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Toward a Theory of New Literacies Emerging From the Internet and Other

Information and Communication Technologies 

Donald J. Leu, Jr.

Charles . in!er

Julie L. Coiro

Dana ". Cammac# 

In April 2004, the International Reading Association will publish the fifth edition of Theoretical Models and Processes of

 Reading  (Robert B. Ruddell and Norman nrau, editors!. "he following is a preprint of a chapter from that publication.

"he essence of both reading and reading instruction is change. Reading a boo# changes us fore$er aswe return from the worlds we inhabit during our reading %ourne&s with new insights about oursurroundings and oursel$es. "eaching a student to read is also a transforming e'perience. It opens newwindows to the world and creates a lifetime of opportunities. hange defines our wor# as both literac&educators and researchers ) b& teaching a student to read, we change the world.

"oda&, reading, reading instruction, and more broadl& concei$ed notions of literac& and literac&instruction are being defined b& change in e$en more profound wa&s as new technologies re*uire newliteracies to effecti$el& e'ploit their potentials (oiro, 200+ -iner / eander, 200+  an#shear / -nobel, 200+  eu, 2000a 1molin / awless, 200+!. "hese include technologies such as gamingsoftware (ee, 200+!, $ideo technologies (3Brien, 2005!, technologies that establish communities onthe Internet (handler63lcott / 7ahar, 200+!, search engines (8ansen, 1pin#, / 1arace$ic, 2000!,webpages, and man& more &et to emerge.

7oreo$er, these new literacies change regularl& as technolog& opens new possibilities forcommunication and information. 9e see this happening toda& as people redefine literac& practiceswhile the& communicate on a chatboard associated with a website, tal# to one another using a $ideo

cam, or participate in $irtual realit& role6pla&ing games (ammac#, 2002  -ing / 3Brien, 2002-iner, 200+ ewis / :abos, 5;;;!. "he abilit& to linguisticall& manipulate identit& as well as thenorms of con$ersation to fit these new electronic spaces has implications for both the de$elopment oflanguage and conceptions of the role of technolog& (r&stal, 2005!.

All of these practices impact our conceptions of literac& and, ultimatel&, influence the definitions ofliteracies in classrooms, at home, and at wor#. As more and more indi$iduals use new technologies tocommunicate, these linguistic acti$ities come to shape the wa&s in which we $iew and use languageand literac&. 7ost important, new literacies, whether intentionall& or unintentionall&, impact literac&instruction in classrooms (<agood, 1te$ens, / Rein#ing, 200+ an#shear / -nobel, 200+ ewis / :inders, 2002 !.

onsider, for e'ample, the changes e'perienced b& students who graduate from secondar& school this&ear. "heir stor& teaches us an important lesson about our literac& future. 7an& graduates started theirschool career with the literacies of paper, pencil, and boo# technologies but will finish ha$ingencountered the literacies demanded b& a wide $ariet& of information and communication technologies(I"s!= 9eb logs (blogs!, word processors, $ideo editors, 9orld 9ide 9eb browsers, 9eb editors, e6mail, spreadsheets, presentation software, instant messaging, plug6ins for 9eb resources, listser$s,

 bulletin boards, a$atars, $irtual worlds, and man& others. "hese students e'perienced new literacies atthe end of their schooling unimagined at the beginning. i$en the increasingl& rapid pace of change inthe technologies of literac&, it is li#el& that students who begin school this &ear will e'perience e$enmore profound changes during their own literac& %ourne&s. 7oreo$er, this stor& will be repeated againand again as new generations of students encounter &et unimagined I"s as the& mo$e through schooland de$elop currentl& unen$isioned new literacies.

9hile it is clear that man& new literacies are emerging rapidl&, we belie$e the most essential ones forschools to consider cluster around the Internet and allow students to e'ploit the e'tensi$e I"s that

 become a$ailable in an online, networ#ed en$ironment. In an information age, we belie$e it becomes

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essential to prepare students for these new literacies because the& are central to the use of informationand the ac*uisition of #nowledge. "raditional definitions of literac& and literac& instruction will beinsufficient if we see# to pro$ide students with the futures the& deser$e.

?recisel& what are the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s@ An& realistic anal&sis of what we#now about new literacies from the traditional research literature must recognie that we actuall& #now

$er& little. :ar too little research has been conducted in this area for far too long. "his is, perhaps, themost troublesome obser$ation that results from an& anal&sis of research in this area (an#shear /-nobel, 200+ eu, 2000a!.

Another important problem is that we lac# a precise definition of what new literacies are. "his ma#estheor& de$elopment as well as s&stematic in$estigation impossible. In order to mo$e forward in thisarea, we ha$e begun to frame a conception of new literacies around the following definition=

"he new literacies of the Internet and other I"s include the s#ills, strategies, and dispositionsnecessar& to successfull& use and adapt to the rapidl& changing information and communicationtechnologies and conte'ts that continuousl& emerge in our world and influence all areas of our

 personal and professional li$es. "hese new literacies allow us to use the Internet and other I"s to

identif& important *uestions, locate information, criticall& e$aluate the usefulness of that information,s&nthesie information to answer those *uestions, and then communicate the answers to others.

A more precise definition of these new literacies ma& ne$er be possible to achie$e because their mostimportant characteristic is that the& change regularl& as new technologies for information andcommunication continuall& appear, still newer literacies emerge (Bruce, 5;;a eu, 2000a Rein#ing, 5;;!. "he continuous nature of these profound changes re*uires new theories to help us understandthem and also to direct the important research agenda that lies ahead. 9e argue that new theoretical

 perspecti$es must emerge from the new literacies engendered b& the re*uirements and possibilities ofnew technologies.

"he purpose of this chapter is to e'plore promising lines of theoretical wor# and to show how a New

iteracies ?erspecti$e, a theoretical perspecti$e that has informed much of our own wor#, can pro$ideimportant insights into the important changes ta#ing place to literac& as the Internet and other I"senter our world. 9e begin b& considering the social conte'ts throughout histor& that ha$e shaped boththe function and form of literate beha$ior. Ne't, we discuss literac& within toda&s social conte't ande'plain how this has produced new I"s, such as the Internet, and the new literacies that thesetechnologies demand. "hird, we e'plore se$eral theoretical perspecti$es that are emerging and arguewh& we belie$e a New iteracies ?erspecti$e is especiall& useful to understand changes ta#ing place tothe nature of reading as well as more broadl& concei$ed notions of literac&. "hen, we identif& a list of50 principles that inform a New iteracies ?erspecti$e. 9e conclude b& considering the implicationsof this perspecti$e for both research and practice.

Literacy "ithin $ocial and %istorical Conte&ts

"he forms and functions of literac&, as well as literac& instruction itself, are largel& determined b& thecontinuousl& changing social forces at wor# within an& societ& and the technologies these forces often

 produce (Bo&arin, 5;;+  Ciringer, 5;D  ee, 5;;D Illera, 5;; 7anguel, 5;;D 7athews, 5;DD1mith, 5;DE!. <istoricall&, the social forces affecting the nature of literac& ha$e had di$erse origins."he need to record business transactions in societies mo$ing out of a subsistence econom&, the forcesof oppression and resistance, the dissemination of religious dogma, the emergence of democraticinstitutions, and man& other disparate forces all ha$e influenced the nature of literac& in different eras.

3ften, we lose sight of these historic roots. 9e need to remember that social forces and thetechnologies the& often produce define the changing nature of literac& toda& %ust as much as the& ha$ein the past. Briefl& identif&ing pre$ious historical conte'ts will remind us of how important it is tounderstand this point before we e'plore the changing nature of literac& within our contemporar&conte't.

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"he manner in which social forces define the nature of literac& can be seen at the beginning of writtenlanguage, which most belie$e too# place in 1umerian societ& during the fourth centur& B.. Asagricultural technologies impro$ed, allowing this ci$iliation to e'pand, it became necessar& to record

 business transactions and ta' records. "his social necessit& prompted the de$elopment of the firstwriting technolog&, cuneiform tablets that were used throughout 7esopotamia to initiall& recordeconomic e'changes and ta' obligations (Bo&arin, 5;;+ Ciringer, 5;D 7anguel, 5;;D!.

In other cultural conte'ts, literac& became a wa& to communicate common e'periences among theoppressed, often using a special s&mbolic s&stem. In 55th6centur& 8apan, the women at courtde$eloped a separate language s&stem and ad& 7urasa#i used this to write the first no$el, The Tale of

the Genji (7anguel, 5;;D 7orris, 5;D4!. "he language s&stem she used allowed this no$el and otherwriting to be shared onl& among the women at court who could understand it.

Responses to oppression also shaped the nature of literac& in arist Russia among radical members ofsociet&. Re$olutionaries de$eloped samizdat, a secreti$e s&stem for the self6publication of te'ts andliterature prohibited b& the go$ernment. :rom this clandestine form of writing and reading emerged aset of s&mbolic representations for re$olution and resistance, man& of which made their wa& past

un#nowing censors into officiall& published wor#s of literature ("eras, 5;;4!.At other times, the need to spread religious dogma has shaped the form and function of literac&. Inmedie$al Furope, for e'ample, the hristian church used literac& as a $ehicle to enforce a commonreligion in a world with competing religious $iewpoints. A literate priesthood was used to faithfull&cop&, read, and interpret common religious te'ts. <olding literac&, the technologies of literac&, and thecentral te'ts of hristianit& so tightl& within a priesthood enabled this religion to sur$i$e acrossenormous distances, cultures, and time, while it also enforced ine*uities in power.

:orces of resistance ine$itabl& emerged, howe$er, largel& due to the belief that indi$iduals, not priests,should be responsible for their own sal$ation. In postreformation Furope, literac& became much morewidespread as 7artin uther argued the need for indi$iduals to read and directl& access religious te'ts

on their own. 1imultaneous with this resistance, printing technologies and new boo# literacies emergedto enable this more indi$idual definition of sal$ation and a more distributed definition of literac&.

