What does it mean to be literate in the 21 st century? 1

 Firstly, in my view, literacy is not a single entity or definite physical reality like the amount of water in a container or the amount of gas in a cylinder. Nor is it a single ability or skill like typing or using a calculator. 2

 To me, literacy is a word which describes a whole collection of behaviours, skills, knowledge, processes, and attitudes. It has something to do with our ability to use language in our negotiations with the world. Often these negotiations are motivated by our desires to manipulate the worlds for our own benefit. Reading and writing are two linguistic ways of conducting these negotiations. So are talking, listening, thinking, reflecting, and a host of other behaviours related to cognition and critical thinking. 3

4 Whatever literacy is, it has something to do with reading. And reading is always reading something. Further, if one has not understood [made meaning from] what one has read then one has not read it. So reading is always reading something with understanding. This is something that one reads with understanding is always of text of a certain type which is read in a certain way. The text might be a comic book, a novel, a poem, a legal brief, a technical manual, a textbook in physics, a newspaper article, an easy in the social sciences or philosophy, a “self-help” book, a recipe, and so forth through many different types of text. Each of these different types of text requires somewhat different background knowledge and somewhat different skills. (Gee, Hull, and Lankshear 1996)

 the capacity to accomplish a wide range of viewing, listening, reading, representing, speaking, writing, and other language tasks associated with everyday life. It is multimodal in that meaning can be represented and communicated through multiple channels – linguistic (including print), visual, audio, and multimedia (including digital media). (Saskatchewan MOE 2008) 5

 Must include all forms of text from print to logos on t-shirts, digital literacies and the expressive and performing arts 6

“That’s online writing, not boring school writing.” Cassandra, grade 8 student 7

 ¾ of children in grades 3-10 watch television for an average of hours/week  Youth aged listen to 8.5 hours of radio each week 8

9 Students in grades 4-11: 94% had internet at home; 86% had account 77% play games 72% do schoolwork 66% talk to friends on instant messaging 65% download or listen to music 64% use 55% look up info on a topic of interest other than schoolwork

 More than half of American teens produced media in that they had created a bog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new culture 10

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 The term "multiliteracies" was coined in 1996 by a group of educational experts called The New London Group. 13 years ago they argued that educators needed to rethink their understanding of literacy teaching; it needs to account for cultural and linguistic diversity and the multiple text forms associated with multimedia technologies. 12

 The Internet is one of the biggest new text forms... dubbed Web 2..0, this new World Wide Web shifts Internet users from being simple content consumers to being content consumers AND content creators.  Examples are podcasts, wiki's, blogs, social networks (twitter, Facebook etc.) and media sharing sites like YouTube and Flickr etc.. 13

 "In a digital environment, the new literacies involve thinking, exploring, connecting, and making meaning, often collaboratively.  Students have the amazing potential to take advantage of vast global networks, huge databases, archives, rich art collections, and interactions with millions of users. Our task as educators is to help young people become capable navigators of what is often a complex and disparate landscape.“  David Booth and Larry Swartz 14

 Leu et al. (2009) see the Internet not as a technology but rather as a context in which to read, write, and communicate..... Recognizing the Internet as a literacy issue has prompted individuals from many disciplines to bring a collaborative approach to theory building" (p. 265). 15

 Davies and Merchant (2009) described Web 2.0 as not referring "to anything as specific as a new hardware or a reconfiguration of the internet; it is a term that attempts to highlight a new wave and increased volume of users who have developed new ways of using digital technology to interact with each other” (p.3). 16

 Whether students are viewing a picture, an illustration, a sign, a magazine, a television cartoon, and advertisement, a commercial, a video, the Internet, or any other visual text, they need to make sense of it and respond appropriately. 17

 means being active, critical, and creative users not only of print and spoken language but also of the visual language of film and television, commercial and political advertising, photography and more.” (International Reading Association) 18

 1. information delivery,  2. hands-on skill building activities,  3. practice in the field,  4. observations and modeling,  5. authentic experiences,  6. reflections (2010, p. 20). 19

 · Reading proficiency increases if the four types of reading materials (books, magazines, newspapers, and encyclopedias) are present in the home.  · States where homes have more reading materials generally have higher reading proficiency.  · One of the national poverty indicators is having less than 25 pieces of print material in the home. 20

 In 2006  94% of young people say they go on line from home.  20% of 4 th graders have their own computer  51 % of 11 th graders have their own computer  23% of students have their own cell phone  31% of 11 th graders have their own Webcam 21

 86% of students have accounts  89% of 4 th grade students report playing games on lines  Games decrease in popularity by grade while IM increases 22

 Chat rooms rank last out of preferred ways to socialize on line  14% of 4 th graders engage in writing an online diary or Weblog  From awareness.ca/english/research 23