New Roles
    New technology is emerging in our society constantly, and our students need to be ready.  In the past, it was our job to teach students to read and to access traditional written word.  Now we need to include technology as part of our curriculum.   The article Are we ready for the library of the future? discusses the changing role of librarians.  As new technology is introduced, librarians have been emerging from behind their information desks to teach people how use the technology to access information.  Teachers are assuming new roles to help students learn the technology found in libraries as well as other parts of our culture.

Support for an Early Project
    The Art of Writing in an Electronic Environment is the story of the University of Florida's IBM Writing Project.  With the support of a IBM grant, the University of Florida began working on a Networked Writing Environment project in 1994.  Students in writing intensive classes were given the opportunity to learn new technology.  Instructors were encouraged to invent their own "Electropedagogies" by immersing themselves as well as their students in the environment.  By the summer of 1998, as many as 85 sections with up to 2,550 students could participate in the project.  The Networked Writing Environment is becoming the standard and is not considered "new."
    Not only did the instructors at the University of Florida receive fund support to install the networks, but they received support from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  Everyone was excited about the opportunity for "creative, resourceful, insightful and innovative teaching."  Not every school is lucky enough to have all of the support for new technology.  Students may not me introduced to new literacy through technology because of lack of money or teacher enthusiasm.  It is important for educators to immerse students in as much new technology as possible, (even if students have to share a one computer Internet hookup) before it fades into the background.

KidPub
    In Chip's article Learning through Expression, he wrote, "there is now ample evidence that the existence of new media for learning does not in and of itself lead to better teaching and learning. If anything, the new media may simply amplify existing approaches to teaching. Thus, we need to look closely at how new media are actually used."  Chip also discussed using email and personal web pages for students (& other people) to express themselves.  Through email pen pals and educational projects such as ThinkQuest provide incentive for such student expression and for learning.
    As I was looking at other Literacy articles on the Internet, I ran across a web site that I had heard about but had not looked into its full potential. KidPub is an award winning privately maintained site where children can submit original stories along with a short bio to be published on the web.  Readers can access over 25,000 stories that have been published since February 1995.  KidPub seems to be a great opportunity for students to express themselves without having to know how to create web pages.
    Since computers and word processors have become part of our culture, many people have changed their writing habits and compose directly on a computer.  Because of editing capabilities, people no longer have to carefully hand write a composition before typing it.  As educators we should be encouraging our students to write and edit directly at the computer to prepare them for this new technological society.  Web sites such as KidPub could allow students to be "paper free" during the entire writing process!

A Brief Plan in My Classroom/School
    My school does not have a computer lab.  Instead there are five computers in each classroom.  Because I have an unusually small class for once, my students are able to spend more time at the computers.  I am trying to move away from students writing stories, etc. on paper before they type them.  I have been allowing a group to type at the computers when I give out a writing assignment.  It would be ideal form my students to all be able to access computers or GeoBooks at the same time.  But because of the lack of funds for computers, some students still have to hand write rough drafts.  When the Internet is finally hooked up in my classroom, I hope to introduce my students to KidPub.
    I also try to encourage the other teachers in the building to use the computers more.  I ask for their input whenever I am allowed to purchase new software.  I also try to give them suggestions for computer uses that I have picked up from the Internet, workshops, or my CTER classmates.  Although I have seen a gradual increase in the computer usage in my school, I hope to see more teachers become excited about the emerging literacy found through computers.
 

For Further Reading
LITERACY IN A DIGITAL WORLD: Teaching and Learning in the Age of Information
I ran accross a summary of this new book by Kathleen Tyner as I was researching this assignment.  Unfortunatly, it is just an interesting "teaser" and not an entire article.

back to my assignments
to the top