"he printing of boo#s and the emergence of a more widel& distributed literac& posed an important political threat to autocratic go$ernments. In Fngland and her colonies, the ro&al go$ernment carefull&restricted printing presses. ntil 5D;E, when the icensing Act of 5DD2 e'pired, printing was confinedto ondon, Gor#, and the uni$ersities at 3'ford and ambridge (:ord, 2005!. ?rinting was completel&forbidden in the ro&al colon& of Hirginia until 5+0. As one o$ernor of Hirginia, 1ir 9illiamBer#ele& (5D4265DE2 and 5DD065D! put it, But, I than# od, there are no free schools nor

 printing...for learning has brought disobedience, and heres&, and sects into the world, and printing hasdi$ulged them, and libels against the best go$ernment. od #eep us from bothJ (:ord, 2005, p. D!.

In the nited 1tates and other countries, the de$elopment of democrac&, based on informed citiensma#ing reasoned decisions at the ballot bo', led to an e$en more widel& distributed definition ofliterac&, one that included debate within a free press. "he de$elopment of democrac& also led to theestablishment of public schools charged with de$eloping citiens who were literate, and in theirliterac& might be thoughtfull& informed about important national affairs in which man& were e'pectedto participate (-aestle, Camon67oore, 1tedmen, "insle&, / "rollinger, 5;;+ 7athews, 5;DD!.

It is clear that social conte'ts profoundl& shape the changing nature of literac&. It is also true thatsocial conte'ts influence the changing nature of literac& instruction. Nila Banton 1mith (5;DE!demonstrated how social forces at wor# within the nited 1tates regularl& altered the nature of literac&instruction=

"he stor& of American reading is a fascinating one to pursue.... It is a stor& which reflects the changingreligious, economic, and political institutions of a growing and progressi$e countr&.... "hise$olutionar& progress in reading has been mar#ed b& a series of emphases, each of which has been sofundamental in nature as to ha$e controlled, to a large e'tent, both the method and content of readinginstruction during the period of its greatest intensit&. (p. 5!

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1mith went on to describe different periods of reading instruction and how each was shaped b& themost powerful social forces of its time. "hese included periods during which reading instruction wasinfluenced b& religion (5D065D!, nation building and moralit& (5D6540!, the education of anintelligent citienr& (540650!, the $iew of reading as a cultural asset (5065;50!, the scientificin$estigation of reading (5;5065;+E!, international conflict (5;+E65;E0!, and culminating, in a

 prescient anal&sis, with a period of e'panding #nowledge and technological re$olution (5;E0 to the present!.

"hroughout histor&, literac& and literac& instruction ha$e changed regularl& as a result of changingsocial conte'ts and the technologies the& often prompt. learl&, the social forces in the present conte'twill e'ert similar changes. "hus, an& attempt to de$elop a theoretical framewor# around newl&emerging technologies and new literacies must begin b& e'ploring the important social forces at wor#toda&. 1uch an e'ploration pro$ides the foundation for the New iteracies ?erspecti$e.

Literacy in Today's $ocial Conte&t

9hat are the important social forces at wor# toda& that frame the changes to literac& that we aree'periencing@ 9e belie$e these social forces include the following=

• lobal economic competition within economies based increasingl& on the effecti$e use of

information and communication

• "he rapid emergence of the Internet as a powerful new technolog& for information and

communication

• ?ublic polic& initiati$es b& go$ernments around the world to ensure higher le$els of literac&

achie$ement including the use of the Internet and other I"s

(lo)al Economic Com*etition "ithin Economies +ased Increasingly on the Effectie -se of

Information and Communication

"he world of wor# is undergoing fundamental transformation (Bruce, 5;;b Cruc#er, 5;;4 ilster, 5;; 7i#ulec#& / -ir#le&, 5;; "he New ondon roup, 2000!. Indeed, it is this social conte't that

 prompts man& of the changes to I"s and to literac& that we are e'periencing, ma#ing the effecti$euse of the Internet a necessar& component of the literac& curriculum.

In some historical conte'ts, the nature of wor# has been defined b& ones access to land, labor, orfinancial capital. Anal&ses b& Bell (5;!, Burton68ones (5;;;!, Reich (5;;2!, and others indicate thisdefinition has changed fundamentall& within nations de$eloping postindustrial economies.Increasingl&, it is access to information and the abilit& to use information effecti$el& that enablesindi$iduals to seie lifes opportunities. 7ore and more fre*uentl&, wor# is characteried b& theeffecti$e use of information to sol$e important problems within a globall& competiti$e econom&.7oreo$er, as networ#ed, digital technologies pro$ide increasingl& greater access to larger amounts ofinformation, the efficient use of information s#ills in competiti$e wor#place conte'ts becomes e$enmore important (ilster, 5;; <arrison / 1tephen, 5;;D!.

Because trade barriers are falling and international trade is e'panding, man& wor#places areundergoing a radical transformation (Bruce, 5;;a Cruc#er, 5;;4 ilster, 5;; 7i#ulec#& /-ir#le&, 5;;!. In a global econom& in which competition is more intense because competingorganiations are more numerous and mar#ets are more e'tensi$e, wor#places must see# more

 producti$e wa&s of performing if the& hope to sur$i$e. 3ften, the& see# to transform themsel$es into

high6performance wor#places that are more producti$e and more responsi$e to the needs of theircustomers.

"raditionall&, industrial6age organiations were organied in a $ertical, top6down fashion. 7ostdecisions were made at the highest le$els and then communicated to lower le$els, thus wasting much

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of the intellectual capital within an organiation b& using tight command and control structures.Information6age organiations see#ing to achie$e greater producti$it& are organied horiontall&, withteams within lower le$els of the organiation empowered to ma#e important decisions related to theirfunctioning. 7embers of these teams must *uic#l& identif& important problems, locate usefulinformation related to the problems the& identif&, criticall& e$aluate the information the& find,s&nthesie this information to sol$e the problems, and then *uic#l& communicate the solutions toothers so that e$er&one within an organiation is informed. "hese high6performance wor#places see#more full& to utilie the intellectual capital among e$er& emplo&ee. "his change has had a fundamentaleffect on the nature of literac& within these organiations.

Fach element of change that characteries the wor#place toda& has important implications for thenature of literac& instruction. :irst, the change to a high6performance wor#place re*uires organiationsto place a premium on people who possess effecti$e problem6sol$ing s#ills. As collaborati$e teamssee# more effecti$e wa&s of wor#ing, the& are e'pected to identif& problems important to their unitand see# appropriate solutions. "his has important conse*uences for schools that will need to pro$idestudents with greater preparation in identif&ing important problems and then sol$ing them, often incollaborati$e situations.

<a$ing identified important problems, members of high6performance wor#place teams must thenlocate useful information related to those problems. -nowing how, when, and where to locate usefulinformation on the Internet, or on an Intranet, will become an increasingl& important component of theliterac& curriculum, especiall& because the a$ailabilit& of information resources and searchtechnologies is e'panding rapidl&, increasing the importance of effecti$e search strategies.

<a$ing ac*uired information resources, members of high6performance wor#place teams must then#now how to criticall& e$aluate that information, sorting out accurate information from inaccurateinformation, essential information from less6essential information, and biased information fromunbiased information. "hese critical literacies and anal&tic s#ills also will become increasingl&important elements in the literac& curriculum because the& are essential to the careful e$aluation of

an& information one obtains, something that is essential in an informational space such as the Internetwhere an&one ma& publish an&thing.

"he abilit& to s&nthesie information that one has gathered also will become increasingl& important because the abilit& to use information to sol$e problems is the essential *ualification of successful performance in a globall& competiti$e information econom&. 9e will need to pa& increasingimportance to informational s&nthesis in schools to support this important s#ill.

:inall&, members of high6performance wor#place teams need to rapidl& and clearl& communicate theirsolutions to colleagues in other organiational units. A decentralied wor#place re*uires collaborationand communication s#ills so that the best decisions get made at e$er& le$el in an organiation and sothat changes at one le$el are clearl& communicated to other le$els. Because each unit is empowered toidentif& and sol$e problems, one must #eep others informed of changes that are ta#ing place andnegotiate these changes with others who might be affected b& them. 9e need to support thede$elopment of effecti$e collaboration and communication s#ills using new communicationtechnologies if we wish to prepare children for their futures in a world where these s#ills are soimportant.

It is not surprising that the Internet and other I"s ha$e appeared and become such a prominent part ofour li$es during the transition from an industrial to a postindustrial societ&. "hese new information andcommunication tools allow us to identif& important problems, *uic#l& gather information, criticall&e$aluate the information we locate, s&nthesie that information into a solution, and then communicatethe solution to others. "he new literacies re*uired to effecti$el& use I"s to accomplish these functions

are central to success in an information age.

It is important, howe$er, to recognie that new literacies do not simpl& create more producti$e wor#ersand wor#places. 8ust as important, the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s pro$ide indi$idualswith opportunities to ma#e their personal li$es more producti$e and fulfilling. "his might happen

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while refinancing a home, selecting a uni$ersit&, ad$ocating for social %ustice, purchasing boo#s, oran& one of hundreds of other tas#s important to dail& life. In addition, we are beginning to see that thenew literacies of the Internet and other I"s permit greater ci$ic engagement in democraticinstitutions. Increasingl&, national and local politics are changing as more citiens disco$er importantinformation about candidates, participate online in campaign efforts, organie online communities tosupport $arious political agendas, and communicate more fre*uentl& with their representati$es $ia e6mail. F'pertise in the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s helps indi$iduals ha$e moresatisf&ing personal li$es, more engaged ci$ic li$es, as well as more producti$e professional li$es.

The a*id Emergence of the Internet as a /owerful New Technology for Information and

Communication

"he appearance of the Internet is not a spontaneous, arbitrar& e$ent. It has appeared and become acentral part of our li$es because the nature of the wor#place and other social institutions is changing.

In the wor#place, sur$e& data from the nited 1tates show recent rapid increases in Internet use,re$ealing changes ta#ing place from the restructuring process described in the pre$ious section. In %ustone &ear (August 2000 to 1eptember 2005!, use of the Internet at wor# among all emplo&ed adults 2E

&ears of age and older increased b& nearl& D0K, from 2D.5K of the wor#force to 45.K ( .1. Cepartment of ommerce, 2002!. If this rate of increase continues, nearl& e$er&one in the wor#forcewill be using the Internet at wor# within %ust a few &ears. urrentl&, wor#ers in positions with thehighest le$els of education report the highest le$els of Internet use in the nited 1tates. In managerial

 positions with some professional specialt&, 0.EK of wor#ers report using the Internet. But e$en intechnical, sales, and administrati$e support positions, 0.EK of wor#ers report using the Internet (.1.Cepartment of ommerce, 2002!. learl& the Internet is rapidl& becoming central to full participationin the wor#place.

