Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum PDF

Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum Josephine Calisay-Bermudez 1  Table of Contents Module 5. Cyber Literacy / Digital Literacy Introduction 21 Learning Outcome...

Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum Josephine Calisay-Bermudez 1  Table of Contents Module 5. Cyber Literacy / Digital Literacy Introduction 21 Learning Outcomes 21 Lesson 1. Meaning of Cyber Literacy / Digital Literacy 22 Lesson 2. Applications of Digital Literacy 22 Lesson 3. Digital Competences 23 Module 6. Eco-Literacy Introduction 26 Learning Outcomes 26 Lesson 1. Meaning of Eco-Literacy 27 Lesson 2. People as Environmentally Literate 27 Lesson 3. Eco-literate 27 Lesson 4. Five (5) Practice in Eco-literacy 28 Module 7. Arts and Creativity Literacy Introduction 32 Learning Outcomes 32 Lesson 1. Meaning of Arts and Creativity Literacy 33 Lesson 2. Benefits of Arts and Creative Literacy 33 Lesson 3: Arts and Creativity as 21st century skills 33 Module 8. From ‘Reading’ to ‘New’ Literacies Introduction 38 Learning Outcomes 38 Lesson 1. The Background of New Literacies 38 Lesson 2. The Development of New Literacies 40 Lesson 3. The Pragmatic Sense of ‘New’ Literacies 41 2  MODULE 5 CYBER LITERACY / DIGITAL LITERACY Introduction This competency is based on the reality that societies and workplaces have now become more information-driven. Workplaces of the 21st century rely heavily on electronic (digital) forms of data storage and management as well as in the area of communications. Teachers and students need to develop familiarity and skills in the use of computers, the internet and other information technologies (GURO 21, 2020). As the world experiences this world pandemic termed as COVID -19 pandemic, the societal changes in socio, economic, political, health, education and religious orientations and transactions plunged the world into the new coined word called New Normal. The communication line of people is now averted to digital or cyber instead of the face-to face presentation (GURO 21, 2020). The days were gone when people assert their identities through the much needed forthright interactions. Today, people assert their individuality through connections to the internet and the world wide web. People are now subjected , or shall we say, forced to implicitly express their presence and relay their thoughts through on- line or digital mode. Economic transactions are fuelled by electronic devises. Government and other business related offices connect to constituents through Zoom, Moodle and other video conferencing applications of the internet. The world has changed much. Education must cope up and change, too, in order to survive. 21  Learning Outcomes At the end of this module, students should be able to: 1. Define the meaning of Cyber Literacy / Digital Literacy; 2. Identify the application of digital literacy; and 3. State the different digital competencies. Lesson 1. Meaning of Cyber Literacy / Digital Literacy Cyber Literacy / Digital Literacy is the capacity to use digital technology, communication devices or networks to locate, analyze, use and produce information (Seen Magazine, n.d). It is the ability to read, write and clarify media, to replicate data and visuals through digital manipulation, and to assess and implement new knowledge gained from digital environments. Because Digital Literacy has a tremendous impact on children, we must not forget the digital divide, those who have access to the Internet and those who do not. Many students rely on the schools and public libraries for access, which may limit their quest to become digitally literate (Seen Magazine, n.d). Lesson 2. Applications of Digital Literacy Schools are continuously updating their curricula to keep up with accelerating technological developments. This often includes computers in the classroom, the use of educational software to teach curricula, and course materials being made available to students online. Students are often taught literacy skills such as how to verify credible sources online, cite web sites, and prevent plagiarism. Google and Wikipedia are frequently used by 22 students "for everyday life research," and are just two common tools that facilitate modern education (Seen Magazine, n.d). Digital technology has impacted the way material is taught in the classroom. With the use of technology rising over the past decade, educators are altering traditional forms of teaching to include course material on concepts related to digital literacy (Seen Magazine, n.d). Educators have also turned to social media platforms to communicate and share ideas with one another. New standards have been put into place as digital technology has augmented classrooms, with many classrooms being designed to use smart boards and audience response systems in replacement of traditional chalkboards or whiteboards. “The development of Teacher’s Digital Competence (TDC) should start in initial teacher training, and continue throughout the following years of practice. All this with the purpose of using Digital Technologies (DT) to improve teaching and professional development.” (Ed Gov, n.d.) Lesson 3. Digital Competencies According to Education Corner (n.d.), these areas are based on the knowledge and skills people have to acquire to be a digital literate person are the following: General knowledge and functional skills. Knowing the basics of digital devices and using them for elementary purposes. Use in everyday life. Being able to integrate digital technologies into the activities in everyday life. Specialized and advanced competence for work and creative expression. Being able to use ICT to express your creativity and improve your professional performance. Technology mediated communication and collaboration. Being able to connect, share, communicate, and collaborate with others effectively in a digital environment. Information processing and management. Using technology to improve your ability to gather, analyze and judge the relevance and purpose of digital information. Privacy and security. Being able to protect your privacy and take appropriate security measures. 