Keystone Assignment: One page reflection

Print literacy has been the staple of human communication for as long as we can remember. It has become the way we have communicated, taught, learned and so on, forever. Print literacies in the classroom still to this day is a main source for teachers. A paper and pencil is what everyone had to remember to bring to school. When we got to school, we had books to read and worksheets to complete. Although this print literacy approach is still very much alive today, technology is beginning to slowly rise above, bringing new literacies to a new level. 


As bizarre as it sounds, technology is still on the rise. Some might feel as if technology has already reached its peak in this world and we can stay stagnant from here. Technology will continue to rise despite all of the benefits we have already gained from it. Technology has allowed us to communicate with our friends that are halfway around the world just by sending “send” on a text or a direct message on a social networking site. The internet gets larger everyday and has made communicating, reading and writing so much more convenient for human kind. Bringing these technologies into our classroom’s is a fairly new concept that we have just fully become aware of. 


New literacies in the classroom have been proven to aid in a higher level of engagement in the lesson topic. In today’s world, most students of all ages have been introduced and have experience using technologies. People feel more comfortable and engaged in things they have background in. Students that use technology show higher engagement and therefor show higher success rates. Websites like Prezi and google drive have allowed for increased collaboration in and out of the classroom. This essential peer to peer and student to teacher collaboration can now be fulfilled from behind a screen. The website EDpuzzle allows for teachers to create an interactive video with voice recordings and quiz questions and assign them to classes to complete at home. This gives students the comfort of hearing their teacher’s voice while watching a fun educational video and keeping on track with quiz questions. 


As we know, each student learns at different paces. This has been a consideration since the rise of new literacies. With that being said, most teachers were taught with the foundational print literacies. This has caused a major disconnect with teachers accepting new literacies. It has been time consuming and confusing for many teachers to understand these new additions to their classroom and not every teacher is completely open to it. Some teachers do believe that the traditional way is the way and don’t want that to change. 


In my opinion, print literacies are still very much important today. I do not think that schools should completely change classrooms to a technology centered class. A blended learning environment allows for both foundational and new literacies in one. This method creates a foundation of reading, writing and the basics for students at the same time as introducing new literacies to them slowly. It is extremely important for students to learn and fully understand both foundational literacies and new literacies and I believe finding that happy medium is important.