1tatistics on Internet usage at home in the nited 1tates parallel these changes in the wor#place. Nearl& D0K of all households report that the& had Internet access in 2002. Among those who had not

 pre$iousl& used the Internet, 4K report that the& are somewhat li#el& or $er& li#el& to go onlineduring 200+ (ebo, 200+!. 7oreo$er, the percentage of .1. households with broadband Internetaccess has been doubling each &ear from 5;; to 2005, an adoption rate in households e'ceeding thatof an& pre$ious technolog& including telephones, color tele$isions, $ideocassette recorders, cellular

 phones, and pagers (.1. Cepartment of ommerce, 2002!. 7ost interesting, perhaps, is that Internetusers report an increase in time the& spend on the Internet and a decrease in the time the& spend$iewing tele$ision (ebo, 200+!. Internet users report watching about 50K fewer hours of tele$ision

 per wee# in 2002 (55.2 hours per wee#! compared to 2005 (52.+ hours per wee#!. "his pattern alsoholds true for .1. children= Nearl& ++K of children reported in 2002 that the& are $iewing lesstele$ision than before the& started using the Internet this fre*uenc& is up nearl& E0K from %ust one&ear earlier (ebo, 200+!.

"he Internet also is appearing in school classrooms in the nited 1tates and other countries at a ratethat parallels its appearance in the wor#place and at home. In onl& eight &ears (5;;4 to 2002!, the

 percentage of classrooms in the nited 1tates possessing at least one computer with Internet access hasgone from +K to ;2K ( National enter for Fducation 1tatistics LNF1M, 200+a!. "his is an adoptionrate that is unprecedented in schools for an& pre$ious technolog& including tele$isions, radios,telephones, $ideocassette recorders, and e$en boo#s. "he a$ailabilit& of Internet access has had ademonstrated impact on students. In 2005, ;4K of children ages 5265 who had Internet access saidthat the& used the Internet for school6related research (enhart, 1imon, / raiano, 2005!.

"he *ualit& of Internet access in schools has also undergone a rapid transformation. In 5;;D, three*uarters of .1. public schools with Internet connections reported using phone modem access

(<ea$iside, Riggins, / :arris, 5;;!, while in 2002, ;4K of schools reported ha$ing broadband access(NF1, 200+a!, permitting faster access to richer, more memor& intensi$e media. "he rate at whichschools ha$e mo$ed from phone modem access to broadband access in the nited 1tates is e$en fasterthan this same migration in homes (cf. ebo, 200+!.

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"hus, it is clear that the Internet is rapidl& finding its wa& to a central location in the wor#place as wellas in home and school conte'ts. 9e belie$e that the appearance of the Internet in the wor#place aswell as in home and school conte'ts is one of the most powerful social re$olutions ta#ing place toda&.At the heart of this re$olution are the new literac& s#ills and strategies demanded b& the Internet andother I"s.

/u)lic /olicy Initiaties )y (oernments 0round the "orld to Ensure %igher Leels of Literacy0chieement

o$ernments around the world are #eenl& aware of the conse*uences of global economic competitionfor their citiens. "he& ha$e responded b& implementing public policies to raise literac& achie$ementin an attempt to better prepare their children for the challenges that lie ahead. 1imultaneousl&, the&ha$e responded with initiati$es that pro$ide new I"s resources to schools in an effort to preparechildren for the new literacies of their future. "hese simultaneous steps b& nations around the worldare the beginning of a con$ergence we anticipate for literac& instruction with networ#ed technologiesfor information and communication (eu / -iner, 2000!.

In the nited -ingdom, for e'ample, education has been identified as a top priorit& of the abour

go$ernment. "he first white paper of this go$ernment,  Excellence in Schools, e'plains in detail howhigher standards for literac& are to be de$eloped and achie$ed in Fngland, 9ales, and Northern Ireland(.-. 1ecretar& of 1tate for Fducation and 1#ills, 5;;!. "he reason for this is clearl& lin#ed to globalcompetition in an information age and the implications of a restructured econom&= 9e are tal#ingabout in$esting in the human capital in the age of #nowledge. "o compete in a global econom&...wewill ha$e to unloc# the potential of e$er& &oung personJ (p. +!.

"he .-. Cepartment for Fducation and 1#ills has published other papers such as this at "he1tandards 1iteJ (www.standards.dfee.go$.u# !. Both the national standards and the new nationalcurriculum ha$e included I"s for the first time (.-. Cepartment for Fducation and 1#ills, 5;;!.:inall&, a National rid for earning (www.ngfl.go$.u# ! was launched in 5;; to pro$ide an online

national portal for teacher and student learning.1imilar polic& initiati$es are ta#ing place in :inland, one of the first nations to begin this wor#. "he:innish go$ernment appointed an e'pert committee in 5;;4 to prepare a national strateg& foreducation, training, and research in an information societ&. "his report,  Education, Training and

 Research in the Information Society: !ational Strategy  (:inland 7inistr& of Fducation, 5;;E!,outlines the important role the educational s&stem can pla& in helping :inland to compete in a globalinformation econom&. "he report ser$ed as the impetus for a number of initiati$es from the 7inistr& ofFducation, including a three6&ear program launched in 5;;D to teach students effecti$e use of I"s inschools. "his program included de$eloping new teaching methods for the use of I"s, connecting allschools to the Internet before the &ear 2000, and pro$iding new computers to schools. 7ost important,the program also pro$ides e$er& teacher with fi$e wee#s of paid release time for professionalde$elopment in the instructional use of new information technologies (:inland 7inistr& of Fducation, 5;; R. 1$edlin, personal communication, 8anuar& , 5;;!.

Ireland, li#e man& other nations, also launched two polic& initiati$es= a National Reading Initiati$e anda 1chools I" 2000 initiati$e. "he National Reading Initiati$e included the appointment of a nationalcoordinator, pro$ision for remedial ser$ices in e$er& school, a tripling of adult literac& funding,increased funding for remedial teachers, and a program of de$elopment for literac&6related software(Ireland Cepartment of Fducation and 1cience, 5;;!.

"he 1chools I" 2000 initiati$e (Ireland Cepartment of Fducation and 1cience, 5;;! was implemented because #nowledge and familiarit& with new technologies will be an important dimension ofemplo&abilit& in the information societ&J (Ireland Cepartment of Fducation and 1cience, 5;;!.1chools I" 2000 encompassed a number of polic& initiati$es intended to prepare children for acompetiti$e, global, information econom&. "hese included (a! a "echnolog& Integration Initiati$e to

 pro$ide more than 5E,000 computers and Internet connections in 5;; with additional funds a$ailableduring subse*uent &ears (b! a "eacher 1#ills Initiati$e to pro$ide training in I"s for more than ,000

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teachers (c! a 1chools 1upport Initiati$e to de$elop 1coilNet (www.scoilnet.ie!, an Internet portal siteto pro$ide information and support for educators and (d! a 1chool Integration ?ro%ect to pro$idefunding for at least 40 model schools that will demonstrate the effecti$e use of I"s in the classroom.

Important polic& initiati$es also are underwa& in Australia. In April 5;;;, the federal go$ernmentappro$ed The delaide "eclaration on !ational Goals for Schooling in the T#enty$%irst &entury

(Australia Cepartment of Fducation, 1cience and "raining, 2004!, which included an emphasis on bothliterac& and I". In particular, the goals noted that 9hen students lea$e school, the& should...beconfident, creati$e and producti$e users of new technologies, particularl& information andcommunication technologies.J 7oreo$er, the federal go$ernment has de$eloped   Strategic

 %rame#or' for the Information Economy: Identifying Priorities for ction (Australia National 3ffice for the Information Fconom&, 5;;;!, which outlines a national strateg& and 50 action priorities for

 becoming more competiti$e in a global information econom&. "he second priorit& focuses on the roleof schools in preparing children in information technolog&= Celi$er the education and s#illsAustralians need to participate in the information econom&.J

:inall&, the federal go$ernment along with commonwealth, state, and territor& education departments

has de$eloped an online Internet portal, the Fducation Networ# Australia ( www.edna.edu.au!. "hise'tensi$e resource pro$ides a range of information resources for children, teachers, professors,researchers, and polic&ma#ers.

 New ealand is also beginning public polic& initiati$es to raise literac& achie$ement and to integrateI"s into the curriculum. At the end of 5;;, the go$ernment announced that it intended to de$elop a

 National iterac& and Numerac& 1trateg& to enable e$er& ;6&ear6old to become proficient in reading,writing, and mathematics b& 200E (iterac& 1trateg& nderwa&, 5;;;!. As part of this effort, thego$ernment appointed a National iterac& "as#force to assist in de$eloping this strateg&. In additionto the need to be competiti$e in the global econom&, the impetus for this is the need to close the gap

 between good and poor readers (iterac& 1trateg& nderwa&!.

1imultaneous with these initiati$es in literac& education, the New ealand national go$ernmentreleased a polic& paper titled Interacti(e Education: n Information and &ommunication Technologies

)I&Ts* Strategy for Schools ( New ealand 7inistr& of Fducation, 5;;! which describes strategies forsupporting the use of I"s in the nations schools. "his document defines the focus for nationalinitiati$es in I"s= building infrastructure and impro$ing the capabilit& of schools to use I"seffecti$el& in the curriculum. It describes se$eral new initiati$es the national go$ernment too# in 5;;;=de$eloping an online portal site for schools, teachers, and children ( Te +ete Iurangi,  a$ailable atwww.t#i.org.n>e>t#i! pro$iding support for professional de$elopment so schools can plan for andimplement the use of I"s more effecti$el& and supporting model I"s professional de$elopmentschools. "he reason for these initiati$es again was related to global economic competition= Newealand schools aim to create a learning en$ironment that enables students to de$elop the attitudes,

#nowledge, understandings, and s#ills to enable them...to succeed in the modern competiti$eeconom&J (New ealand 7inistr& of Fducation, 5;;, Introduction!.

