Literacy in the 21st Century Classrooms - Literature review Example

Running Header: literacy and socio-cultural in the 21st century classrooms. Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: The 21st century is characterized by rapid developments in digital technology and this has led to the emergence of the new literacy. The rapid development in digital technology means that there will be changes on what children learn. According to Gillis at el (2012) technology is increasingly being adopted and integrated in the 21st century early childhood learning. This is with an aim of teaching the children how to deal with the various technologies of the new literacy hence this will ensure that they are successful in their workplace as well as in their life. The new literacy is closely linked to the cultural norms and social purposes (Alvermann, 2010). The ability to understand these technologies is based on the social and cultural background of the child. To effectively integrate the digital technologies, the teachers take into consideration the children’s social and cultural backgrounds. This paper is going to explore the literature behind literacy and social culture in the 21st century classrooms. Literacy learning in the 21st century involves complicated social interactions with digital technologies. According to Parr and Campbell (2012) the new literacy requires teachers to continuously shift how they teach the children due to the continuous change in technology. This makes digital learning difficult for the children to understand. The fact that literacy is determined by culture and it is used for precise purpose makes it to determine how the children understand the new digital technologies present in the 21st century. The new literacy practices are flexible and interrelated and this means that they hold an equal value to the learner. Therefore, teachers in the 21st century teach the children to integrate the digital technology depending on their social cultural background. They encourage the children to utilize their languages and methods of understanding in order to make meaning of the digital technology. The teachers relate literacy instructions based on the learner’s social and cultural background knowledge. Moreover, the instructions are based in a manner that enables the children to relate them to the external digital world. Hill (2010) notes that learning in the 21st century aims at increasing reliance and competence on information technologies so as to share process and access information. Teachers guide the children on how to compare and contrasting the various digital technologies because of the fact that children create meaning based on their previous knowledge. The teachers focus the children on understanding the relationship between multiple systems in order to enable them to develop their literacy in multicultural societies and settings. According to French (2007) providing children with a range of perspectives influences them to gain a deeper understanding of the society as well as with the modern developments. The advancement in digital technology means that there exist a variety of information sources for children. Therefore, the teachers encourage the children to engage themselves in comparative learning in order to determine the credibility of the sources of information. This helps in developing their literacy as well as understanding different social and cultural backgrounds. Moreover, the teachers motivate the children to determine how each technological development relates to their social lives. Through this, the children are able to gain a better understanding of the technology hence this improves their cultural and social integration. Perez and McCarty (2011) state that in order to effectively respond to the digital technologies in the 21st century, the literacy practices must impact the children with knowledge and experiences that match the digital world. Teachers in the 21st century begin by understanding the children’s social and cultural background and this enables them to develop the children literacy. This is because the teachers recognize that the children backgrounds have an implication on their literacy. Studies conducted by Perez and McCarty (2012) indicated that non English children had a ‘second language problem’ and this had an effect towards developing their literacy in relation to the new technologies. This has forced teachers to develop strategies for dealing with different literacy needs of socially and culturally diverse children. The teachers in the 21st century consider the literacy practices that are important in order to enable the children to meet the needs of the changing world. Moreover, the teachers continuously adopt new teaching techniques that much the current technology in order to enable the children to gain a better understanding of the new literacy. The 21st century requires constructive educational framework that equips children with knowledge that will enable them to appreciate the digital technologies as a means of improving their social and cultural lives. By adopting new teaching techniques the teachers are able to impact the new literacy to the children and reduce the effects associated with their diverse linguistic, cultural and social backgrounds (Fecho and Boyd, 2009). Reinking at el (2009) notes that literacy has been identified to have an impact on the social cultural background of the children. However, the technological transformation in the 21st century has a great effect on improving the literacy of the children in relation to their social and cultural backgrounds. Teachers utilize the children awareness and experiences of the technological transformations in order motivate the children to gain a deeper understanding of the technologies and hence this improves their literacy. The digital information improves the literacy of the children by serving them with the needed information. The new technology improves the children social learning by providing them with secondary classrooms where they can extend their learning activities. In addition, teachers utilize the digital technology so as to enable the children to shape their literacy by providing them with a means of defining their abilities and disabilities. Moreover, the teachers constantly encourage the children to use digital texts so as to connect their literacy with the results that are associated with a particular technological innovation. This is because