R. Pye: New Media & New Literacies

     In addition to the readings from Sang, the NCTE and Beecher, I chose to evaluate and analyze both Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice: More Than Just Tools, written by the INternational Literacy Association, and Digital Literacy by Jenifer Vanek. These articles help shed a light on the complexities of digital literacy, and how the term “digital literacy” can oftentimes mislead the general public. Digital literacy does not only entail having proficient computer skills (ILA, 2018,p. 2). The ILA goes on to elaborate that educators should establish a learning goal for all students, goals in which students may be able to achieve through the use of digital resources. This point strikes me as a very important one. The goal that should be at the forefront of any educator's agenda is to ensure students are receiving the most out of their education. The use of digital technology is useful but should not be used to directly achieve the learning goal...

     Within the scope of education, new literacies practices are increasingly relevant in both professional and personal contexts. This is due to their ability to equip students with the tools to navigate the ever growing and complex digital and cultural world. Conventional literacy practices may not be able to fully prepare students for the challenges in modern working and social life (Sang, Y. 2017, p. 16), which is why the integration and development of new literacies practices are crucial for the future of education. New literacies practices often involve the use of technology, and multimodal media, including images, music, videos, etc. (Sang, Y. 2017, p. 16). This is done in order to enhance critical thinking with  the use of digital tools and can be used to educate yourself on a variety of diverse perspectives (NCTE, 2019). Professionally, these practices are crucial as they allow the effective use of  technologies in order to achieve a desired result with...