"he nited 1tates has a long histor& of state and local control o$er educational policies and a recent past characteried b& intense partisanship at the federal le$el o$er educational issues. As a result,national polic& initiati$es ha$e been difficult to implement in education. ?rior to 2002, most of the

 public polic& initiati$es for raising literac& achie$ement too# place at the state le$el. 7an& statesestablished standards or benchmar#s, often in con%unction with new statewide assessment instruments.7an& states also initiated polices to infuse more I" and I"s in the classroom.

At the federal le$el, educational polic& initiati$es had been more diffuse in origin, and man& wereimplemented onl& after bitter partisan debates. Ne$ertheless, se$eral important initiati$es at the federal

le$el ha$e focused on literac& issues. "hese initiati$es produced legislation such as "he ReadingF'cellence Act, the appointment of a National Reading ?anel, and the de$elopment of 1tandards forthe Fnglish anguage Arts (International Reading Association LIRAM / National ouncil of "eachers of Fnglish LN"FM,5;;D!. Fach of these initiati$es, designed to impro$e reading achie$ement, was

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mar#ed b& substantial contro$ers&. "he contro$ers& has continued with the passage of the No hildeft Behind Act in 2002.

"he No hild eft Behind Act enacts an e'tensi$e list of public polic& initiati$es, man& of which arealso designed to increase student achie$ement in reading. "hese pro$isions include se$eralre*uirements= that all students are proficient in reading and math within 52 &ears that assessment in

 both reading and math be conducted annuall& for all students in grades +6 and be conducted at leastonce in grades 50652 that reading programs be funded onl& if the& are based on scientificall& basedreading research and that all teachers be highl& *ualified, with state certification.

1imilar to other nations, this ma%or polic& initiati$e in reading also contains a technolog& component."itle II, 1ection C, of the No hild eft Behind Act is de$oted to technolog& with the stated goal, "oassist e$er& student in crossing the digital di$ide b& ensuring that e$er& student is technologicall&literate b& the time the student finishes the eighth grade, regardless of the students race, ethnicit&,gender, famil& income, geographic location, or disabilit&.J In order to promote the goals of thissection, the .1. federal go$ernment plans to pro$ide O5 million each &ear, most of which will go forstate and local technolog& grants. 1tates must pro$ide a long6range plan for implementing this

initiati$e, and all local units must de$ote a minimum of 2EK of the funds to professional de$elopmentin the instructional use of the Internet and other I"s. In addition, the 1ecretar& of Fducation ischarged with de$eloping a national educational technolog& plan.

In addition to the No hild eft Behind Act, a ma%or polic& initiati$e has been the establishment of theni$ersal 1er$ice 1upport 7echanism for 1chools and ibraries, a polic& initiati$e #nown informall&as the F6rate program.J "his program is funded b& ongress under the "elecommunications Act of5;;D and is administered b& the 1chools and ibraries Ci$ision (1C! of the ni$ersal 1er$iceAdministrati$e ompan& (www.sl.uni$ersalser$ice .org!, a nonprofit organiation established b& the:ederal ommunications ommission (:! for this purpose. 1tarting in 5;;, the program began toannuall& distribute up to O2.2E billion in financial support to schools and libraries for Internet access

 based on indicators of financial need. "his program has contributed in important wa&s to the rapid

infusion of Internet6connected computers within the -652 classrooms of the nited 1tates.

In summar&, man& nations around the world, aware of the need to prepare students for the challengesof a competiti$e global econom&, are de$eloping public polic& initiati$es to raise literac& standardsand infuse I"s into the curriculum. 9hile each nation approaches the issue in its own fashion, what isstri#ing is the common effort in this direction. Fspeciall& salient is the federal response from thosenations, li#e Australia and the nited 1tates, with a long tradition of local control and little pre$ioushistor& of federal inter$ention. F$en these countries are beginning to de$elop important nationalinitiati$es to raise literac& le$els and prepare children in the use of I"s.

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The Im*ortance of an E&*anded Definition of Literacy1 Emerging Theoretical

/ers*ecties2

9e ha$e seen how three important social forces in toda&s world are shaping both the forms andfunctions of literac&=

5. lobal economic competition within economies based increasingl& on the effecti$e use of information andcommunication

2. "he rapid emergence of the Internet as a powerful new technolog& for information and communication

+.?ublic polic& initiati$es b& go$ernments around the world to ensure higher le$els of literac& achie$ement, including theuse of the Internet and other I"s

It is clear that the nature of literac& is changing rapidl& as new I"s appear, re*uiring new literacies tofull& e'ploit their potential in what Rein#ing (5;;! has called our post6t&pographicJ world. "hesechanges ma#e it increasingl& impossible to function in the worlds of research, theor&, and practice ifwe define literac& in wa&s that ignore the realit& of the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s.Puestions and issues about t&pes of te'ts, t&pes of literacies, assessment, curriculum, and teachereducation, and how these are impacted b& present and emerging technologies, must be addressed if we

are to shape theories and pedagogies of literac& that d&namicall& respond to social and technologicalchange.

Get to address these issues in a cogent manner, we must begin to de$elop an ade*uate definition ofwhat it means to be literate. "o de$elop such a definition, one must as# whether literacy as a term

 presupposes print, whether it presupposes te't. Coes literac& mean comprehension of print orcomprehension of a message that has permanence in wa&s that a nonrecorded oral message does not@Coes reading childrens literature presuppose a printed childrens boo#, or can childrens literaturee'ist on a C6R37 or website@ Coes te't presuppose onl& print, or does it include all aspects in anauthors toolbo', which allows meaning to be preser$ed for later reading and response b& an audience@

In addition, definitions and theories of literac& also must consider the rapid changes we are

e'periencing toda& as new I"s regularl& emerge. 9e ha$e argued that the definition of literac& hasalwa&s changed o$er historical periods but that it is changing toda& at a pace we ha$e ne$er beforee'perienced as new technologies for information and communication appear rapidl& and continuousl&(eu, 2000a eu / -iner, 2000!. iterac&, therefore, ma& be thought of as a mo$ing target,continuall& changing its meaning depending on what societ& e'pects literate indi$iduals to do. Associetal e'pectations for literac& change, and as the demands on literate functions in a societ& change,so too must definitions of literac& change to reflect this mo$ing target.

urrent definitions of literac& ha$e mo$ed well be&ond earlier definitions of literac& as the abilit& tosound out words and>or cop& accuratel& what is dictated. Cefinitions of reading, for e'ample, ha$emo$ed far be&ond :leschs (5;EE, 5;5! $iews that Lwe should teach the childM letter6b&6letter andsound6b&6sound until he #nows it)and when he #nows it, he #nows how to readJ (5;EE, p. 525! andlearning to read is li#e learning to dri$e a car.... "he child learns the mechanics of reading, and whenhes through, he can readJ (5;5, p. +!. Cefinitions b& Cechant (5;2!, oodman (5;D!, Rumelhart (5;;4 see Q45 this $olume!, and others include ones interaction between the te't and the reader andinclude comprehension of the message in addition to decoding the printed page. "hese authorsrecognied that the abilit& to communicate, to present ones message, and to understand and e$aluateanothers message is part of reading, and that an interaction and transaction into ones e'periences aswell as personal response and meaning6ma#ing is part of the goal for literac& instruction (<arste, 5;;0Rosenblatt, 5;;4, see Q4 this $olume 1hanahan, 5;;0!. Get all these definitions come from a

 perspecti$e of print and owe their historical roots and conceptions of literac& to a largel& print6basedworld.

3f course, these definitions can be applied to literac& in technological en$ironments to the e'tent thatthe s&mbol s&stems a$ailable to readers and writers when the definitions were conceptualied alsoe'ist in electronic en$ironments. <owe$er, to the e'tent that there are additional demands andcapabilities of literac& in electronic en$ironments be&ond those a$ailable at the times respecti$e

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definitions were conceptualied, current definitions ma& be less applicable. And, perhaps, the greatestshortcomings of current definitions can be seen in the re*uirements of interactions betweentraditionall& a$ailable literac& resources and new ones, and in the demands on readers and writers thatwere pre$iousl& not re*uired for authorship, comprehension, and response to occur. 9e argue that, asthe medium of the message changes, comprehension processes, decoding processes, and what countsJas literac& acti$ities must change to reflect readers and authors present6da& strategies forcomprehension and response.

learl&, definitions of literac& must change to include electronic en$ironments. In some wa&s,howe$er, incorporating technolog& into definitions of literac& becomes less an argument aboutwhether or not such changes are needed or are effecti$e and more a recognition that schools mustincorporate technolog& or be $iewed as out of touch or e$en irrele$ant (see, e.g., <agood, 1te$ens, /Rein#ing, 200+ ewis / :inders, 2002!. F$en though man& are calling for more research on theefficac& of technolog& in learning, there is increasing recognition that technolog& is here to sta& thedemand from businesses, parents, and societ& at large is such that technolog& will continue to appearin schools e$en before research outcomes are #nown.

In sum, the significance of the increasing a$ailabilit& of technolog& within and be&ond schools relatesto their situated use in literac& practice, and perhaps relates %ust as much to the s&mbolic capital(Bourdieu, 5;;5! of the technologies in relation to the social spaces of schooling ( Bromle& / Apple, 5;; Bruce, 5;;a!. "echnolog& a$ailabilit& in schools both changes literate signif&ing practices andsignifies change in and of itself. "he material and ideological meanings of the computer, as with an&tool (ole, 5;;D!, are deepl& intertwined. 9hile this double relation of meaning is true across thesub%ect areas of schooling, it ma& be particularl& true for language arts gi$en the significantconstruction of a discourse on technological   #nowledge as a form of literac&. In this sense, literacy

might inde' a $er& broad range of #nowledge and practice (e.g., ha$ing technical s#ill across programsand platforms, #nowing how to install and upgrade software! with de$eloping technologies.