23  Legal and ethical aspects. Behaving appropriately and in a socially responsible way in the digital environment and being aware of the legal and ethical aspects on the use of ICT. Balanced attitude towards technology. Demonstrating an informed, open-minded, and balanced attitude towards information society and the use of digital technologies. Understanding and awareness of role of ICT in society. Understanding the broader context of use and development of ICT. Learning about and with digital technologies. Exploring emerging technologies and integrating them. Informed decisions on appropriate digital technologies. Being aware of most relevant or common technologies. Seamless use demonstrating self-efficacy. Confidently and creatively applying digital technologies to increase personal and professional effectiveness and efficiency. The competencies mentioned are based on each other. Competencies A, B, and C are the basic knowledge and skills a person has to have to be a fully digital literate person. When these three competences are acquired you can build upon this knowledge and those skills to build the other competences. Assessment Task 1. Make an Infomercial Video and this shall be saved on your Google Drive and the link to be sent to [email protected] with the hashtag “#BeCyberDigitalLiterate“. The video content is about a campaign on how to be responsible internet users and become cyber / digital literate in the world of social media. 24  Summary Cyber Literacy / Digital Literacy is the capacity to use digital technology, communication devices or networks to locate, analyze, use and produce information. Application of Digital Literacy has impacted the way material is taught in the classroom. With the use of technology rising over the past decade, educators are altering traditional forms of teaching to include course material on concepts related to digital literacy. These areas are based on the knowledge and skills people have to acquire to be a digital literate person are the following: (1) general knowledge and functional skills; (2) use in everyday life; (3) specialized and advanced competence for work and creative expression; (4) technology mediated communication and collaboration; (5) information processing and management; (6) privacy and security. legal and ethical aspects; (7) balanced attitude towards technology; (8) learning about and with digital technologies;(9) informed decisions on appropriate digital technologies; and (10) seamless use demonstrating self-efficacy. References: GURO 21 (2020) – Getting Up Responsible and Outstanding Teachers in Southeast Asia for the 21st Century. http://iflex.innotech.org/GURO21/ Education Corner (n.d.). https://www.educationcorner.com/importance-digital-literacy-k- 12.html Ed Gov. (n.d.). https://www.ed.gov/oii-news/use-technology-teaching-and-learning Seen Magazine (n.d.). www.seenmagazine.us 25  MODULE 6 ECO-LITERACY Introduction This module entails acquiring knowledge about climate change, pollution, loss of natural habitats and biodiversity as well as the impacts of environmental problems on human lives. Moreover, solutions on how these environmental problems could be addressed and measures for conservation must be practiced. Teachers and students need to develop awareness of the environment. (GURO 21, 2020). Similarly, the issues on environmental concerns have been spreading through the decades. The human population is becoming aware of the importance of world eco-literacy due to both the non- governmental and governmental organizations environmental drive and initiatives to save planet earth. The educational institutions must be concerned about educating the young people or the students to environmental issues and in so doing will reflect personal desire to act on concrete interventions or plans to address the problem. Learning Outcomes At the end of this module, students should be able to: 1. Define the meaning of Eco-Literacy; 2. Determine and identify the environmentally literate people and the five (5) practices in eco-literacy; and 26  3. Make concrete plan of actions to participate individually in the conservation of natural resources and how to be active in the drive to save mother earth. Lesson 1. Meaning of Eco-Literacy Eco-Literacy is the ability to demonstrate proficiency of the environment and the conditions affecting it, especially as it applies to climate, land, air, energy, food, water and our ecosystems. It means students: Understand society’s influence on population growth, development, resource consumption growth and much more. Study and assess environmental issues, and make precise conclusions about beneficial solutions (Medium, 2017). Lesson 