaching Visual Literacy: Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills byNancy Frey and Douglas fisher is a great resource.

Reading online effectively also requires the ability to “skim” over vast amounts of information and determine which readings to pursue in greater detail. I have always had the ability to skim read, but this is a skill foreign to my husband. I take it for granted that I learned how to do this at some point, and as educators, we must overtly teach students this skill in order to help them manage the vast amounts of information available on the web effectively. I have benefited tremendously from setting up my Google Reader. Prior to doing so, I would spend hours searching the web for articles relevant to my course studies. Now, I simply check my reader everyday which is filled with amazing resources and save those that I wish to revisit in greater detail. Signing up for Diigo has also made saving resources that I come across while reading online exceptionally easy. I am creating my very own personalized library of professional resources with very little effort.

Writing Online

William Kist in the Socially Networked Classroom says many interesting things about writing in the online world. I was especially impacted by his definition of "text" which explodes the hierarchy of text that exists by including film, music, visual art, texting, tweeting and more in his definition. Multi-genre writing online results in hybrid texts. I love this about writing online. As an artist, I am a visual person and love that I can easily include images and embed videos to accompany my blog posts.

I also appreciate the effects that writing for an expanded online audience can have on writing. Will Richardson states the "relevance for student work no longer ends at the classroom door..." (Richardson, 2010, p. 26). I believe this increased sense of purpose engages students and motivates them to produce better work. But more than this, writing online becomes a communal act. "[W]e write not just to communicate but to connect with others who can potentially teach us more" (Richardson, 2010, p.28). Writing online is meant to be a conversation which results in more writing.

In general, writing and reading online are more interactive and communal than print-centric reading, and such practices are beginning to shape the way we think. Watch this presentation on "computational thinking" that questions what thinking skills students require in this new technological age.

 

Computing, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Problem solving, and Collaboration are listed as key thinking skills students must have to succeed in a Web based future.

readwritethink sponsored by the International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and Thinkfinity provides many quality free resources for teaching online literacy.

Question: What other skills do you feel students need in order to read, write and think successfully in the Web 2.0 world?              

Works Cited:

 Kist, W. (2010). The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

 Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts. and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.