9ithin such a web of practice and representation, schools and districts lac#ing technolog& could well

 be imagined as onl& partiall& literateJ spaces. "his, of course, is not an argument for the proliferationof technolog& in schooling. Rather, it is an argument that, in man& wa&s, the meaning of schooledliterac& has alread& been (and will continue to be! articulated with the a$ailabilit& and meaning oftechnolog&. As ammac# (200+!  points out in her re$iew of Al$ermanns (2002!  edited $olume,differences in technolog& use and perceptions of $alue between teachers and students can effecti$el&act to bloc# change in the integration and use of technolog& in literac& pedagog&.J

Cefinitions of literac& must mo$e be&ond being located in onl& paper6printed media. hildrensliterature cannot be limited onl& to the pages in a paper6based boo# of printed pages, but must include

 boo#s in electronic formats as well. "he added information and capabilities that electronic formats pro$ide for authors and readers necessitate an e'panded $iew of literac&, what it means to be literate,

and what it means to be a teacher (and learner! in the language arts.

onsider, for e'ample, that decodingJ in a print conte't in$ol$es decoding the alphabetic charactersas well as an& pictures, charts, maps, and graphs that are included on the page. In this sense, thedecoding and interpretation of graphics and other forms of media as literac& practice is certainl& not anew de$elopment, and o$er the last decade or so researchers ha$e been gi$ing increasing attention tothe significance of images, tele$ision, drama, and other forms of media in the literate li$es of children(Al$ermann, <inchman, 7oore, ?helps, / 9aff, 5;;  C&son, 5;;; :lood / app, 5;;E!. 1uchwor# pro$ides an important research base from which to anal&e literac& practices in the multimediaen$ironment of the Internet.

At the same time, the nature and relationships of Internet multimedia also pose uni*ue problems that

the stud& of offline multimedia forms cannot address ade*uatel&. :or e'ample, forms of decoding arede$eloping that were either relati$el& minor or simpl& not possible offline. In an electronicen$ironment, decoding for comprehension includes decoding the strategic use of color $arious cluesthat indicate h&perlin#ed te'ts and graphics the possible actions of meaning6bearing icons andanimations and pictures, maps, charts, and graphs that are not static, but that can change to address

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*uestions that an interacti$e reader can pose to informational te't during the reading act. Althoughdefinitions of literac& still must include concepts of composition, decoding, comprehension, andresponse, in order to understand how each of these definitional factors pla& out in electronicen$ironments we must ta#e into account current uses as indicators of current definitions of literac&.

9ith personal computers and the Internets graphical interfaces, it is no longer possible to position the

 print te't as the focal te't in all instances, with images ser$ing onl& a supporting role in meaningconstruction. As man& webpages are o$erwhelmingl& an assemblage of images, understanding readingacross these images significantl& decenters print6based reading (:lood / app, 5;;E!. <&permediareading practices ha$e at least as much to do with the multiple relations between images as the& dowith the paths among segments of print te't. Importantl&, the nature of images also permits writers andreaders to lin# them in wa&s other than paper6based te'ts. :or instance, while t&picall& a term or

 phrase of te't is lin#ed in linear se*uence, an image ma& be di$ided into an image mapJ in whichdi$erse topological parts of the image are lin#ed to other $arious images, te't, $ideo, or media ob%ects.Running a mouse pointer o$er an image, for e'ample, often pops upJ te't without the mouse beingclic#ed, or causes e'pansion of an image or graphic. ?art of a pie chart might e'pand with newinformation when the pointer is mo$ed o$er its slices, &et no o$ert clue e'ists that this would occur,

 presenting a serendipitous and differential e'perience across readers who might or might not ha$emo$ed the mouse pointer o$er the image.

?erhaps more significant, changing definitions must ac#nowledge the e'panded presence ofmultimedia, which has led to a proliferation of new combinations of authoring (e.g., $oice6annotatedwebsites, $ideo clips with h&perte'tual anal&sis!. em#e (5;;!, from a semiotic perspecti$e, arguescon$incingl& that a central problem is that meanings are not fi'ed and additi$e, but multiplicati$e."hat is, in the electronic en$ironment what must be interpreted is not a complementar& relation ofseparatel& de$eloped te'ts but the e'pansi$e signification of an entire sign s&stem. "he literaciesnecessar& to understand multiple, interdependent meanings inde' the need for comple' understandingsof literac& tool#itsJ (ee, 5;;0 9ertsch, 5;;5! for interpreting and producing meaning in

h&permedia that includes but e'tends traditional te'ts.Cespite all these changes, our understanding of the new literacies re*uired b& I"s is not wellad$anced. No single theoretical perspecti$e has &et to e'plain the full range of the changes to literac&

 brought about b& the Internet and other I"s. Ne$ertheless, se$eral useful perspecti$es are beginningto e$ol$e from $arious *uarters. "hese include perspecti$es that focus on critical literacies (u#e, 5;; 7uspratt, u#e, / :reebod&, 5;;!, multiliteracies ("he New ondon roup, 2000!, medialiterac& ("&ner, 5;;!, and others that pro$ide us with insights about the new literacies of I"s.

1ome, for e'ample, ha$e argued that a literac& curriculum during an age of information needs toinclude new, critical literacies that enable children to ade*uatel& e$aluate messages from indi$idualsand corporations that shape the information the& pro$ide (7uspratt et al., 5;;!. "hese authors argue

that it is impossible to discuss literac& without considering who is using it and for what purposes. "he&describe the essential need to understand the stance of the person producing a message, the moti$e

 behind the message, and the need to criticall& e$aluate these messages. "he& foreground the importantneed to de$elop critical literacies as an essential element of an& instructional program because newmedia forms, globaliation, and economic pressures engender messages that increasingl& attempt to

 persuade indi$iduals to act in wa&s beneficial to an economic or political unit but not necessaril& beneficial to the indi$idual. Curing an age of information, an& theoretical perspecti$e that see#s tocapture the changes ta#ing place to literac& must include these essential critical literacies. As theInternet *uic#l& becomes both an important source for information and an important commercial and

 political conte't, critical literacies become e$en more important to our li$es.

A second heuristic that is useful comes from the wor# of "he New ondon roup (2000!. Fmergingfrom sociolinguistic traditions, the group uses the construct multiliteracies to capture changes ta#ing place in two dimensions central to literac&= (5! the multiple modalities of communication in a worldwhere man& new communication technologies ha$e appeared and (2! the growing di$ersit& of cultureand language within an increasingl& global communit&. Instead of defining literac& as a unitar&

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construct, this group recognies the inherent di$ersit& that constructs literac& in a world defined b&new technologies of communication and new cultural and linguistic conte'ts that become more $isiblewith globaliation. 9ithin this t&pe of theoretical framewor#, one might $iew reading, writing, andcommunication on the Internet as including a set of multiliteracies, emerging as indi$iduals fromdifferent cultural conte'ts encounter one another within different communication technologies.

1till others (1il$erblatt, :err&, / :inan, 5;;; "&ner, 5;;! ta#e a media literac& perspecti$e, whichfocuses on the new literacies re*uired from new media forms. 7edia literac& perspecti$es often areclosel& aligned with critical literac& perspecti$es, though the& focus more on media forms be&ond te'tsuch as $ideo and the images that often dri$e a culture. i#e those who ta#e a critical literac&

 perspecti$e, proponents of a media literac& perspecti$e stress the importance of anal&ing an authorsstance and moti$es as well as the need for a critical e$aluation of the message itself. "his perspecti$eis important to include when considering literac& within Internet technologies because thesetechnologies ma#e possible a panopl& of media forms within a single message, thus increasing theimportance of understanding how each ma& be used b& an author to shape a readers interpretation.And, because locations on the Internet often are populated with commercial, political, and economicmoti$es, it becomes essential to be able to carefull& e$aluate these while gathering information (-iner

/ eander, 200+!.

3ther theoretical orientations, too, are possible when considering new literacies appearing on theInternet. "hese include feminist perspecti$es (<awisher / 1elfe, 5;;;!, perspecti$es that draw from

 postmodernist interpretations of popular culture (Al$ermann, 7oon, / <agood, 5;;;!, or perspecti$esthat come from wor# in cultural transformations (9arschauer, 5;;;!. Fach has important insights tocontribute to understanding the changes that are ta#ing place.

Although each of these perspecti$es pro$ides essential insights, we belie$e the& are limited for at leasttwo reasons. :irst, the& fail to place the Internet and other I"s at the center of their perspecti$e.Instead of emerging from the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s, these theoretical

 perspecti$es ha$e e$ol$ed from other conte'ts and ha$e then been applied to the I"s landscape. 9e

 belie$e the new literacies of the Internet, because the& are more encompassing and because the&change more rapidl& and in more profound wa&s than traditional print literacies, re*uire their owntheoretical framewor# in order to ade*uatel& understand them and the role the& should pla& in aliterac& curriculum.

A second limitation also e'ists. 3ther theoretical orientations fre*uentl& suffer from a narrowertheoretical grounding, often because each has emerged from a more limited tradition of in*uir&. :ore'ample, while a multiliteracies perspecti$e is a most useful one, its sociolinguistic groundingsomewhat limits its abilit& to predict an& of the more cogniti$e and ontological aspects of newliteracies that students must de$elop in order to become literate with the Internet and other I"s(an#shear / -nobel, 200+!. 9e belie$e that an& theor& must bring multiple perspecti$es (abbo / 

Rein#ing, 5;;;! to bear on framing the totalit& of the new literacies emerging from the Internet andother I"s if it is to be useful in informing the comple' teaching and learning issues within schoolconte'ts.

In short, we belie$e that a theoretical framewor# for the new literacies of the Internet and other I"sneeds to be grounded in these technologies themsel$es, ta#ing ad$antage of the insights that a $ariet&of different perspecti$es might bring to understanding the complete picture of the new literaciesemerging from these technologies.

Identifying Central /rinci*les of New Literacies Emerging From the Internet andOther ICTs

Although it is too earl& to define a comprehensi$e theor& of new literacies emerging from thesetechnologies, we are con$inced that it is time to begin this process b& identif&ing the central principles

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on which this theor& should be built. 3ur wor# is pointing us to these principles of a New iteracies?erspecti$e=

5. "he Internet and other I"s are central technologies for literac& within a global communit& in an information age.

2. "he Internet and other I"s re*uire new literacies to full& access their potential.

+. New literacies are deictic.

4. "he relationship between literac& and technolog& is transactional.E. New literacies are multiple in nature.

D. ritical literacies are central to the new literacies.

. New forms of strategic #nowledge are central to the new literacies.

. 1peed counts in important wa&s within the new literacies.

;. earning often is sociall& constructed within new literacies.

50 "eachers become more important, though their role changes, within new literac& classrooms.