2. People as Environmentally Literate Take both independent and communal action towards tackling challenges such as participating in global endeavors, and creating solutions that encourage action on environmental issues (Seen Magazine, n.d.). Environmentally literate people are: 10 percent more likely to conserve energy in the home 10 percent more likely to obtain environmentally safe products 50 percent more likely to recycle 50 percent more likely to avoid using chemicals in yard care Ninety-five percent of American adults (95 percent are parents) believe environmental education should be taught in schools. Lesson 3. Eco-literate “Eco-literate” is our shorthand for the end goal of this kind of learning, and raising Eco literate students requires a process that we call “socially and emotionally engaged Eco literacy”—a process that, we believe, offers an antidote to the fear, anger, and hopelessness that can result from inaction. As we saw in Wright-Albertini’s classroom as cited by Goleman, 27 Bennett,  Barlow (2013), the very act of engaging in some of today’s great ecological challenges—on whatever scale is possible or appropriate—develops strength, hope, and resiliency in young people. Eco-literacy is founded on a new integration of emotional, social, and ecological intelligence—forms of intelligence popularized by Five Ways to Develop Ecoliteracy. (Goleman et al., 2013). While social and emotional intelligence extend students’ abilities to see from another’s perspective, empathize, and show concern, ecological intelligence applies these capacities to an understanding of natural systems and melds cognitive skills with empathy for all of life. By weaving these forms of intelligence together, eco literacy builds on the successes—from reduced behavioral problems to increased academic achievement—of the movement in education to foster social and emotional learning. And it cultivates the knowledge, empathy, and action required for practicing sustainable living (Goleman et al., 2013). Lesson 4. Five (5) Practices in Eco-literacy To help educator’s foster socially and emotionally engaged eco literacy, we have identified the following five practices (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). These are, of course, not the only ways to do so. But we believe that educators who cultivate these practices offer a strong foundation for becoming eco literate, helping themselves and their students build healthier relationships with other people and the planet. Each can be nurtured in age-appropriate ways for students, ranging from pre-kindergarten through adulthood, and help promote the cognitive and affective abilities central to the integration of emotional, social, and ecological intelligence. 1. Develop empathy for all forms of life. At a basic level, all organisms—including humans—need food, water, space, and conditions that support dynamic equilibrium to survive. By recognizing the common needs we share with all organisms, we can begin to shift our perspective from a view of humans as separate and superior to a more authentic view of humans as members of the natural world. From that perspective, we can expand our circles of empathy to consider the quality of life of other life forms, feel genuine concern about their well-being, and act on that concern (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 28 2. Embrace sustainability as a community practice. Organisms do not survive in isolation. Instead, the web of relationships within any living community determines its collective ability to survive and thrive (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 3. Make the invisible visible. Historically—and for some cultures still in existence today— the path between a decision and its consequences was short and visible. If a homesteading family cleared their land of trees, for example, they might soon experience flooding, soil erosion, a lack of shade, and a huge decrease in biodiversity (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 4. Anticipate unintended consequences. Many of the environmental crises that we face today are the unintended consequences of human behavior. For example, we have experienced many unintended but grave consequences of developing the technological ability to access, produce, and use fossil fuels. These new technological capacities have been largely viewed as progress for our society. Only recently has the public become aware of the downsides of our dependency on fossil fuels, such as pollution, suburban sprawl, international conflicts, and climate change (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 5. Understand how nature sustains life. Eco literate people recognize that nature has sustained life for eons; as a result, they have turned to nature as their teacher and learned several crucial tenets. Three of those tenets are particularly imperative to eco literate living (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 29  Assessment Task Make a project proposal and action plan on how to solve a particular environmental problem in your community. Summary Eco-Literacy is the ability to demonstrate proficiency of the environment and the conditions affecting it, especially as it applies to climate, land, air, energy, food, water and our ecosystems. Environmentally literate people are: (1) 10 percent more likely to conserve energy in the home; (2) 10 percent more likely to obtain environmentally