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What current research tells us about teaching, learning and multiple literacies:

1) Supported engagement with multiple literacies increases student success and motivation.

Hinchman, K. A., & Sheridan-Thomas, H. K. (Eds.). (2008). Best practices in adolescent literacy instruction. New York: Guilford Press.

A compilation of work by leading literacy scholars, this book offers research-based recommendations related to best practices, such as motivating students through engagement with multiple literacies. Additionally, best practices must account for "the impact of texts of all kinds (visual, print, digital, sound, multimodal, performance) on young people's identity-making practices and, especially, on how text mediates young people's perceptions of themselves as literate beings" (p. 15).

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Rush L. S., Eakle, A. J., & Berger, A. (Eds.). (2007). Secondary school literacy: What research reveals for classroom practice. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Expanding on recommendations in Reading Next, this book offers an overview of research and related classroom practices, including ways of engaging with new literacies and promoting student literacy learning through participatory learning.

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National Council of Teachers of English. (2004). A call to action: What we know about adolescent literacy and ways to support teachers in meeting students' needs. A position/action statement from NCTE's Commission on Reading, May, 2004.

This position statement uses research to argue that reading materials should "tap students' diverse interests and represent a range of difficulty." Adolescents benefit from sustained engagement with a wide range of texts.

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2) Multiple literacy practices are embedded in social understandings, and students may need help seeing themselves as readers and writers.

Moje, E. B., Overby, M., Tysvaer, N., & Morris, K. (2008). The complex world of adolescent literacy: Myths, motivations, and mysteries. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 107-154.

Social networks surround the ways adolescents read texts, and the embedded nature of these texts within networks enable adolescents to accrue social capital. Findings also suggest that mysteries remain about how to motivate students with active out-of-school literacies to engage with school literacy.

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3) Student choice and active participation increases adolescent literacy motivation.

Biancarosa, G., & Snow, C. (2004). Reading next: A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy. Report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Reading Next outlines fifteen key elements for supporting literacy learning, including providing access to diverse texts and motivating students through choice.

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Hinchman & Sheridan-Thomas (2008) Abstract:
Covering everything from day-to-day learning activities to schoolwide goals, this engaging book reviews key topics in literacy instruction for grades 5-12 and provides research-based recommendations for practice. Leading scholars present culturally responsive strategies for motivating adolescents; using multiple texts and digital media; integrating literacy instruction with science, social studies, and math; and teaching English language learners and struggling readers. Vivid case studies, thoughtful discussion questions and activities in each chapter, and detailed ideas for program and lesson planning make this an indispensable classroom resource and professional development tool. (Guilford Press)

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Rush, Eakle, Berger (2007) Abstract:

The fourth volume in a series begun over 50 years ago, this collection is an authoritative resource that draws on the knowledge and expertise of outstanding scholars and provides crucial information about research, theory, and practice related to secondary school literacy.

Leading scholars, along with newer researchers in literacy education, address topics such as the impact of state and federal mandates on literacy instruction in secondary classrooms, English language learners, and online reading comprehension. Chapter authors include Richard L. Allington, Donna E. Alvermann, Kathleen A. Hinchman, Robert T. Jiménez, Kevin M. Leander, Alfred W. Tatum, and Robert J. Tierney, among others.

Each chapter contains rich discussions of current research as well as practical classroom applications. As one reviewer noted, "Each and every chapter is well-documented and presents clearly established implications for teaching tied to the latest research findings. One of the major strengths of this edited volume lies in the way it points to a remarkable consistency across research findings representing a broad spectrum of disciplinary arenas.

This volume is a welcome addition for any teacher, administrator, or district looking to implement sound research-based classroom practice and professional development. Endorsed by the National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy (NCRLL).

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NCTE (2004) Abstract:
In effective schools, classroom conversations about how, why, and what we read are important parts of the literacy curriculum (Applebee, 1996: Schoenbach, Greenleaf, Cziko & Hurwitz, 1999). In fact, discussion-based approaches to academic literacy content are strongly linked to student achievement (Applebee, Langer, Nystrand, and Gamoran, 2003). However, high stakes testing, such as high school exit exams, is not only narrowing the content of the literacy curriculum, but also constraining instructional approaches to reading (Amrein & Berliner, 2002; Madaus, 1998) Limited, "one right answer" or "main idea" models of reading run counter to recent research findings, which call for a richer, more engaged approach to literacy instruction (Campbell, Donahue, Reese & Phillips, 1996; Taylor et al., 1999).