The Internet and Other ICTs 0re Central Technologies for Literacy "ithin a (lo)al

Community in an Information 0ge

:rom a sociolinguistic perspecti$e, ee (5;;D! and "he New ondon roup (2000! ha$e argued thatliterac& is embedded in and de$elops out of the social practices of a culture. 9e agree and, from ahistorical perspecti$e, ha$e demonstrated how different literacies ha$e emerged from different socialconte'ts and the technologies the& often prompt.

:or the past E00 &ears, literac& has emerged from a $ariet& of social conte'ts but has been shapedlargel& b& the technologies of the boo# and the printing press. "oda&, both the social conte't and thetechnologies of our age are rapidl& changing. 9e belie$e the Internet and other I"s are *uic#l&

 becoming the central technologies of literac& for a global communit& in an information age. As aresult, these technologies are *uic#l& defining the new literacies that will increasingl& be a part of ourfuture. iterac& theor&, research, and practice must begin to recognie this important fact.

oo#ing briefl& at how reading comprehension ta#es place on the Internet will illustrate how we needto rethin# our assumptions about literac&. "raditionall&, reading comprehension has often been defined

 b& the construction of meaning from a fi'ed bod& of te't. 3n the Internet, reading comprehensionta#es on a $er& different and broader definition. New s#ills and strategies are re*uired in this conte't tosuccessfull& comprehend information such as how to search for appropriate information how tocomprehend search engine results how to ma#e correct inferences about information that will befound at an& h&perlin# how to determine the e'tent to which authors shapeJ information presentedon a webpage how to coordinate and s&nthesie $ast amounts of information, presented in multiplemedia formats, from a nearl& unlimited set of sources and how to #now which informational elementsre*uire attention and which ones ma& be ignored. ?erhaps we can best recognie this fundamentall&

different conception of reading comprehension when we understand that two students, with anidentical goal, will construct meaning differentl&, not onl& because the& bring different bac#ground#nowledge to the tas# but also because the& will use $er& different search strategies, follow $er&different informational paths, read $er& different sets of information, draw $er& different criticalconclusions about what the& ha$e read, and attend to $er& different informational elements. Readingcomprehension has a $er& different meaning on the Internet (oiro, 200+!.

The Internet and Other ICTs e3uire New Literacies to Fully 0ccess Their /otential

 New literacies include the s#ills, strategies, and disposition that allow us to use the Internet and otherI"s effecti$el& to identif& important *uestions, locate information, criticall& e$aluate the usefulnessof that information, s&nthesie information to answer those *uestions, and then communicate theanswers to others. 9e encounter new literacies nearl& e$er& time we tr& to read, write, andcommunicate with the Internet and other I"s. F'amples of new literacies include

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• using a search engine effecti$el& to locate information

• e$aluating the accurac& and utilit& of information that is located on a webpage in relation to

ones purpose

• using a word processor effecti$el&, including using functions such as chec#ing spelling

accurac&, inserting graphics, and formatting te't

•  participating effecti$el& in bulletin board or listser$ discussions to get needed information

• #nowing how to use e6mail to communicate effecti$el& and

• inferring correctl& the information that ma& be found at a h&perlin# on a webpage.

It is essential, howe$er, to #eep in mind that new literacies, such as these, almost alwa&s build onfoundational literacies rather than replace them. :oundational literacies include those traditionalelements of literac& that ha$e defined almost all our pre$ious efforts in both research and practice."hese include s#ill sets such as phonemic awareness, word recognition, decoding #nowledge,$ocabular& #nowledge, comprehension, inferential reasoning, the writing process, spelling, response toliterature, and others re*uired for the literacies of the boo# and other printed material. :oundationalliteracies will continue to be important within the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s. In fact,it could be argued that the& will become e$en more essential because reading and writing becomemore important in an information age. 9hile foundational literacies become more important, the& alsowill be insufficient if one is to full& utilie the Internet and other I"s (oiro, 200+ IRA, 2002 eu, 2000b RANC Reading 1tud& roup, 2002 1pires / Fstes, 2002 1utherland61mith, 2002!. Reading,writing, and communication will assume new forms as te't is combined with new media resources andlin#ed within comple' information networ#s re*uiring new literacies for their effecti$e use.

New Literacies 0re Deictic

eu (5;;a, 2000a! and eu and -iner (2000! ha$e argued that we are entering a period of literac& as

technological dei'is. Curing this period, the forms and functions of literac& change rapidl& as newtechnologies for information and communication emerge and as indi$iduals construct newen$isionments for their use.

"he term deixis (di#e6sis! is a word used b& linguists and others (:illmore, 5;2 7urph&, 5;D! forwords such as no#, today, here, there, go, and come- "hese are words whose meanings change *uic#l&depending on the time or space in which the& are uttered. If we sa& nowJ as we write this draft, itmeans our current moment during the spring of 200+. If &ou sa& nowJ when &ou encounter thise'ample, it means the moment in time when &ou read these lines. 9hile to ertrude 1tein A rose is arose, is a rose,J no# is not no#, is not no#- Rather, its meaning depends on the temporal conte't whenit is uttered or written.

iterac& also is deictic (di#e6tic!. 9e ha$e seen how both the forms and functions of literac& ha$echanged regularl& o$er time, but because technological change happened slowl&, the changes toliterac& occurred o$er e'tended historical periods. "oda&, technological change happens so rapidl& thatthe changes to literac& are limited not b& technolog& but rather b& our abilit& to adapt and ac*uire thenew literacies that emerge. Cei'is is a defining *ualit& of the new literacies of the Internet and otherI"s. "his will continue into the future but at a much faster pace as new technologies repeatedl&appear, re*uiring new s#ills and new strategies for their effecti$e use. As literac& increasingl& becomesdeictic, the changing constructions of literac& within new technologies will re*uire all of us to #eep upwith these changes and to prepare students for a $astl& different conception of what it means to

 become literate.

"here are three sources for the deictic nature of literac&= (5! transformations of literac& because oftechnological change, (2! en$isionments of new literac& potentials within new technologies, and (+!the use of increasingl& efficient technologies of communication that rapidl& spread new literacies.Fach source contributes to the fundamental changes ta#ing place in the nature of literac&.

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"he rapid transformations in the nature of literac& caused b& technological change are a primar&source for the deictic nature of literac&. New technologies regularl& and repeatedl& transform pre$iousliteracies, regularl& redefining what it means to become literate. onsider, for e'ample, the newwriting s#ills re*uired to effecti$el& use a word processor li#e 7icrosoft 9ord. Fach time oneupgrades to a new $ersion (9ord D, 9ord 2005, 9ord 200+, etc.! one must de$elop new composingand communication s#ills to ta#e full ad$antage of the new potentials within each new $ersion. 9hileone might ha$e needed the abilit& to sa$e documents in different formats in an earl& $ersion of this

 program, later $ersions re*uire additional composing s#ills such as inserting photographic images fromones photo files or editing a graphic image that is placed within a document. 1ubse*uent generationsof this single program will re*uire e$en newer literacies as new technologies generate newcommunication and information potentials.

"he deictic nature of literac& also is caused b& the en$isionments we construct as we use newtechnologies for literate acts. Indi$iduals who use new technologies often en$ision new wa&s of usingthem and, in their en$isionments, change the nature of literac& (eu, -archmer, / eu, 5;;;!.Fn$isionments ta#e place when indi$iduals imagine new possibilities for literac& and learning,transform e'isting technologies to construct this $ision, and then share their wor# with others. "his

happens regularl& within technologies that permit users to create new $isions for their use, somethingthat defines the Internet and most other I"s.

onsider a person who wishes to send a speciall& designed and formatted message $ia e6mail, but shehas an e6mail program containing $er& limited design and format tools. "his person might thin# to usea word processor with more powerful design tools to compose the message, #nowing that she couldthen paste the formatted message into the e6mail message window. "hus, a word processor can betransformed into a tool for composing e6mail messages, a purpose for which it was not designed, but afunction it fills admirabl&. "his potential onl& comes to life when a person en$isions a new functionfor a technolog& and enacts this en$isionment. In essence, we can sa& that she en$isioned how torepurpose a technolog& for a new and different function. Fn$isionments such as this happen regularl&

as indi$iduals encounter new problems and see# solutions in new and creati$e uses of e'istingtechnologies. "he& contribute to the deictic nature of literac&.

"he third factor that prompts the deictic nature of literac& is the use of increasingl& efficienttechnologies of communication that rapidl& distribute new literacies. "he Internet and other I"s notonl& change themsel$es, but the& also pro$ide the central $ehicle for e'changing new technologies forinformation and communication. Increasingl&, for e'ample, we simpl& download new technologiesfrom the Internet when these appear rather than recei$e a C or other storage medium through thetraditional mail s&stem. Because we can now immediatel& download a new technolog& from theInternet or send it to millions of indi$iduals with %ust a #e&stro#e, the changes to literac& deri$ed fromnew technologies now happen at a faster pace than e$er before. "his increases the alread& rapid paceof change in the forms and functions of literac&, increasing the comple'it& of the challenges we face aswe consider how best to prepare students for their literac& futures. "hus, the rapid pace of change inthe forms and functions of literac& are e'acerbated b& the speed with which new technologies and newen$isionments are communicated (eu, 2000a!.

In summar&, we belie$e that the deictic nature of literac& will increase in the &ears ahead, limited onl& b& our own abilit& to adapt to the new literacies that emerge. ?eople, not technolog&, will limit thespeed with which new literacies appear.

The elationshi* +etween Technology and Literacy Is Transactional

"echnolog& transforms the forms and functions of literac& (Rein#ing, 5;;!, but literac& alsotransforms the forms and functions of technolog&. "hus, the relationship between literac& and

technolog& is transactional. 9e ha$e argued abo$e, and most would agree, that new technologies forinformation and communication re*uire new literacies to full& e'ploit their potential. It is important torecognie, howe$er, that when we use technolog& in new wa&s, we also transform the technolog&itself, creating additional new literacies in the process.

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"he most common mechanism b& which users transform a technolog& through their literate beha$ior iswhat we ha$e referred to earlier as an en$isionment. 9hen indi$iduals imagine new possibilities forliterac&, transform the function or the structure of e'isting technologies to construct this $ision, andthen share their wor# with others, an en$isionment has occurred.

In addition, though, technolog& is transformed through instructional practices in literac& classrooms.

