How New Literacies are Relevant to Us

 In the current age of rapid technological and social changes, it is more important than ever to redefine literacy relevantly to fit our modern society. Conventional literacy education is antiquated and mainly focuses on written texts and often neglects modern digital and multimodal literacies, neglecting to address the inclusion of cultural or linguistic diversity (Sang, 2017). 

As a special education middle school teacher, the principles of new literacies and multiliteracies provided in Sang’s article are highly relevant to the educational setting I work in. Integrating digital technologies such as smartboards, tablets and educational apps enhances student engagement and participation as it relates to things they already enjoy and have fluency in. Encouraging students to create digital content fosters creativity and collaboration. Recognizing students' diverse backgrounds and tailoring lessons to individual needs aligns with Multiliteracies' emphasis on cultural and linguistic diversity. Incorporating visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning modes addresses different learning styles, while alternative and augmentative  communication methods, such as devices with applications such as Proloquo 2 Go or TouchChat support diverse communicative abilities within my classroom. Additionally, many of my students are still emerging readers who cannot yet access traditional texts and benefit from “multiple modes of representation, such as music, gestures, and pictures (Sang, 2017)”. 

As a program that primarily focuses on life-skills, including job-readiness skills, I find myself with the opportunity and challenge of providing relevant and level-appropriate opportunities to use classroom technology that “clearly mirrors the kinds of work environments that we expect students to eventually encounter (ILA, 2018)”.  This might look different for each student as we try and capitalize on what they are interested in, capable of or areas they might struggle in. Incorporating new medias and technologies into our program looks like a following, a few real-life examples across our program: explicit instruction on new medias and technologies (video-conference platforms, Cricut machines, Microsoft/Google word processing applications, register/POS systems and more), simulated working environments, digital schedules and planners, multimedia presentations on kitchen and household management skills/techniques, e-mail and online communications training. 

References: 

International Literacy Association. (2018). Improving digital practices for literacy, learning, and justice: More than just tools [Literacy leadership brief]. https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-improving-digital-practices-literacy-learning-justice.pdf  

Sang, Y. (2017). Expanded Territories of “Literacy”: New Literacies and Multiliteracies. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(8), 16–19. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1139059.pdf

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