Discussing New Literacies

In "Discussing New Literacies" (2006), Knobel and Lankshear describe a phenomena we're all familiar with, especially if you're online right now reading this post: "anybody with access to a machine and an Internet connection, and who has a fairly basic knowledge of standard software applications, can, say, create a multimodal text...and send it to a person, group, or an entire Internet community in next to no time and at next to no cost" (p. 80).  There's so much potential here, especially when it comes to classroom applications.  Because of the nature of the Internet and digital writing technologies, students can write for authentic audiences and publish their work.  It's not just about creating a text in isolation that only the teacher will read and respond to anymore.  Now students can easily write for and with each other in collaborative online spaces, or they can create work meant for wider audiences.  For example, students at my school participate in the New York Times Summer Reading Contest. (In fact, one of our students was actually the winner for one of the weeks!  I was her teacher last year, and I can tell you that winning the contest was such a boost of confidence for that student writer!)  I also ask students to use digital resources and their GoogleDocs accounts to publish and submit an entry to the Letters About Literature contest, among others.  When students have an authentic audience to write for, their sense of purpose is much more highly developed, and they find more relevance in the task at hand.  However, there are some risks.  We all know there are predators out there, and the Internet is no exception.  That's why my school requires me to password protect my student blog pages; after all, my students are still minors, for the most part.  However, as Knobel and Lankshear (2006) point out, "continuing to educate ourselves and evolve as human beings is definitely worth some risk" (p. 84).  When students are involved, that risk must be a calculated one, but the benefits students reap when using technology productively and purposefully are truly remarkable - just ask the winning student I mentioned earlier!