safe products; (3) 50 percent more likely to recycle; (4) 50 percent more likely to avoid using chemicals in yard care; and (5) ninety-five percent of American adults (95 percent are parents) believe environmental education should be taught in schools. “Eco-literate” is our shorthand for the end goal of this kind of learning, and raising Eco literate students requires a process that we call “socially and emotionally engaged Eco literacy”—a process that, we believe, offers an antidote to the fear, anger, and hopelessness that can result from inaction. The five (5) practices in Eco-Literacy are: (1) develop empathy for all forms of life; (2) embrace sustainability as a community practice; (3) make the invisible visible; (4) anticipate unintended consequences; and (5) understand how nature sustains life. 30  References Goleman, D., Bennett, L., Barlow, Z. (2013), Five Ways to Develop Ecoliteracy. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/five_ways_to_develop_ecoliteracy GURO 21 (2020) – Getting Up Responsible and Outstanding Teachers in Southeast Asia for the 21st Century. http://iflex.innotech.org/GURO21/ Seen Magazine (n.d.). www.seenmagazine.us Greater Good (2013). http://greatergood.bekeley.edu Medium (2017). https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/ecoliteracy-learning-from-living- systems-e162df608981 31  MODULE 7 ARTS AND CREATIVITY LITERACY Introduction This literacy can be manifested in creative ways of problem-solving and expressed through the production of various art works. Teachers and students need to be more adept in the arts and manifest creativity in various activities. (The Peak Performance Center, 2020). The 21st century teaching-learning must adhere to creativity and arts as literacies. This is actually called the Design Thinking skill. This is aside from the philosophical points of view of the different thinking skills. Thinking skills are the mental activities you use to process information, make connections, make decisions, and create new ideas. You use your thinking skills when you try to make sense of experiences, solve problems, make decisions, ask questions, make plans, or organize information Learning Outcomes At the end of this module, students should be able to: 1. Define the meaning of Arts and Creativity Literacy; and 2. State the benefits of arts and creative literacy. 32 Lesson 1. Meaning of Arts and Creativity Literacy According to Education (2020), arts and creativity literacy is the ability to identify and understand ideas communicated through actions or images (decode), as well as to be able to communicate ideas or messages through imagery (encode). Lesson 2. Benefits of Arts and Creative Literacy The benefits are numerous and wide-ranging. It encourages greater pupil engagement, brings a subject to life – therefore capturing pupil’s interest, and improves knowledge retention. It can also improve oral and listening skills, encourage team building, and can be made practical, suiting those who may struggle with some traditional methods of teaching, e.g., children who are dyslexic. Creative literacy can also encourage reluctant readers, build confidence, and help teach practical skills (Alba, 2010). Alba (2010) for Education Scotland has shown through its research that creativity in learning encourages pupils to think creatively. They were more open to new ideas and challenges. It gave them a greater ownership over their learning, they became more interested in discovering things for themselves and were more able to solve problems, so they became more effective learners. In addition, research carried out by Kimberley Stafford and Myra Barrs for the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) in 2005 also found that linking creativity through arts and literacy was a powerful tool. They found it aided sustained learning as the children made strong connections between reading, writing and their work in creative arts. It enhanced their oral language skills, and a workshop atmosphere promoted concentration and confidence and deepened their understanding so they could reflect on their learning. It also encouraged the children to work as a team (Education Business UK, 2015). Lesson 3: Arts and Creativity as 21st century skill (as retrieved from “Becoming 21st Century School”, 2020) The need for creative ideas is great. As Sir Robinson, Ken (2015) stated: 33  “Creativity is not an option, it’s an absolute necessity.” Therefore, we must find ways to bring creativity into learning. But first, we have to understand what conditions foster true creativity, which Robinson defines as “the process of having original ideas that have value.” Creativity is now the number one skill in demand by employers. It is interesting to note that current employers keep asking us to graduate students with the skills of creativity, collaboration, entrepreneurship, innovation, problem solving and critical thinking, but that the schools themselves continue to deliver a narrow curriculum devoid of the arts and creativity (“Becoming 21st Century School”, 2020). Integrating and Supporting the Arts and Creativity 1. Physical Environment - Design a physical environment to support creativity. For the school building or facility itself, create Maker Spaces, a DaVinci Studio (art and science), Living Schoolyards, a Labyrinth, Multimedia Production Studio, Lecture Hall for student presentations, Student Conference Room, Outdoor Amphitheater, an open area Plaza, and lose the cells and bells![ii] What other places, inside and outside, can you create or identify, at home or at school, where children can go to daydream, reflect, design and create? Rearrange the furniture in your current campus, library or classroom to incorporate the concepts of the Watering Hole, the Campfire and the Cave. See this article also about the Da Vinci, Einstein and Jamie Oliver studios (“Becoming 21st Century School”, 2020). 