Defining literacy in a digital world
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=915
A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Computer/Technology Skills and English Language Arts
By creating an inventory of personal texts, students begin to consciously recognize the many literacy demands in contemporary society. After students brainstorm a list of items that combine different ways of expressing ideas, verbs for creating and interacting with these items, they share their ideas with the class. Then, the teacher explains that these are all different forms of texts and part of literacy in the modern world. As a homework assignment, students compile a list of significant texts in their lives and write about their own definitions of literacy. Once students share their ideas with classmates, they identify the most important elements necessary for a concise definition of literacy. Students reflect on the importance of being able to interact with different kinds of texts and provide specific examples of how they interact with text daily. After the class discusses their responses, students develop a comprehensive working definition of literacy, and the teacher demonstrates the interactive tutorial on digital literacy. Using web site analysis questions, students investigate Internet sites to determine the most important aspects from their lists and consider how the class’s working definition of literacy fits those aspects. Readwritethink provides a web site analysis worksheet, a link to an online tutorial, and links to websites to use in their exploration.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Computer Technology Skills (2005)
Grade 9–12
- Goal 1: The learner will understand important issues of a technology-based society and will exhibit ethical behavior in the use of computer and other technologies.
- Objective 1.02: Identify issues surrounding complex technology environments.
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 9
- Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.
- Objective 5.02: Demonstrating increasing comprehension and ability to respond personally to texts by selecting and exploring a wide range of genres.
