Technological literacy

1. Technological literacy

2. “Because today’s students need to become proficient in using information and communications technologies to succeed both in school and in a knowledge economy, educators will need to consider how to teach and assess online reading” (Coiro, 2005). • IRA Position Statement (2001) suggested that “Traditional definitions of reading, writing, and viewing, and traditional definitions of best practice instruction-derived from a long traditions of book and other print media-will be insufficient.”

3. A New Kind of Literacy • Students require new computer skills and strategies to effectively read and learn from the text on the internet. • Reading online is a complex process that requires knowledge about how search engines and how information is organized within websites • Internet texts demand higher levels of inferential reasoning and comprehension monitoring strategies that help reader stay on task. (Coiro, 2005)

4. RAND Reading Study Group’s report (2002) defined reading comprehension as “the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language” (p. 11). • The reader • The text • The activity (all occur within a larger sociocultural context)

5. Informational technology forces us to expand our understanding of these three elements. • Broadened understanding of text: nonlinear hypertexts and multiple-media texts and interactive texts. There is little consistency in the multimedia formatting of information on the internet. • Broadened understandings of the reading activity: purpose, process, and consequences. • Broadened understandings of the reader: cognitive capabilities, purpose, motivation, and self-efficacy. • Broadened understandings of the social context. • Broader model of reading comprehension. (Coiro, 2003)

6. Informational literacy and critical reading. • Reading critically means to be able to construct, extend and examine the meaning of what is being read. • There is little in the way of quality control of the information that is constructed and communicated on the internet. • The amount of information available on the internet can be overwhelming. • Many resources on the internet are out of date or have not been updated for years. • Digital manipulation has become a popular form of deception on the internet. • Information on the internet is often intertwined with hidden social, economic and political agendas. American Girl, LegoLand (Coiro, 2003)

7. Which link should I follow? • How do I navigate within a website? • How do I know this is true? • How do I synthesize without copying?

8. Final points for consideration • Whose responsibility is it to teach informational literacy? • What are some of the equity issues that arise when we discuss technology? • Teacher access (comfort level, # of comps.) • Student access (at home, in school, teacher) • Internet access (at home, in school)