technological innovations have an affect on both the culture and social backgrounds of the children. This acts as a good practical experience through which the children can connect their social cultural backgrounds and the technological innovations in order to improve their knowledge. Anyangwe (2012) holds the opinion that digital innovations must have a social and cultural meaning to the children for them to have an impact towards improving their literacy The new literacy enables children to create texts in order for them to survive socially. According to Carrington and Victoria (2009) possession of digital literacy enables children to adapt and cope to the wider social cultural environment. The 21st century digital technology provides children with a means of communicating with the society through the use of gestures and online texts. The texts construct given values and beliefs which characterize a particular social cultural environment (Harris, 2001). Teachers require the children to learn the new literacy so as to enable them utilize it in their social activities. Moreover, digital technologies provide children with an opportunity to carry out their technical skills. The new technologies provide an opportunity for children to express their technical capabilities and through this the children are able to create awareness pertaining to their cultural and social identities. The texts that the children make through the digital technology allow them to socially negotiate and position themselves in a way that indicates their technical competencies. The teachers converse the relationship between the different interrelated technologies in order to make it easy for the children to effectively utilize them in developing their digital knowledge. Furthermore, digital technologies make it possible for the children to master different cultures and through this they are able to position themselves in relation to other members of the society. Therefore, digital technologies provide children with an opportunity to learn the wider social context which is critical towards developing their literacy. Teachers in the 21st century use digital technology to train and educate children. According to Lytas, Pablos and Avison (2010) digital literacy involves all the technical characteristics of using information and communication technology. Teachers train the children how to communicate through the digital technologies in order to enable them meet the needs of the changing cultural and social environment. The teachers use the digital technologies to enable the children broaden their knowledge and this provides them with a means of understanding the social cultural impact of information and communication technologies. The new technologies improve the children knowledge in relation to their social culture as well as their integration with information and communication technologies. The 21st century is characterized by noteworthy changes in social culture due to the increased role of information technology. This means that children must possess the ability to receive and interpret different cultural patterns. In addition, they must be able to communicate and construct knowledge by using the digital technology. Spilka (2010) argues that the new literacy focuses on ensuring that children utilize digital technology in reading writing and communicating as well as in considering the impacts of this technology on the social and cultural values. Teachers create multiple texts using digital technologies in order to facilitate the children social learning. Alvermann (2010) emphasizes that with the increased access to digital technologies; children can increase their knowledge in matters pertaining to social and culture relationships. The new technologies provide children with an easy means of interacting with other people globally through communication. In conclusion, the new technology which characterizes the 21st century has provided teachers with a means of improving the children social cultural life by training them how to use the technologies to communicate and share ideas. The digital technology provides children with a source of information whereby they are able to shape themselves in regard to different global requirements. Moreover, digital technologies provide children with a medium through which they can communicate their social cultural identities. Teachers motivate the children to learn how to utilize the digital technology so as to make it possible for them to meet their social requirements as well the demands of the 21st world. References Anyangwe, E. (2012). 20 Ways of Thinking about Digital Literacy in Higher Education, Retrieved on 28 Aug 2012, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/may/15/digital-literacy-in-universities. Alvermann, D. (2010). Adolescents Online Literacies. New York, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. Carrington, P., & Robinson, M. (2009). Digital Literacies. London, Sage Publications Ltd. Fecho, B.,& Boyd, F.(2009). Supporting Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Children in English Education, Retrieved on 28 Aug 2012, from http://www.ncte.org/cee/positions/diversechildreninee. French, G. (2007). Children Early Learning and Development. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment,1(1), 1-13. Gillis, A., Luthin, K., Parette, H, & Blum, C.(2012). Using Voice Thread to Create Meaningful Receptive and Expressive Learning Activities for Young Children, Early Childhood Education, 10 (1), 203-211. Harris, P. (2001). Reading in the Primary School Years. Victoria: Thompson Social Science Press. Hill, P. (2010). An Australian Curriculum to Promote 21st Century, Retrieved 28 Aug 2012, from http://www.eqa.edu.au/site/anaustraliancurriculumtopromote21stcentury.html Parr, M., & Campbell, T.(2012). Understanding literacy as our world Inheritance: Re- Visionalizing Literacy Discourse and its Implications for Teaching Practice. International Review of Education, 58(4), 557-574. Pablos, P., & Avison, D. (2010). Technology Enhanced Learning. Berlin, Springer-Verlag. Perez, B., &McCarty, T. (2011). Social Cultural Contexts of Language and Literacy. New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Reinking, D., Mckenna, M., Labbo, D., & Kieffer, R. (2009). Handbook of Literacy and Technology. New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Spilka, R. (2010). Digital Literacy for Technical Communication. New York, Routledge. Read More