"his happens e$er& da& on the Internet when educators construct new curricular resources withInternet technologies and then share their wor# with others (eu et al., 5;;;!. F'amples include thefollowing=

• <arriet "ubman / "he nderground Railroad

(www2.lhric.org>pocantico>tubman>tubman.html !, a site de$eloped b& ?att& "a$erna, "err&<ongell, and ?att&s second6grade class at ?ocantico <ills 1chool in 1leep& <ollow, New Gor# 

• Farth Ca& roceries ?ro%ect (www.earthda&bags.org!, an en$ironmental pro%ect de$eloped b&

7ar# Ahlness, a third6grade teacher in 1eattle, 9ashington

• 13RF &berguides (www.sdcoe.#52.ca.us>score>c&berguide.html!, a collection of Internet

resources for indi$idual wor#s of literature contributed b& teachers and coordinated b& the 1anCiego schools

• Boo# Rap (http=>>rite.ed.*ut.edu.au>oldo6teachernet>pro%ects>boo#6rap> !, literature discussion

groups run o$er the Internet from Australia

9hile these new instructional tools, and thousands of others that are appearing, pro$ide importantresources for the literac& classroom, each also re*uires additional new literacies for their effecti$e use.

New Literacies 0re 4ulti*le in Nature

A New iteracies ?erspecti$e recognies that a singular label, literac&, fails to capture the comple'it&of the changes that can onl& be captured b& a plural label. Increasingl&, scholars are beginning to

recognie that changes ta#ing place result in multiple new literacies re*uired in different socialconte'ts. :or e'ample, "he New ondon roup (2000! defines multiliteracies as a set of open6endedand fle'ible multiple literacies re*uired to function in di$erse conte'ts and communities. 9e belie$ethe same multiplicit& of literac& is emerging because of multiple technological conte'ts. 9e belie$ethat the Internet and other I"s re*uire that we de$elop a s&stematic understanding of the multipleliteracies that e'ist within these man& different conte'ts. "his multiplicit& of new literacies is apparenton at least three different le$els.

"he first le$el of multiplicit& that characteries the new literacies of Internet technologies is thatmeaning is t&picall& represented with multiple media forms. nli#e traditional te't forms that t&picall&include a combination of two t&pes of media)print and two6dimensional graphics)Internet te'tsintegrate a range of s&mbols and multiple6media formats including icons, animated s&mbols, audio,

$ideo, interacti$e tables, $irtual realit& en$ironments, and man& more (Brunner / "all&, 5;;; em#e,5;;!. Also, 9eb designers often use nontraditional combinations of font sie and color, with littleuniformit& in st&le and design from one website to another ( iole#, 5;;D!. As a result, we confrontnew forms and combinations of te'ts and images that challenge our traditional understandings of howinformation is represented and shared with others. "he multiplicati$e effects of these uni*uecombinations of multiple6media forms (em#e, 5;;! demand that students understand how $arious

literacies and $arious cultural traditions combine these different semiotic modalities to ma#e meaningsthat are more than the sum of what each could mean separatel&J (p. 2!. :or traditional language artscurriculums that tend to focus on the process of ma#ing meaning from te't as opposed to criticall&anal&ing and interpreting the messages within images, Internet technologies re*uire literac& educators

to broaden their definitions of literac& to encompass these new, comple', and multiple forms ofInternet literacies.

"he second le$el of multiplicit& is that the Internet and other I"s offer multiple tools for constructingmultiple forms of communication. iterate indi$iduals will be those who can effecti$el& assess their

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indi$idual purposes for using the Internet and then see# out, from the Internets man& offerings, the particular tool and form that best meet their needs. :or e'ample, when see#ing particular information,readers will need to #now procedures for using #e&words within the most appropriate t&pe of searchengine while those hoping to browse online resources for the sa#e of open6ended e'ploration should befamiliar with the hierarchical categories of information inde'ed b& man& search engines. 1imilarl&,when hoping to communicate as&nchronousl& with others, Internet users should be literate in toolssuch as e6mail, listser$s, and discussion boards. 9hen see#ing more real6time interacti$e forms ofinformation, Internet users need to ha$e an understanding of how to access instant messagingtechnologies, communicate effecti$el& with $ideo conference technologies, participate in chat rooms,and enter $irtual en$ironments. A New iteracies ?erspecti$e assumes that proficient users of theInternet also will understand how to construct, design, manipulate, and upload their own informationto add to the constantl& growing and changing bod& of #nowledge that defines the Internet.

A final le$el of multiplicit& that characteries the new literacies of Internet technologies consists of thenew s#ills demanded b& our students as the& more fre*uentl& encounter information from indi$idualsin different social conte'ts. In schools, at home, and in the wor#place, the Internet pro$idesopportunities for indi$iduals to meet and e'change ideas, &et it is important to realie that each of

these ideas is not an isolated piece of information but, rather, is shaped b& the social and culturalconte'ts in which each of us e'ists. "&picall&, students are accustomed to e'changing information withothers within their own classroom, school, or neighborhood and usuall& are not surprised b& what the&learn through these e'changes. <owe$er, the global sharing of information permitted b& the Internetintroduces new challenges for students now e'pected to interpret and respond to information frommultiple social and cultural conte'ts that share profoundl& different assumptions about our world."hese multiple conte'ts for new literacies ha$e important implications for educators preparing studentsto criticall& understand and interpret the meaning of te't and images the& find on the Internet.

Critical Literacies 0re Central to the New Literacies

Another central principle of the new literacies is that the& demand new forms of critical literac& and

additional dependence on critical thin#ing and anal&sis as one encounters information. 3pen networ#ssuch as the Internet permit an&one to publish an&thing this is one of the opportunities this technolog&

 presents. <owe$er, this open access also is one of the Internets limitations information is much morewidel& a$ailable from people who ha$e strong political, economic, religious, or ideological stancesthat profoundl& influence the nature of the information the& present to others. As a result, we mustassist students in becoming more critical consumers of the information the& encounter (Al$ermann etal., 5;;; 7uspratt et al., 5;;!. Although the literac& curriculum (and assessment programs! ha$ealwa&s included items such as critical thin#ing and separating fact from propaganda, richer and morecomple' anal&sis s#ills will need to be included in classrooms where the Internet and other I"s beginto pla& a more prominent role.

As we begin to stud& the new literacies of the Internet we will depend greatl& on wor# from thecommunities of critical literac& and media literac& and will be informed b& research that targetshigher6order thin#ing about what is being communicated. 7ultiple, critical literacies populate the newliteracies of the Internet, re*uiring new s#ills, strategies, and insights to successfull& e'ploit the rapidl&changing information and media technologies continuousl& emerging in our world.

New Forms of $trategic nowledge 0re Central to the New Literacies

7a&er (5;;! has reminded us that each technolog& contains different conte'ts and resources forconstructing meanings and re*uires somewhat different strategies for doing so. New technologies for

networ#ed information and communication are comple' and re*uire man& new strategies for theireffecti$e use. <&perte't technologies, for e'ample, embedded with multiple forms of media andunlimited freedoms of multiple na$igational pathwa&s, present opportunities that ma& seduce somereaders awa& from important content unless the& ha$e de$eloped strategies to deal with theseseductions (awless / -uli#owich, 5;;D awless, 7ills, / Brown, 2002!. 3ther cogniti$e and

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aesthetic changes to te't on the Internet present new challenges to comprehension (oiro, 200+ 1pires/ Fstes, 2002!, in*uir& (Fagleton, 2005!, and information see#ing (1utherland61mith, 2002! as well.7oreo$er, as we ha$e argued, the technologies of the Internet will continue to change regularl& andrapidl&, presenting us with e$en newer technologies of literac& that demand more (and moresophisticated! strategies to effecti$el& e'ploit them. "hus, the new literacies will be largel& definedaround the strategic #nowledge central to the effecti$e use of information within rich and comple'l&networ#ed en$ironments.

"here will be man& t&pes of strategic #nowledge important to the new literacies. 9e can be certain,though, that the& will include the new forms of strategic #nowledge necessar& to locate, e$aluate, andeffecti$el& use the e'tensi$e resources a$ailable within the Internet. "he e'tent and comple'it& of thisinformation is staggering. 7oreo$er, these alread& e'tensi$e resources increase each da& as newcomputers are connected to networ#s and as people create new information and publish it for others touse. "he& re*uire new forms of strategic #nowledge in order to e'ploit them effecti$el&. <ow do we

 best search for information in these comple' worlds@ <ow do we design a webpage to be useful to people who are li#el& to $isit@ <ow do we communicate effecti$el& with $ideoconferencetechnologies@ <ow do we function in the $irtual worlds that are being de$eloped as social learning

en$ironments@ 9hat are the rules for participating on listser$s, chatrooms, bulletin boards, and otherelectronic communication en$ironments@ "hese *uestions highlight the central role that strategic#nowledge will pla& for people who communicate using the new literacies of the Internet and otherI"s.

$*eed Counts in Im*ortant "ays "ithin the New Literacies

In a world of $ast information resources, the new literacies of the Internet will be defined in importantwa&s around the rate at which one can read, write, and communicate. 9ithin competiti$e informationeconomies where problem identification and solution are critical, the rate at which one can ac*uire,e$aluate, and use information to sol$e important problems becomes central to success. "he speed itta#es to ac*uire information will become an important measure of success within $arious technologies.

Puic#l& finding, e$aluating, using, and communicating information will become central instructionalissues.

As speed becomes essential for the effecti$e use of the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s, itwill be critical to sol$e the e*uit& issues that result from children who process and communicateinformation at different rates. 1low readers and writers are challenged within traditional literacieswithin the new literacies of the Internet these indi$iduals will be left far behind. "he gap betweenhighl& literate and literac& challenged indi$iduals will be e'acerbated b& the new literacies of theInternet. <ighl& literate indi$iduals will s#im webpages, lin# to other webpages, and generall& siftthrough large amounts of information in a short time. Indi$iduals who read slowl& and haltingl& willstill be e$aluating the first screen of information b& the time a more rapid reader has alread& completed

the informational tas#. If we trul& see# to enable e$er& student to succeed in a societ& defined b&information and the speed with which it ma& be accessed, we will need to de$ote substantial resourcesto disco$er solutions to this important issue.

