The shift in literacy away from a hyper-focused effort on reading is essential. At the heart of literacy is communication. If we want our students to be successful in today’s culture, we must move beyond one simple mode of communication, like you said. I think the most challenging part is when we ask teachers what output they most often require their students to utilize when communicating their learning. The answer is overwhelmingly writing. Yet when we ask them how they, as adults, most often communicate, it’s overwhelmingly through speaking. And how often do we focus on helping students speak and listen? What about viewing and showing?

And then start talking about what digital does to all of this…

The slides are compelling and I bet it was phenomenal! Wow!

Literacy is being redefined and many balk at the redefinition. Some say that literacy clearly means READING, however, some time a go it moved past READING into RESEARCH and when it did that I certainly think that it encompassed the web. Now, it also seems to mean the ability to WRITE or create and that is also where some people take issue.

But semantics aside – the FACT is that how students RESEARCH effectively and how they CREATE effectively has been REDEFINED and we must evolve as educators to make sure that students are EDUCATED in this way.

Excellent work to two people I respect greatly and appreciate!