2. Emotional Environment – take time to create and maintain a climate of respect and caring and that supports making mistakes. A former principal told us, “The man who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.” 3. Project-based learning – introduce choice, freedom and space for creativity. The PBL units you design should be relevant, rigorous and real world in order to achieve the highest levels of student motivation, engagement and learning. Preferably, they are interdisciplinary. Begin by brainstorming a theme, topic, issue or idea you’d like the 34 students to explore, then brainstorm the possibilities for each discipline (“Becoming 21st Century School”, 2020). 4. Teach Creative Thinking Skills – first teach students about “metacognition” – “thinking about their thinking.” You can teach that to the little ones, too; they love being able to know such a big word! Teach them how to use Edward DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats, how to brainstorm, compare and contrast, problem-solve, concept map, analyze, evaluate and more! (Just “Google” thinking tools for K-12!) 5. Alternative Assessments – instead of a worksheet or an assignment in which every student creates a poster (about the same thing), provide plenty of leeway for students to create products in a medium of their choice ! For example, a student-produced video, film, television or radio broadcast; a student-written and produced play; a debate; a public service announcement; design a product; create a marketing campaign; a mock trial; write and publish a class book; simulations; digital or multimedia portfolio; student-organized conference; dinner theatre for the community (Shakespeare or Charles Dickens?); create a board or video game; a musical production Note: these assessments are not something students will do in or two class periods, but are final performances, or products, which demonstrate and celebrate what they have learned throughout all (or a significant portion of) their project-based curriculum unit. In the meantime, you can conduct simple, quick formative assessments, mainly through close teacher observation. 6. Scheduling – project-based curriculum and performance-based assessments require adequate time. The most effective learning and teaching will take place when you create Smaller Learning Communities, for example, six teachers with expertise in various disciplines who work with the same group of students all day every day. Another option, although not as effective, is creating a block schedule. Students will attend 3 classes per day instead of 6, and for 90 minutes each instead of changing 35 class every 45 minutes. A daily schedule of 7 or more 45-minute class periods per day is absolute anathema to creativity and learning! (“Becoming 21st Century School”, 2020). 7. Student-Centered and Personalized Learning – give students voice and choice as much as possible regarding what they will learn, how they will learn it and how they will demonstrate what they have learned. 8. Incorporate the Arts – seamlessly integrate music, art, drama and dance into your PBL curriculum. Try not to make creativity time be separate from the rest of the curriculum, but let these disciplines become a vehicle for delivering the curriculum while developing creativity (“Becoming 21st Century School”, 2020). 9. Integration of Technologies – student blogs and web sites, Glogster, VoiceThread, student publishing, video game design, coding, filmmaking, photography, global collaborative classroom projects using Google Hangouts... 10. Preparing the Body and Brain for Creativity - offer students (and faculty) opportunities such as yoga, tai chi, ballet, jazz, and palates (“Becoming 21st Century School”, 2020). 33 Assessment Task Make a portfolio of different art works which you have done since you were in the Kindergarten up to the present. Give at least three (3) sentences to give an idea about each picture. 36  Summary Arts and Creativity Literacy is the ability to identify and understand ideas communicated through actions or images (decode), as well as to be able to communicate ideas or messages through imagery (encode). Benefits of Arts and Creative Literacy are numerous and wide-ranging. It encourages greater pupil engagement, brings a subject to life – therefore capturing pupil’s interest, and improves knowledge retention. References Alba, F. (2010).Education Scotland Robinson,K. (2020). Sir Ken Robinson.https://www.google.com/search?q=Sir+Ken+Robinson&oq=Sir+Ken+Robinson+&aq s=chrome..69i57j0l7.5065j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Stafford , K  Barrs,M. (2015).Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) https://educationbusinessuk.net/features/bringing-together-creativity-and-literacy educationbusinessuk.net Education (2020). www.education.vic.gov.au Becoming 21st Century School (2020). http://becominga21stcenturyschool.weebly.com/blog/arts-and-creativity-new-21st- century- The Peak Performance Center (2020). https://thepeakperformancecenter.com/ 37  MODULE 8 FROM ‘READING’ TO ‘NEW’ LITERACIES Introduction Literacy is now center stage in education policy, curriculum development, and everyday thinking about educational practice. It is hard to credit that just two or three decades ago the term ‘literacy’ hardly featured in formal educational discourse. Instead, there was a long-established field known as ‘Reading’. This was mainly grounded in psycholinguistics and associated with time-honored methods of instruction for teaching new entrants into school how to decode printed text and, secondarily, how to encode text (Lankshear  Knobel , 2006). Learning Outcomes At the end of this module, students should be able to: 1. Define the meaning of the background of new literacies; 2. Determine and expound in writing the development of new literacies; and 3. State the pragmatic sense of ‘new’ literacies. Lesson 1. The Background of New Literacies (Anderson ,1966; Lankshear  Knobel , 2006) Prior to the 1970s, ‘literacy’ was used generally in relation to non-formal educational settings, and, in particular, in relation to adults who were deemed to be illiterate. ‘Literacy’ was the name given to programmers of non-formal instruction – not associated with formal educational institutions like schools – that were offered to illiterate adults to help them acquire 38 basic abilities to read and write. At this time within Britain, North America, Australasia and similar countries, official statistics obtained for census measures and the like indicated almost zero levels of adult illiteracy. Such adult literacy initiatives as existed in these countries were small-scale, largely voluntary endeavors involving adult literacy tutors working with individuals or small groups of learners. Indeed, within First World English speaking societies, ‘literacy teaching’ was the name of marginal spaces of non-formal education work intended to provide a ‘second chance’ for those whose illiteracy was often seen as directly associated with other debilitating or dysfunctional conditions and circumstances. These included ‘conditions’ like unemployment, imprisonment, drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, inferior physical and psychic health, and so on. The situation was different in the Third World of so-called ‘developing countries’. In these countries, relatively few people received formal education. Often as many as 80 per cent or more of the adult population was illiterate relative to popular measures of the day – such as lacking reading abilities roughly equivalent to second or third grade levels of primary school (Anderson ,1966; Lankshear  Knobel , 2006). During the 1950s, and again in the 1990s, it became fashionable among development theorists to associate a country’s ‘readiness’s for ‘economic take-off’ with attainment of a certain level of adult literacy across the nation. For example, during the 1960s it was widely argued by development theorists that having at least a large minority of the male population achieve literacy was a precondition for underdeveloped nations to ‘take off’ economically (Anderson ,1966; Lankshear  Knobel , 2006). A figure of at least 40 per cent of adults (especially males) deemed literate in a population was seen as the threshold for economic development. This became a rationale for promoting adult literacy campaigns throughout many Third World countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America as a strategic component of economic and social development policies. Illiteracy was seen as a major impediment to economic development, and literacy campaigns were prescribed as cost-effective measures for developing the minimal levels of ‘manpower’ needed to give a country a chance for economic take-off. These campaigns were usually undertaken as non-formal programmers aimed at adults – although children often participated – conducted outside the education system as such (Anderson ,1966; Lankshear  Knobel , 2006). 39 Lesson 2. The Development of New Literacies (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006) First, by adopting and developing ‘literacy’ as their key word, sociocultural oriented theorists, researchers, and educators sought, among other things, to bypass the psychological reductionism inscribed on more than a century of educational activity associated with ‘reading’. They wanted to keep the social to the forefront, and to keep the ‘embeddedness’ of literacy within larger social practices in clear view. This was often subverted, however, when reading specialists and experts simply adopted the term ‘literacy’ without taking up its substance (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). Second, the scope and amount of formal educational activity in the name of literacy that was funded and sanctioned by official government policy, guidelines and directives reached impressive levels (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). Literacy quickly became a considerable industry, involving public and private providers of diverse goods and services at different rungs on the education ladder. Adult and workplace literacy programmers received formal recognition, funding, and credentialing in a manner previously unknown. Funding to providers was usually pegged to achievement outcomes and accountability procedures. In countries like Australia, national and state level