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Moje et al (2008) Abstract:
In this article, Elizabeth Birr Moje, Melanie Overby, Nicole Tysvaer, and Karen Morris challenge some of the prevailing myths about adolescents and their choices related to reading. The reading practices of youth from one urban community are examined using mixed methods in an effort to define what, how often, and why adolescents choose to read. By focusing on what features of texts youth find motivating, the authors find that reading and writing frequently occur in a range of literacy contexts outside school. However, only reading novels on a regular basis outside of school is shown to have a positive relationship to academic achievement as measured by school grades. This article describes how adolescents read texts that are embedded in social networks, allowing them to build social capital. Conclusions are framed in terms of the mysteries that remain-namely, how to build on what motivates adolescents' literacy practices in order to both promote the building of their social selves and improve their academic outcomes.

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Lenhart et al (2008 - Pew Internet Study) Abstract:
Teens write a lot, but they do not think of their emails, instant and text messages as writing. This disconnect matters because teens believe good writing is an essential skill for success and that more writing instruction at school would help them.

Summary of Findings:

1. Even though teens are heavily embedded in a tech-rich world, they do not believe that communication over the internet or text messaging is writing.

2. The impact of technology on writing is hardly a frivolous issue because most believe that good writing is important to teens' future success.

3. Teens are motivated to write by relevant topics, high expectations, an interested audience and opportunities to write creatively.

4. Writing for school is a nearly every-day activity for teens, but most assignments are short.

5. Teens believe that the writing instruction they receive in school could be improved. Non-school writing, while less common than school writing, is still widespread among teens.

6. Multi-channel teens and gadget owners do not write any more - or less - than their counterparts, but bloggers are more prolific.

7. Teens more often write by hand for both out-of-school writing and school work.

8. As tech-savvy as they are, teens do not believe that writing with computers makes a big difference in the quality of their writing.

9. Parents are generally more positive than their teen children about the effect of computers and text-based communication tools on their child's writing.

10. Teens enjoy non-school writing, and to a lesser extent, the writing they do for school.

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Greenleaf et al (2001) Abstract:
Throughout the United States, concern is growing among educators about the numbers of students in secondary schools who do not read well. In response, committed and well-meaning educators are increasingly advocating remedial reading courses for struggling adolescent readers. In this article, Cynthia Greenleaf, Ruth Schoenbach, Christine Cziko, and Faye Mueller offer an alternative vision to remedial reading instruction. The authors describe an instructional framework - Reading Apprenticeship - that is based on a socially and cognitively complex conception of literacy, and examine an Academic Literacy course based on this framework. Through case studies of student reading and analyses of student survey and test score data, they demonstrate that academically underperforming students became more strategic, confident, and knowledgeable readers in the Academic Literacy course. Students in Academic Literacy gained on average what is normally two years of reading growth within one academic year on a standardized test of reading comprehension. Student reflections, interviews, and pre-post surveys from Academic Literacy revealed students' new conceptions of reading for understanding, their growing interest in reading books and favorite authors, their increasing repertoires of strategies for approaching academic reading, and their emerging confidence in themselves as readers and thinkers. They argue for investing resources and effort into demystifying academic reading for their students through ongoing, collaborative inquiry into reading and texts, while providing students with protected time for reading and access to a variety of attractive texts linked to their curriculum. This approach can move students beyond the "literacy ceiling" to increased understanding, motivation, opportunity, and agency as readers and learners. These findings challenge the current policy push for remedial reading programs for poor readers, and invite further research into what factors create successful reading instruction programs for secondary school students. (pp. 79-129)

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This in-depth interview study of the schooling experiences of 120 First Nations, American Indian, and Alaska Native students contributes to understandings of their literacy motivation, highlighting tensions between their insights on literacy learning and literacy practices implicated by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Finds that students need intrinsic motivation for learning literacy consistent with their own curiosities, need for self-expression and identity construction, participation in authentic literacy events, display of competence, and links to lived-world issues. However, given NCLB mandates, teachers often ignore these students' need for intrinsic motivation, leading to students' sense of alienation from the school world. Yet as these Native students report, intrinsic motivation (1) opens up space for them to learn in ways that are congruent with their own of being, (2) provides real audiences and purposes to express those ways of being, (3) shows paths for identity construction through literacy, and (4) constructs two-way bridges to the mainstream world.

