Reflecting on New Literacies in Today's Classroom

As a middle school teacher, when I contemplate the implementation of technology in the classroom, it is apparent that in order to be competitive with students across the globe, many new literacy skills need to be mastered by today’s students. Dr. Leu, et al. have identified five functions of new literacies: generating important questions or problems to be solved, locating relevant information, critically evaluating the usefulness of that information, synthesizing information to address those questions or problems, and communicating possible solutions to others (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007).

One revelation I recently had when taking a course in online inquiry was how much emphasis should be placed on the development of questions before students begin the research process. Kuhlthau (2007) states that the failure of project based learning is that students focus more on the product than on the learning process. This is the case many times with my students. At their maturity level, they do not spend enough time searching for the right information. Many times they will search once for the needed information, but then quit before making sure their research is thorough. They forget the word is “REsearch.” In any case, constructing solid questions in the inquiry process is crucial when guiding their inquiry projects.

In the past, I have been somewhat unsure how to guide students through developing their questions. We use the KWL method where students ask themselves, “What do I know?”; “What do I want to learn?”; and “What did I learn?” (Kuhlthau, 2007). The problem lies in creating solid questions, which will result in valid research. I still prefer to use projects to help motivate students and feel the KWL method is successful as well. However, the challenge still remains to help students with their questions.

One professional goal that I have is to focus my efforts in the classroom on helping students master the art of constructing solid questions. One tool that I plan on implementing is in the “Handouts” section of Reading the Web (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007). First, students will use Handout Q-1 (Eagleton & Dobler, p. 98) which we would go over as a class in order to illustrate good questioning for the students. Students will then develop their own guide and have a partner answer whether the questions are good and their thinking. It is my goal to teach my students how to be smart researchers. Not only is the product important, the process is as well.

References

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st century. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Leu, D. J., Kinzer, C. K., Coiro, J. L., & Cammack, D. W. (2004). Toward a theory of new literacies emerging from the internet and other information and communication technologies. In Ruddell, R.B. & Unrau, N.J., (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed.). (pp. 1570–1613). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.