The Arts, New Literacies (9-8)

Today more than at any other time,  teachers are trying to define literacy in the 21st century.  There is a sense of urgency about the arts and technology and the English language arts classroom.  Classrooms must be prepared to work with how messages are sent, received, and interpreted and how media and technology position us as viewers and users of multimedia texts in the world. Today's students are learning about literacy through electronic and digital devices.  The teacher must be prepared to link student learning to such devices.  In today's literacies we as teacher must be prepared to use the technology which today's students bring to the classroom.  Classroom spaces that encourage multimodality allow students across ages to learn as well as play in a world where technology is commonplace.  We must build on a wide range of media and our class has given us new opportunities to engage students in the new age literacy.