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Biancarosa & Snow (2004) Abstract:
Reading Next is a cutting-edge report that combines the best research currently available with well-crafted strategies for turning that research into practice. Informed by five of the nation's leading researchers, Reading Next charts an immediate route to improving adolescent literacy. The authors outline 15 key elements of an effective literacy intervention, and call on public and private stakeholders to invest in the literacy of middle and high school students today, while simultaneously building the knowledge base. (www.all4ed.org)

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Guthrie (2001) Abstract:

Engaged reading is a merger of motivation and thoughtfulness. Engaged readers seek to understand; they enjoy learning and they believe in their reading abilities. They are mastery oriented, intrinsically motivated, and have self-efficacy. Classroom contexts can promote engaged reading. Teachers create contexts for engagement when they provide prominent knowledge goals, real-world connections to reading, meaningful choices about what, when, and how to read, and interesting texts that are familiar, vivid, important, and relevant. Teachers can further engagement by teaching reading strategies. A coherent classroom fuses these qualities." This article draws on work published in the chapter Wigfield and Guthrie coauthored for the Handbook of Reading Research: Volume III and in an article on the development of concept-oriented reading instruction for Educational Psychology Review.

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Oldfather (1994) Abstract:

Teachers' responsiveness to and empathic understanding of students' perceptions when they are not motivated are critical in a) promoting students' ownership of the literacy learning agenda; b) in helping students with their motivational difficulties; and c) in establishing classrooms that focus on the enhancement of caring. This report of an interpretive study, conducted in a 5th/6th-grade whole language classroom, provides insights about students' thoughts, feelings, and actions when not motivated for literacy tasks, and examines students' subjective experiences in three different motivational situations. The study offers clues about the affective and cognitive processes that enable some students to become engaged in literacy activities and prevent others from beginning them. It argues that a responsive classroom culture that honors students' voices may enhance students' ownership of literacy learning and alleviate feelings of anger, anxiety, alienation, and powerlessness.

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What Do We Know about Multiple Literacies?

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Back to main "What We Know" page ] [ Back to Squire Office Home Page ] What current research tells us about teaching, learning and multiple literacies: 1) Supported engagement with multiple literacies increases student success and motivation. Hinchman, K. A., & Sheridan-Thomas, H. K. (Eds.). (2008). Best practices in adolescent literacy instruction.

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Create and share assignments aligned to College and Career Readiness standards with LDC CoreTools

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The Impact of Reading a Screen vs. Print

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The Impact of Reading a Screen vs. Print

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For centuries, literacy has referred to the ability to read and write. Today, we get most of our information through an interwoven system of media technologies. The ability to read many types of media

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TEDxKC - Michael Wesch - From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able

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5 Ways that 20th and 21st Century Learning Will Differ

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5 Ways that 20th and 21st Century Learning Will Differ

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How will teaching and learning in the early 21st century differ from its 20th century predecessor? Some shifts are already well underway. These include the growing embrace of open educational resources and of courses collaboratively designed and developed by teams including content area specialists, educational technologists, and instructional designers. Peer mentoring and grading are becoming more common, as is a gradual shift toward learner-centered pedagogies and competency-based, outcomes-oriented approaches.

Alongside these developments are five far-reaching developments.
1. A 21st century education will be geared toward 100 percent proficiency.
A basic assumption of 20th century education was that not all students were capable of achieving a minimal viable competency. Course grades provided an overarching measure of proficiency. Intended as a motivating tool and a measure of students' performance on various assessments, grades also embodied the assumption that one of college's primary purposes is to rank students in terms of their academic accomplishments and their mastery of relevant skills and knowledge.

