6712 Reflection

I realized at the conclusion of this course that teaching new literacies is just as important and just as time consuming as teaching reading and writing. New literacies, which can include searching the Internet, citing resources, reading and interpreting information on the Internet, are essential for students to learn about due to the amount of technology in the world today. Students cannot be expected to simply know how to search the Internet correctly. Teachers need to take the time to really teach students how to properly search, evaluate, and cite resources. Students can waste a lot of time searching incorrectly, not to mention find resources that may not be valid or contain useful information.

From now on, I will not assume that students know how to use the different pieces of new literacy. I will now be able to teach my students different tricks to make sure that they are properly using the Internet and other resources. I will also be sure to figure this into my plans as I plan for lessons that include technology.

One goal that I would like to work towards is to create some type of handout for my fellow teachers on how to teach new literacy skills. This would not only reinforce what I learned, but also be quite helpful to other teachers who are unsure of how to do this or who never realized that new literacy skills need to be taught to students.