New Literacies ebook

W h at a re n ew l i te ra c ie s? important informa tion from Follett Software Co mpany

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What are new literacies?

ccording to the New Literacies Research Team at UConn, new literacies are comprised of â€œâ€Śthe new reading comprehension and learning skills required by the Internet and other emerging information and communication technologies.â€? (Leu, 2009) New literacies involves all of theadditional skills that students need to be literate on computers, mobile communication devices, and the Internet. Traditional literacy skills help students read and write, but they are missing some valuable, additional competencies that will make students more successful at reading and writing over the World Wide Web via electronic devices.

Leu, D. (2009). The New Literacies Research Team at UConn. Retrieved August 18, 2010, from University of Connecticut: http://www.new.iteracies.uconn.edu

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What are new literacies?

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are living in a time when paper reading and writing in the workplace is becoming obsolete. Electronic storage is cheaper, takes up less space, and is better for the environment than paper storage, so the economy will continue to push a drive toward a paperless workplace. Schools need to keep up with these changes by adding new literacies to the traditional literacies curriculum.

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What are new literacies?

How do new literacies differ from traditional literacy?

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Navigation

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hen a child is learning how to read and write, they use traditional books, pencils, pens, and paper.

These skills are important, but they are no longer the complete set of abilities that a child needs. For example, a traditional book is linear. That is, one generally reads it in an order prescribed by the author, starting with the first page and progressing forward.

E-books and websites have some linear qualities, but there is much more going on.

They contain hyperlinks, which navigate to other places in the document, or to places outside the document for more information.

Students need to know what to do when they go out of the linear movement of the text by clicking on a link. They need to be able to navigate back to where they started, or to choose other links to get additional information. Those choices are not generally intuitive, so students need to be prepared to navigate through modern documents without getting lost.

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What are new literacies?

Search Engines

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esearch is an important tool for students and adults. Traditional literacy teaches students how to go to the library, and search through the card catalog to find out information by subject, title, or author. New literacies education would add modern methods for research, which includes search engines.

Imagine a class where students could use their cellular phones to find out information about Paul Revere, or the distance between the Sun and the Earth. Alternatively, some classes could have desktop computers or tablet devices for students to do research without ever leaving the classroom. That would make the classroom environment more closely mimic a traditional work situation, where workers doing research simply use their computers rather than taking a trip to the library. This is happening in some school districts with great success.

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Using appropriate search engines

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n order to use search engines correctly to conduct research, students need to know that there are different kinds of search engines. Some are more appropriate for different kinds of research. Academic research is better if it is done on JSTOR, EBSCO, or Google Scholar than on the regular Google engine.

Using the correct engine for the job is an important part of research in modern society.

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What are new literacies?

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P A R A M E T E R S

nce you find the right search engine, you have to define the search parameters.

Using terms that are too general in your search may bring back millions of pages that are unrelated to your inquiry. Conversely, using very specific terms may bring back few, if any results.

Students need to know how to use Boolean search terms to narrow down wide groups of results to get more specific information. newlit trainer

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Reliability

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nother issue with searching online is reliability. Many sources on the Internet have no value because they aren’t reliable. Anyone can post things on the web, so one has to be careful about choosing the best sources to support your research.

Most searches for information will bring up Wikipedia as a source on the first page. While there is much valuable information on Wikipedia, and they are an important source for quick information, it is maintained

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What are new literacies?

by users, s o i t contains s o m e misinformation.

Use it carefully.

If a listing cites its sources, then go to the originator, and determine whether they are reliable. These kinds of discernments require skills that students didn’t need when they could need only to look things up in the library, or an encyclopedia.

Hardware

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here are differences in electronic hardware that will affect a student’s ability to function in school, or at work. Mac and PC each require a different set of skills to use the hardware correctly.

Different cellular phones, smart phones, PDAs, and tablet devices work independently based on the manufacturer’s discretion. While schools can’t be expected to train students on every device they may encounter at work, there are some similarities and key differences between each of these devices that are important for them to know. newlit trainer

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What are new literacies?

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Software

ifferent careers paths will require students to become familiar with various kinds of software. Most students will need to have word processing skills, so a program like Microsoft Word or Pages should be taught. Foreign language classes should use those word processor programs in the language beign taught, so students can see that there are keyboard differences. Some languages, like Hebrew, don’t follow the left to right flow that we are used to as English writers, so using a word processor for these languages require completely different skills, which should be taught to students taking those languages. newlit trainer

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students start thinking about their future careers, there are additional software products they may need to learn. Some may need presentation software, so they should have access to PowerPoint or Keynote. Others will need photo-editing skills, so Photoshop would be an important program for them to lean. Art classes should incorporate Illustrator to teach students about creating digital art, along with the digitals movements in the modern art world. Still others who are interested in publishing should have access to layout software like Adobe InDesign, Quark, or Microsoft Publisher. Those interested in building web pages should learn Dreamweaver, and programming languages like HTML and CSS. Students interested in math or science should be taught Excel. These skills are vitally important in the workplace, but are severely lacking in the K-12 school system.

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What are new literacies?

What can be done about it?

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Awareness

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chools, parents, and students need to be made aware that new literacies are becoming more, and more important in the workplace. Community leaders should demand that the tremendous gap in the K-12 curriculum should be closed in order to properly train the upcoming workforce. Unfortunately, most schools around the country still teach literacy like it was taught in the1800s. They ignore all of the new literacy skills that have been introduced by the expanding communication technologies. It is imperative that our districts become aware of this problem, and begin to work on resolving it.

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What are new literacies?

O Fundraising

ne of the biggest problems with making changes in any school program is coming up with the funding in the budget.

There are many ways inside and outside the budget to raise funds for projects. Students, who should see new literacies program as vitally important, may be motivated to raise funds by washing cars, having bake sales, selling cookies, or conducting other fundraising efforts.

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arents may be inclined to help raise funds as well, because teaching new literacies will ensure that their children have a brighter future.

Community leaders and businessmen in the community may want to support the program because it will help schools prepare students for their future jobs, saving employers a lot of money that they would have to spend on training if the schools don’t provide it.

Another source of funding can possibly come from textbook allocations. Every year schools have to purchase a certain number of textbooks to replace lost,

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What are new literacies?

damaged, or outdated materials. By using these allotments to purchase electronic textbooks and devices, school will see a short-run savings in the cost of e-books as opposed to paper textbooks. They will also see a long-run savings because e-books are easier and less costly to update, so they don’t become obsolete as quickly. Also, electronic books require far less storage space, so the areas that store textbooks can be used for other school programs, saving money over building new classrooms in districts that have growing populations. These savings can help fund the new literacies program.

Why the newlit trainer?

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he newlit trainer has several advantages over other devices.

While other tablets, laptops, desktops, and communication devices help students practice using new literacies skills, the newlit trainer is the only device specifically designed to assist in teaching new literacies.

It has built-in software to mimic the more common devices so students have simulations to learn how to operate several devices, not just the one that they have. Additionally, the newlit trainer can sync with their computers, and walk them through several new literacies exercises to help build their competencies.

Students using the newlit trainer will have an immediate advantage over students using other devices.

Get the newlit trainer program today for your students. You will be helping to ensure a brighter future for your community. Go to www.newlittrainer.follett.com for more information. newlit trainer

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