The growing prevalence of grading rubrics is a sign that faculty members were becoming more explicit about clearly delineating learning objectives and articulating performance standards. As higher education moves toward a heightened emphasis on learning outcomes, higher education will focus more attentively on the ways we can help all students master the skills and competencies that we seek.
2. It will rest on the science of learning.
Recent research in neuroscience, cognitive and developmental psychology, and assessment has taught us a great deal about student learning, and instructors will increasingly be expected to apply these findings to improve their teaching. Among the evidence-based concepts which can help instructors enhance students' motivation, memory, attention, and cognitive processing are these:

Cognitive Flexibility: A student's mental plasticity increases when the student is aware of multiple, alternative, or conflicting points of view. Learners' motivation, learning, and intellectual suppleness increases when they must explain a contradiction or anomaly, fill a gap in knowledge, or overcome an impasse.

Cognitive Load: Learners' ability to process information diminishes when confronted with too much information at once. Instructor can facilitate student learning by eliminating extraneous information or excessive numbers of points to assimilate.

Generation Effect: Learning is enhanced when learners produce explanations rather than simply regurgitate answers on a test.

Grounded Cognition: Concepts grounded in real-world experience or examples are much more likely to be retained than concepts expressed abstractly.

Higher-Order Thinking: Deeper understanding is elicited when students are asked to apply concepts, synthesize information, make predictions, form generalizations, or evaluate interpretations, than when they are asked to recall information.

Mental Modeling: Learning requires students to construct a framework of conceptual understanding which gives intellectual coherence to a body of material. Instructors can help learners construct mental models by asking them to offer causal explanations and provide justifications or rationales.

Metacognition: Metacognition refers to self-awareness of one's own thought processes. It also involves the ability to monitor comprehension and accurately evaluate one's mastery of material. Strategies for encouraging metacognition include asking students to respond to reflective questions; recounting their thought processes as they attempt to solve a problem; and making graphic representations of their thoughts and knowledge, for example, by drawing concept maps.

Multiple Delivery Modes: Information is better remembered when it is delivered in multiple ways (orally, visually, and through activities) rather than when it is delivered in a single form.

Narrative Learning: Stories tend to produce higher levels of comprehension and memory than other forms of instruction precisely because narratives are engaging and give coherence and structure to abstract concepts.

Organization Effect: Learning increases when learners are asked to categorize, outline, or synthesize information.

Regulatory Fit: Students with a prevention focus are especially sensitive to negative outcomes and seek to avoid errors, while students with a promotion focus are more sensitive to positive outcomes. Learning is enhanced when there is congruence between the activity or assessment and the students' goal orientation.

Spaced Learning: Long-term retention of information is greater when it is spaced out over time rather than concentrated in a single lesson.

Testing Effect: Frequent low-stakes testing keeps students focused and helps learners more accurately assess their command of a particular topic or body of material.

Testing Expectations: How well students perform on an assessment, and how well they are able to retrieve information or apply concepts, depends on their expectations of the nature and difficulty of the assessment. According to the concept of stereotype threat, learners underperform whenever they assume that a person like them tends to perform poorly on a particular test or challenge.

3. It will be data-driven.
Courses taught at scale will give us unprecedented insights into how students learn. Embedded assessments will allow us to better understand how students navigate the learning experience and interact with the course material. We will better be able to identify gaps in learners' understanding and confusions shared by groups of students. We will learn more than we ever have about the differences between successful and unsuccessful students, and what successful learners do to master a specific skills or concept. In addition, data will enhance our understanding of how students respond to different pedagogical strategies.
4. It will be personalized.
Just as marketing, retailing, journalism, and entertainment programming have become more personalized, so, too, will higher education. Courses will become more individualized as instructors embrace adaptive learning, which will customize students' learning pathways. Courses with embedded diagnostics will offer just-in-time remediation and enrichment activities to students, while learning dashboards will allow instructors, coaches, and advisers to intervene with real-time data.
5. It will take advantage of technology in ways that truly enhance the learning experience.
Narrated PowerPoint slides accompanied by multiple choice quizzes have just begun to give way to next generation technologies.

These technologies will allow for learning anytime, anywhere. These technologies are connectivist, facilitating interaction of students to other learners, instructors and coaches, and experts.

These technologies also enable forms of active learning impossible in a traditional classroom, giving students access to simulations and educational games and to collaborative environments allowing them to create multimedia content which can be shared with others.

