Week 13

In the article, Toward a Theory of New Literacies Emerging From the internet and Other Information and Communication Technologies consisted of information about literacy and the Internet. The article talked about literacy in today’s social context. I found the statement, “the rapid emergence of the Internet as a powerful new technology for information and communication” to be so true. Every year the Internet becomes more involved and powerful through communication of social media networks inside and outside the workplace. In 2002 60% of all households reported having Internet access in their home. In eight years (1994-2002) the percentage of classrooms in the United States possessing to least one computer with Internet access went from 3% to 92%. I personally am amazed with these statistics. It just shows future educators how much the Internet has became so involved as well as mandatory in the classroom today. Therefore, the Internet is a rapid change that is becoming more and more popular not only in school settings, but as well as homes and businesses.

When talking about children’s literature through the Internet the definition cannot be just be limited to paper-printed media. Children’s literature also cannot just be limited to just paper-based books of printed pages, but must include books in electronic formats as well. According to this article, “definitions of literacy still must include concepts of composition, decoding, comprehension, and response, in order to understand how each of these definitional factors play out in electronic environments we must take into account current uses as indicators of current definitions of literacy.” The article mentions how media literacy scholars need to bring their understanding of critical literacies to the study of what students need to learn within the new literacies of the Internet. I think this is a great point because it is very important for students to understand how to be critical when it comes to literacy and the media. Overall, I found this article to be a great wealth of knowledge and I really enjoyed reading the article.