21st Century Literacies

By: National Council of Teachers of English

Because success with technology depends largely upon critical thinking and reflection, teachers with relatively
little technological skill can provide useful instruction. But schools must support these teachers by providing
professional development and up-to-date technology for use in classrooms.

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A changing world for literacy teachers

Global economies, new technologies, and exponential growth in information are transforming our society.
Today's employees engage with a technology-driven, diverse, and quickly changing "flat
world."1 English/language arts teachers need to prepare students for this world with problem solving,
collaboration, and analysis — as well as skills with word processing, hypertext, LCDs, Webcams, podcasts,
smartboards, and social networking software — central to individual and community success.2 New literacies
are already becoming part of the educational landscape, as the following "fast facts" suggest:
 In 2011, the writing test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress will require 8th and 11th graders
to compose on computers; 4th graders will compose at the keyboard in 2019.

 Thirty-three states have adopted National Educational Technology Standards for K-12 students.

 Approximately 50 percent of four-year colleges and 30 percent of community colleges use electronic course
management tools.

 The United States ranks 15th worldwide in the percentage of households subscribed to a broadband Internet
service.

 Over 80 percent of kindergarteners use computers, and over 50 percent of children under age 9 use the
Internet.3

 At least 61 virtual colleges/universities (VCUs) currently educate students in the U.S.

 In 2006, 158.6 billion text messages were sent in the U. S.

 Over 106 million individuals are registered on MySpace.

 There are at least 91 million Google searches per day.

 The European Institute for E-Learning aims to enhance Europe's position in the knowledge economy by
achieving the goal "e-Portfolio for all" by 2010.

As new technologies shape literacies, they bring opportunities for teachers at all levels to foster reading and
writing in more diverse and participatory contexts. Sites like literature's Voice of the Shuttle, online fanfiction,
and the Internet Public Library for children expand both the range of available texts and the social dimension
of literacy. Research on electronic reading workshops shows that they contribute to the emergence of new
literacies.4

Research also shows that digital technology enhances writing and interaction in several ways. K-12 students
who write with computers produce compositions of greater length and higher quality and are more engaged
with and motivated toward writing than their peers.5 College students who keep e-portfolios have a higher
rate of academic achievement and a higher overall retention rate than their peers. They also demonstrate
greater capacity for metacognition, reflection, and audience awareness.6 Both typical and atypical students
who receive online response to writing revise better than those participating in traditional collaboration. 7

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Common myths about 21st-century literacies
Myth: 21st-century literacy is about technology only.
Reality: Although technology is important to literacy in the new century, other dimensions of learning are
essential. Studies of workforce readiness show that employers rate written and oral communication skills very
highly, and collaboration, work ethic, critical thinking, and leadership all rank higher than proficiency in
information technology. The Partnership for 21st-Century Skillsadvocates for core academic subjects, learning
and innovation skill, and life and career skills, along with technology skills. Even a standardized measure like
the iSkills Information and Communication Technology Literacy Test gives significant attention to
organization, evaluation, critical thinking, and problem solving.8

Myth: The digital divide is closed because schools provide computer and Internet
access.
Reality: The digital divide — the gap in access to and quality of technology — still exists. In 2005, nearly
100% of public schools in the United States had access to the Internet, but student-to-computer ratios and
access to broadband service vary widely across socioeconomic levels. Furthermore, available computers are
often not used effectively or fully; the national average of students' school use of computers is 12 minutes
per week.9

Myth: Teachers who use technology in their personal lives will use it in their classes.
Reality: Research shows that teachers who use word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, and
Internet browsers at home do not bring that knowledge into the classroom. Furthermore, two-thirds of all
teachers report feeling under-prepared to use technology in teaching, even if they use computers to plan
lessons, access model lesson plans, and create activities.10

Myth: Teachers need to be experts in technology in order to use it effectively in

instruction.
Reality: Research shows that effective teachers collaborate with students to understand the information
landscape and think about its use. Since success with technology depends largely upon critical thinking and
reflection, even teachers with relatively little technological skill can provide useful instruction.11

Myth: Automatic Essay Scoring (AES) systems will soon replace human readers of
student writing.
Reality: Systems like ETS's Criterion, Pearson's Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA), the College Board's
ACCUPLACER and WritePlacerPlus, and ACT's Compass are all being used to provide immediate feedback or
evaluate students' writing. However, the feedback they provide is generic and relatively limited, and these
systems are confined to a narrow range of modes and topics.12