Equally important, these technologies will collect the data that make personalized adaptive learning possible, while improving student advising and support services.
Steven Mintz is the Executive Director of the University of Texas System's Institute for Transformational Learning and a Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin.

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Five Ways that 21st and 20th Century Learning Will Differ | Higher Ed Gamma

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How will teaching and learning in the early 21st century differ from its 20th century predecessor? Some shifts are already well underway. These include the growing embrace of open educational resources and of courses collaboratively designed and developed by teams including content area specialists, educational technologists, and instructional designers.

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Connecting with students in the digital age requires creative thinking from educators who are willing to do more than the status quo. This free guide explores practical tactics and real life examples on how you can use innovation to boost your teaching.

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Browse teaching resources for higher-education that you can use in your classes and lecture halls, Top Hat provides the best in guides, templates, webinars and more to enable you to become a better educator, more resourceful and more equipped in the digital-age.

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There is no question that the students have changed over the past decade. Every generation uses different slang and has new fashions, but the differences in today's students go deeper. Today's students explore their world in an entirely new way as they interact with new technologies. With these new technologies, they speak an entirely different language, one they expect us to understand. In his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Marc Prensky (2001) presents two new terms that can be used to describe both ourselves and the students we advise.

The first concept Prensky describes is that of the Digital Native. The current generation of college students is the first to grow up immersed in technology. They have always had the Internet, laptops, cell phones with text messaging, AIM , DVD Facebook™ or MySpace™, PlayStations™, digital cameras, players, blogs, and any other number of digital technologies that allow them to instantly capture or communicate with their world. They use these tools as extensions of their bodies and minds, fluidly incorporating them into their daily routines (Prensky, 2005). They have learned the language of technology as they communicate instantly with their peers. These students, like all Natives, adapt quickly to changes in their environment and look for new ways to incorporate the latest technology into their fast-paced lives.

On the other hand is the Digital Immigrant. The Digital Immigrant is the latecomer in the technology revolution and as with any immigrant, there is a certain "accent" that is readily apparent to the native speakers. Examples of this "accent" are things like calling and asking someone if a recipient received the email that was just sent, typing out text messages with full words rather than the standard abbreviations ( OMG ur my bff!), or going to the library before searching the Internet. Digital Immigrants still try and work around or second guess technology, while the Digital Natives know no other way. It is important to understand the differences between ourselves as the Immigrants and our students as the Natives. When we teach and advise our students using a language different than our own, we should not wonder that they aren't listening!

One major difference between Natives and Immigrants is the way we process information. Natives retrieve information and communicate with their peers very quickly (Prensky, 2001). Text messaging has become a primary form of communication because messages can be sent and received quickly in situations where a phone call cannot be taken. Whether the student is in lecture, at work, or out with friends, a text message can be sent with little disruption. A professor would certainly get upset with a student who took a phone call in the middle of lecture, but probably doesn't even notice the student sending a text message. Through texting, Facebook, and use of the Internet as a search tool, students access information right now, sift through what they need, and ignore the rest. Why should students go to the library when they can Google™ their topic and have a thousand different articles at their fingertips? Why call friends when their Facebook pages will tell me where they are and what they are planning to do tonight? Just a few seconds and I know everything I need to about my social network.

Our students have honed their skills in retrieving and analyzing information rapidly, so why don't we advise and teach in the same way? Should we wonder why students are bored during lectures that supply information one topic at a time and move at a snail's pace? While Immigrants grew up learning one topic at a time, everything in order, following a linear and logical progression, but Natives do not think that way. They are adept at jumping from idea to idea as they think of things; they explore their world as burst thinkers. Natives can study with the TV on and their iPod blasting in one ear; they have been practicing these multitasking skills their entire lives. Immigrants often believe that students can not learn in that sort of environment. It's another example of the "accent" that Immigrants carry with them.

Another major difference between Immigrants and Natives is a sense of identity (DigitalNative.org, 2007). To Digital Immigrants, cell phones, emails, and the Internet are just tools that can be used to reach someone or set up a "real" face-to-face meeting. Natives look at the same technologies and see an extension of who they are. Each method of communication allows Natives to harness a different set of capabilities and skills when communicating with others. Texting may be better for communicating one idea, while Facebook might be better for the next thing. Regardless of which medium is used, they are part of who the Native is, not just a separate tool that can be used to create a "real" meeting. Digital communication is just as real to Natives as face-to-face meetings are to Immigrants.