policies actually factored workplace literacy competencies into the awards and remuneration system, providing incentives for workers to participate in work-related and work based literacy programmers, many of which were conducted during company time. Adults and workers whose language backgrounds were not in the dominant/official language of the country were often specially targeted (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). Third, at the same time as literacy assumed a larger and larger focal presence within the recognized role and scope of formal education, it also began to assume loftier status in terms of how it was defined and understood by many educationists (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). It was as if educationists who believed that education should involve much more and count for much more than was generally associated with the term ‘literacy’ responded to its new pride of place by building more into their conceptions of literacy in order to defend and preserve more expansive educational purposes and standards. 40  This trend is apparent in a variety of areas and initiatives. These include, among others, concepts and ideals of ‘cultural literacy’, ‘critical literacy’, ‘technoliteracy’, ‘higher order literacies’, ‘three-dimensional literacy’, ‘powerful literacy’, ‘multiliteracies’, and the like (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). Lesson 3. The Pragmatic Sense of ‘New’ Literacies This paradigmatic sense of ‘new’ in relation to literacy is not concerned with new literacies as such but, rather, with a new approach to thinking about literacy as a social phenomenon. As it happens, numerous scholars who are associated with the New Literacy Studies paradigm are researching and writing about the kinds of practices we are calling new literacies. But that is simply a contingency (Lankshear  Knobel, 2006). The ‘New’ of New Literacy Studies and the ‘new’ of new literacies in the sense we are discussing here are quite distinct ideas. By the same token, and for reasons we hope become apparent in this book, we think that new literacies in the way we understand and describe them here can really only be researched effectively from a sociocultural perspective, of which the New Literacy Studies is an example. Our idea of the ontological sense of ‘new’ is intended to relate directly to new literacies of the kinds under discussion here This trend is apparent in a variety of areas and initiatives. These include, among others, concepts and ideals of ‘cultural literacy’, ‘critical literacy’, ‘technoliteracy’, ‘higher order literacies’, ‘three-dimensional literacy’, ‘powerful literacy’, ‘multiliteracies’, and the like (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). The terms ‘ontological’ and ‘ontology’ are being used in multiple ways in the context of talk about new technologies and new social practices involving new technologies, so it is necessary that we spell out what we mean by our use of ‘ontological’. In simple language, we are using ‘ontological’ here to refer to the ‘nature’ or ‘stuff’ of new literacies This trend is apparent in a variety of areas and initiatives. These include, among others, concepts and ideals of ‘cultural literacy’, ‘critical literacy’, ‘technoliteracy’, ‘higher order literacies’, ‘three-dimensional literacy’, ‘powerful literacy’, ‘multiliteracies’, and the like (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). To say that ‘new’ literacies are ontologically new is to say that they consist of a different kind of ‘stuff’ from conventional literacies we have known in the past. It is the idea that changes have occurred in the character and substance of literacies that are associated with larger changes in technology, institutions, media and the economy, and with the rapid movement 41 toward global scale in manufacture, finance, communications, and so on This trend is apparent in a variety of areas and initiatives. These include, among others, concepts and ideals of ‘cultural literacy’, ‘critical literacy’, ‘technoliteracy’, ‘higher order literacies’, ‘three- dimensional literacy’, ‘powerful literacy’, ‘multiliteracies’, and the like (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). Assessment Task Write an essay and expound on how the new literacies could affect the moral and social dimension of development of the millennial generation or Generation Z students? Summary Prior to the 1970s, ‘literacy’ was used generally in relation to non-formal educational settings, and, in particular, in relation to adults who were deemed to be illiterate. ‘Literacy’ was the name given to programmers of non-formal instruction – not associated with formal educational institutions like schools – that were offered to illiterate adults to help them acquire basic abilities to read and write. Multicultural Literacy consists of the skills and ability to identify the creators of knowledge and their interests. This paradigmatic sense of ‘new’ in relation to literacy is not concerned with new literacies as such but, rather, with a new approach to thinking about literacy as a social phenomenon. 42  References Lankshear, C.,  Knobel, M. (2006). New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Classroom Learning (Second Ed). Open University Press, England. Anderson , R. (1966) A Refined Definition Of Structure In Teaching. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tea.3660040415 43