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Key terms
Affinity Groups: Groups or communities that unite individuals with common interests. Electronic spaces
extend the range of possibilities for such groups.13

Blogs: Web logs ("blogs" for short) are interactive websites, often open to the public, that serve as journals
and can include Web links and photographs as well as audio and video elements. Some 60 million blogs have
been published on the Internet over the past five years.14

E-portfolio: Student work that is generated, selected, organized, stored, and revised digitally. Often
electronic portfolios are accessible to multiple audiences, and some models can be moved from one site to
another easily. E-portfolios can document the process of learning, promote integrative thinking, display
polished work, and/or provide a space for reflecting on learning.15

Hypertext: Electronic texts that provide multiple links, allowing users to trace ideas in immediate and
idiosyncratic directions. Hypermedia adds sound, video, animation, and/or virtual reality environments to the
user's choices.16

ICT (Information and Communication Technology): ICT refers to the use of computers and computer
software to convert, store, process, transmit, and retrieve information.

Podcasts: Digitalized audio files that are stored on the Internet and downloaded to listeners' computers or
MP3 players. Although other file formats may be used, audio files are usually saved in the MP3 format. The
term "podcast" comes from iPod™, the popular MP3 player.17
 Web 2.0: This term does not refer to an update in the Web's technical specifications; it refers to a second
generation of Web-based communities that demonstrate the participatory literacies students need for the
21st-century. Some examples include:
 MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal
profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos internationally. Students rate professors, discuss books,
and connect with high school and college classmates here. MySpace receives nearly 80 percent of visits to
online social networking websites; other similar sites include Facebook and Xanga.18

 Second Life is an Internet-based 3-D virtual world. This simulation's nine million participants use their
avatars (digital representations of themselves) to explore, socialize, participate in individual and group
activities, and create and trade items (virtual property) and services. Over 160 schools and colleges from all
over the world have a presence on Second Life, and a number of the 140 colleges and universities
represented have distance-learning programs based within it.19

 Semantic Web is an extension of the current Web that puts data into a common format so that instead of
humans working with individual search engines (e.g., Google, Ask Jeeves) to locate information, the search
engines themselves feed into a single mechanism that provides this searching on its own. Sometimes called
Web 3.0, this technology will enable integration of virtually all kinds of information for more efficient and
comprehensive retrieval.20

 Webkinz is an Internet simulation where children learn pet care and other skills.21

 Wiki refers to software that fosters collaboration and communication online. Wikis enable students to create,
comment upon, and revise collaborative projects. One of the most prominent is Wikipedia, the online
multilingual free-content encyclopedia, which currently has 7.9 million articles in 253 languages.22

 YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video footage, including
movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as student-produced videos.23

Other tech terms for teachers can be found at the National Education Technology Standards (NETS) website.

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Research-based recommendations for effective instruction in 21st-century

literacies
For teachers
Research shows that effective instruction in 21st-century literacies takes an integrated approach, helping
students understand how to access, evaluate, synthesize, and contribute to information. Furthermore, as Web
2.0 demonstrates, participation is key, and effective teachers will find ways to encourage interaction with and
among students. Recommendations include:
 Encourage students to reflect regularly about the role of technology in their learning.

 Create a website and invite students to use it to continue class discussions and bring in outside voices.

 Give students strategies for evaluating the quality of information they find on the Internet.

 Be open about your own strengths and limitations with technology and invite students to help you.

 Explore technologies students are using outside of class and find ways to incorporate them into your
teaching.

 Use a wiki to develop a multimodal reader's guide to a class text.

 Include a broad variety of media and genres in class texts.

 Ask students to create a podcast to share with an authentic audience.

 Give students explicit instruction about how to avoid plagiarism in a digital environment.

 Consult the resources on the Partnership for 21st-Century Skills website.

For schools and policymakers

Teachers need both intellectual and material support for effective 21st-century literacy instruction.
Accordingly, schools need to provide continuing opportunities for professional development as well as up-to-
date technologies for use in literacy classrooms.
 Address the digital divide by lowering the number of students per computer and by providing high quality
access (broadband speed and multiple locations) to technology and multiple software packages.

 Ensure that students in literacy classes have regular access to technology.

 Provide regular literacy-specific professional development in technology for teachers and administrators at all
levels, including higher education.

 Require teacher preparation programs to include training in integrating technology into instruction.

 Protect online learners and ensure their privacy.

 Affirm the importance of literacy teachers in helping students develop technological proficiency.

 Adopt and regularly review standards for instruction in technology.