Our students look to us to incorporate these new technologies into our advising practice. Students increasingly want to contact us via email, text messaging, and instant messaging rather than meet with us in our offices. We may not think that the same level of interaction and connection can be achieved in digital advising, but that is our "accent" showing. We must remember that students feel that a digital meeting is just as real as an office meeting, and they take away the same meaning and feeling as from an office meeting. If we only offer services in ways in which we are comfortable, then students may never feel that we are meeting them at their level. How can we practice developmental advising if we will not expand our comfort zones?Are we helping students when we force them to meet us in the same manner? Or, are we holding them back?

How do we bridge the gap between Natives and Immigrants? There are strategies we can employ that will help us reach our Native students. First, we should step out of our comfort zones and meet our students where they are. We should realize that Natives are many steps ahead of us when it comes to technology and they know it. We should be willing to laugh at our "accents" and move on. Listen to what students tell us about how technology can be beneficial to how we conduct our lives, work with them, and value their knowledge.

Place more importance on howwe communicate over what we communicate. Immigrants think in a straight line, presenting information one topic at a time. Today's students engage in multiple thoughts, ideas, and programs at the same time. In addition to following a Power Point lecture, they search for a topic online while actively discussing the topic with their peers, all with music playing in the background. Students need to actively multi-task to hold their interest in the material that we present. As one student said "there's so much difference between how teachers think and how students think" (Prensky, 2007).

Along with that idea is the fact that this generation is far more comfortable sharing and teaching each other than any previous generation (Prensky, 2007). These students often post intimate details and pictures online for anyone to peruse. A quick look through Facebook will find any number of drunken party pictures, images of sadness and loneliness, and thoughts that we would be mortified to release to even our closest friends. Most Immigrants cannot handle that level of openness and lack of privacy. We need to be aware that students are certainly willing to talk and share what they know with us. They know we are often unwilling to share, but they do ask that we listen. They want to teach and learn from each other, but often aren't given the chance to do so because Immigrants view themselves as the "expert." We can no longer decide forour students, but instead we must decide with them (Prensky, 2005). Students today have a whole new set of needs, and require an entirely new approach in terms of advising. We need to work with them so we can learn their language and help them make sound decisions.

Many Immigrants consider education as the process that forces as much information into students' heads as possible so they can regurgitate a laundry list of facts at a moment's notice. Natives do not consider this an education. To Natives, education involves anything that prepares them for their future (Prensky, July 2007). Natives do not see the need to memorize information as much as the need to know where information can be found and how to retrieve it. This definition is supported by the many instant gratification avenues such as YouTube™, IM, chat rooms, social networking sites, and WiFi hand-held PDA's with instant Internet access. Why should students memorize when they can browse? Why learn math tables when everyone has access to a calculator? Immigrants should be willing to teach Natives how to find important information and put less emphasis on forcing the students to learn exact information.

Finally Natives know that we are not as comfortable or familiar with technology as they are. They may spend time researching the next big Facebook program, the next iPod revolution, and the next big step in cell phones, but they don't expect this of us. They do expect us to at least know what they are referring to and be willing to incorporate some of the new technologies in our advising. They want to share the volumes of information that they have about technology and programming with us, if we will just listen to them. They know they may have to speak slowly, but they are learning our "accent" as we are learning theirs.

Academic Advisor

Digital Natives (November, 2006) In Digital Natives Wiki. Retrieved from

http://www.digitalnative.org/Main_Page

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There is no question that the students have changed over the past decade. Every generation uses different slang and has new fashions, but the differences in today's students go deeper. Today's students explore their world in an entirely new way as they interact with new technologies.

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Don't let the word "digital" fool you in all this talk about how difficult it is for digital natives and digital immigrants to communicate. The truth is that this generational gap between the so-called digital natives (the generation of people born during or after the rise of digital technologies) and the digital immigrants (people born before the advent of digital technology) doesn't actually have to do with technology. The real issue is that the two worldviews that they represent are so different.

Digital natives view the world horizontally, in equalitarian terms. Rather than dividing the world into hierarchies, they see everyone as existing on an equal level. They embrace the benefits of sharing things and ideas with each other and, in doing so, they cross boundaries. They are driven by values. For this reason, many of them are distrustful of traditional cultural and social institutions: marriage, religion, government. In opting out of these institutions, they have declared themselves microsegments of one -- free agents.

The advantage of a digital native's worldview is the genuine democracy and equality that comes out of their rejection of centralized and control based forms of governance. The downside is that they're unlikely to build anything that requires intensive capital, tangled complexity or tremendous magnitude -- going to the moon, curing cancer, recreating the power grid: large-scale projects that need vertical organization by goal-oriented, focused people.

Where digital natives imagine a world with little institutional structure and open access to people of diverse backgrounds, the culture of digital immigrants is a meritocracy. Typically a more aggressive, competitive and results-obsessed generation, they are often seen as cutthroat by their younger associates. The advantage here is productivity: digital immigrants are goal oriented as opposed to the value orientation of the digital natives. While they have the ability to get things done quickly they may overlook the long term consequences of their actions. Workaholics are not an uncommon manifestation of this win at all costs world view.

The paradox here is that digital immigrants, for the most part, invented the complex technologies and systems that digital natives use fluently -- the Internet, microchips and the ubiquitous cloud comes to mind. In this way, digital natives and digital immigrants must grow to work together and learn from each other.

What can digital natives teach digital immigrants?

To collaborate across boundaries, with a variety of people

To make a place in life for values

To build solutions that are horizontal

What can digital immigrants teach digital natives?

To achieve goals quickly

To use focused resources in building things to scale

To revitalize or repurpose existing institutions

Think about this: Digital immigrants may have invented the technologies that digital natives use but didn't accurately anticipate how they would use them. For example, text messaging (SMS) was developed in the 1980s as an easy way for service engineers to quickly communicate regarding outages and replacement parts. It would have been unimaginable then that young people would chat and twitter using the service instead of talking on the phone. It is the combination of the two world views that has produced for better or worse a new form of communication and multibillion-dollar industry. If we allow an opening for an ongoing dialogue between these two generations, we can all achieve things that we wouldn't otherwise be able to do.
The irony is that, eventually, we will come full circle: The children of digital natives will act like digital immigrants. This is just how things work: We see the world differently from the people who came before us. Generations are simply oppositional in nature. But they don't have to be at odds with each other. It's about talking with and learning from people who you normally wouldn't work with, who don't see things the way you do. What will you do to start a dialogue with a generational stranger, your digital other?

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Don't let the word "digital" fool you in all this talk about how difficult it is for digital natives and digital immigrants to communicate. The truth is that this generational gap between the so-called digital natives (the generation of people born during or after the rise of digital technologies) and the digital immigrants (people born before the advent of digital technology) doesn't actually have to do with technology.

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Access and Evaluate Information Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources) Evaluate information critically and competently Use and

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Diana Laufenberg: How to learn? From mistakes

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Diana Laufenberg shares three surprising things she has learned about teaching -- including a key insight about learning from mistakes.

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What it Means to be Literate in the 21st Century

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What it Means to be Literate in the 21st Century

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The definition of literacy is being revamped to include twenty-first century technologies, and to include the needs of twenty-first century learners.

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Information Literacy and Engaging the 21st Century Learner -- 3rd edition

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Digital literacy, research skills, and other information literacy skills are essential for today's learners. This video explains why these literacies are essential and demonstrates several tools available to educators to help promote these literacies. (This video was prepared as part of a Web portfolio.)

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An introduction to 21st century literacy...

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Some big ideas around 21st century skills and teaching with technology. Originally created as a summary of the ASB Unplugged Conference in Mumbai, India 2010. Compiles thoughts from leaders in tech education and explores the big topics of conversation around what the 21st century classroom looks like.

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Some big ideas around 21st century skills and teaching with technology. Originally created as a summary of the ASB Unplugged Conference in Mumbai, India 2010. Compiles thoughts from leaders in tech education and explores the big topics of conversation around what the 21st century classroom looks like.

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Sir Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms

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In this talk from RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools' dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. An important, timely talk for parents and teachers.