Learning Often Is $ocially Constructed "ithin New Literacies

9e e'pect that social learning strategies will be central to literac& instruction in the future, and herewe highlight two dimensions that are important to recognie within our current framewor# of a Newiteracies ?erspecti$e.

:irst, social learning pla&s an important role in the e'change of new s#ills and strategies needed tointeract within increasingl& comple' and continuall& changing technologies for information andcommunication. 7odels of literac& instruction often ha$e focused on an adult whose role is to teachthe s#ills he or she possesses to a group of students who do not #now those s#ills. "his is no longer

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 possible, or e$en appropriate, within a world of multiple new literacies framed b& the Internet andother I"s. In fact, toda&, man& &oung students possess higher le$els of #nowledge about some ofthese new literacies than most adults. It is simpl& impossible for one person to #now all the newliteracies and teach these directl& to others. Fach of us, howe$er, will #now something uni*ue anduseful to others.

onse*uentl&, effecti$e learning e'periences will be increasingl& dependent on social learningstrategies and the abilit& of a teacher to orchestrate literac& learning opportunities between and amongstudents who #now different new literacies. "his will distribute #nowledge about literac& throughoutthe classroom, especiall& as students mo$e abo$e the stages of foundational literac&. 3ne student, fore'ample, ma& #now how to edit digital $ideo scenes in the hope of including these within a webpage,

 but another ma& #now how best to compress the $ideo so that it can function optimall& in a 9eb6baseden$ironment. In a student6centered, social learning en$ironment, this #nowledge can be e'changed,ironicall&, in a classroom where the teacher ma& not #now either of these s#ills as well as the students.B& orchestrating opportunities for the e'change of new literacies, both teachers and students ma&enhance their literac& s#ills and their potential for effecti$e communication and information use. "hissocial learning abilit& ma& not come naturall& to all students, howe$er, and man& will need to be

supported in learning how to learn about literac& from one another ( abbo, 5;;D  abbo / -uhn, 5;;!.

If, as we belie$e, literac& learning becomes increasingl& dependent on social learning strategies,sociall& s#illed learners will be ad$antaged while monastic learners,J children who rel& solel& onindependent learning strategies, ma& be disad$antaged. "his will be an important change in man&classrooms because indi$idual learning often has been the norm, pri$ileging children who learn wellindependentl&. In classrooms where the ac*uisition of new literacies is important, children who are

 better at independent learning e'periences will be disad$antaged. Increasingl&, we must supportchildren who are unfamiliar or ineffecti$e with social learning strategies.

3n a second dimension, social learning is not onl& important for how information is learned, but it also

 pla&s a $ital role in how information is constructed within the technologies themsel$es. 7uch of theInternet is built on the social #nowledge constructions of others (e.g., telecollaborati$e learning

 pro%ects, threaded discussions, interacti$e chats, and collaborati$e databases!. F$er& da&, man& newwebsites are de$eloped and ser$e to e'pand the global #nowledge base shared through Internettechnologies. In both the wor#place and at home, the new technologies of literac& allow us to ta#ead$antage of the intellectual capital that resides in others, enabling us to collaborati$el& constructsolutions to important problems b& drawing from the e'pertise that lies outside oursel$es.

"hus, the construction of #nowledge will increasingl& be a collaborati$e $enture within the learningspaces defined b& the Internet and other I"s. "hese new technologies will introduce important newinstructional challenges for educators, especiall& with content area conte'ts. As the Internet and other

I"s bring us closer together, students will need to be prepared for the important, collaborati$e co6construction of new information and the learning that results ( 8onassen, in press 8onassen, <owland, 7oore, / 7arra, 200+!.

Teachers +ecome 4ore Im*ortant, Though Their ole Changes, "ithin New Literacy

Classrooms

"he appearance of the Internet and other I"s in school classrooms will increase, not decrease, thecentral role that teachers pla& in orchestrating learning e'periences for students. "eachers will bechallenged to thoughtfull& guide students learning within information en$ironments that are richer

and more comple' than traditional print media, presenting richer and more comple' learningopportunities for both themsel$es and their students. 7oreo$er, in a world of literac& as dei'is, newliteracies will continuousl& emerge from e$en newer technologies, re*uiring teachers to be (a! awareof emerging technologies for information and communication, (b! capable of identif&ing the most

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important new literacies that each re*uires, and (c! proficient in #nowing how to support theirde$elopment in the classroom.

"he teachers central role will change in a fundamental wa&, howe$er. "eachers will increasingl& needto orchestrate comple' conte'ts for literac& and learning rather than simpl& dispense literac& s#ills,since the& will no longer alwa&s be the most literate person in the classroom. Increasingl&, students are

coming to school more literate in the new literacies of I"s than their teachers (handler63lcott /7ahar, 200+!. "his is a historic change. As a result, roles between student and teacher will sometimes

 be re$ersed. 1#illed teachers will ta#e ad$antage of this b& constructing conte'ts for learning in whichstudents who possess new literacies are $alued and are supported in sharing their e'pertise with others.Instead of being the single source for all literac& #nowledge, teachers will become orchestrators ofliterac& learning en$ironments, where members of a classroom communit& e'change new literaciesthat each has disco$ered.

1tudents with teachers who ma#e thoughtful decisions about what needs to be learned and how itshould be learned in new literacies will be pri$ileged those with teachers who ha$e not &et figuredthese things out will be disad$antaged, perhaps e$en more so than with foundational literacies.

Because teachers become e$en more important to the de$elopment of literac& in a world of newliteracies, greater attention will need to be placed on teacher education and professional de$elopment.

0 New Literacies /ers*ectie1 Im*lications for esearch and /ractice

A New iteracies ?erspecti$e tells us that the Internet and other continuousl& emerging I"s will becentral to literac& in both our personal and professional li$es and that these technologies re*uire newliteracies in order to effecti$el& e'ploit their potential (IRA, 2002 -iner / eander, 200+ eu, 2002!. It also tells us that it is essential to begin to integrate these new literacies into classrooms if wehope to prepare all students for the literac& futures the& deser$e (eu / -iner, 2000!. In addition, thistheoretical perspecti$e suggests that comple'it& and change define the new literacies of the Internet

and other I"s (ammac#, 200+ oiro, 200+!. 7ost important, it suggests that the literac& curriculumand assessment practices ha$e not begun to recognie the important new literacies these technologiesre*uire (eu, 2000a eu / Ata&a, 2002!. 9hat is clear from a New iteracies ?erspecti$e is that thereare important aspects to the literac& curriculum that re*uire our immediate attention for both researchand practice.

As we begin to consider the implications of a New iteracies ?erspecti$e, we want to ma#e threeimportant points. :irst, it is important to understand that simpl& using technolog& in the classroomdoes not assure that students are ac*uiring the new literacies the& re*uire. sing technologies such asAccelerated Reader ("opping / ?aul, 5;;;! or other software pac#ages designed to support theac*uisition of foundational literacies will not prepare students for the new literacies of the Internet andother I"s. sing these instructional technologies does nothing to de$elop the essential s#ills,strategies, and dispositions that define the new literacies. "his t&pe of thin#ing has been one reasonwh& the field has not mo$ed faster at integrating new literacies into classroom instruction usingsoftware programs to teach foundational literacies is the onl& $ision man& ha$e for integrating literac&and technolog& in classrooms.

1econd, a central challenge for both research and practice emerges from the inherentl& deictic natureof an& new literac&. Because new literacies continuousl& change as e$en newer technologies re*uiree$en newer literacies, we re*uire new epistemologies and new instructional practices that #eep up withthe rapid changes we anticipate. <ow, for e'ample, can we #eep up with new ideas about what to teachwithin research and dissemination paradigms that re*uire four &ears or more between the conception ofa research problem and the wide dissemination of results through research %ournals that rel& on printed

$olumes@ <ow can we #eep up with new ideas about how to teach with these technologies when thetechnologies themsel$es regularl& change@ <ow can we assess students on their abilit& to use theInternet and other I"s when the $er& s#ills we assess will change as soon as new technologies

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appear@ 9hile a New iteracies ?erspecti$e does not pro$ide complete answers to these *uestions, itdoes suggest that these are critical *uestions for both research and practice.

"hird, and most important, we belie$e that implementing a New iteracies ?erspecti$e in classroomsis essential if we hope to a$oid societies in which economic ad$antage is sustained b& the wealth& anddenied to the poor. Because of the compounding effect of differences in reading achie$ement and

access to Internet resources b& ad$antaged members of societ&, we are in danger of de$eloping twoclasses of citiens= one that is largel& poor, minorit&, and challenged b& the new literacies re*uired forreading and learning on the Internet and another that is largel& ad$antaged, white, and e'cels with thenew literacies re*uired for reading and learning on the Internet. 1uch a de$elopment presentsfundamental challenges to an& societ& that professes egalitarian ideals and e*ual opportunities for allits citiens.

According to data from the National Assessment of Fducational ?rogress (NAF?!, readingcomprehension in the nited 1tates has been generall& resistant to efforts at impro$ement ( NF1, 200+b!. 3f particular concern, white fourth6grade students scored at or abo$e the basicJ le$el ofreading at nearl& twice the rate as man& minorit& groups (NF1!. 8ust as troubling, economicall&

ad$antaged students at the fourth6grade le$el scored at or abo$e the basicJ le$el of reading at nearl&twice the rate compared to disad$antaged students (NF1, 200+b!. 7ost troublesome of all, theachie$ement gap is increasing between high6 and low6performing students. 1ince 5;;2, NAF? a$eragereading scores for high6performing students ha$e increased, while those for low6performing studentsha$e dropped (NF1, 200+b!. i$en the powerful connection between reading comprehension abilit&and learning (Ale'ander / 8etton, 2000 Bransford, Brown, / oc#ing, 2000!, it is clear that thenited 1tates is de$eloping two classes of learners.

As challenging a picture as the NAF? data present, the& do not &et reflect students abilit& to read andcomprehend within the comple', networ#ed, informational spaces of the Internet. "he Internet re*uiresnew literacies to achie$e high le$els of reading comprehension in this conte't, but we #now $er& littleabout what these literacies are or how best to teach them. "he report of the RANC Reading 1tud&

roup (2002!,  Reading for .nderstanding: To#ard an R/" Program in Reading &omrehension,captures the essence of the problem= Accessing the Internet ma#es large demands on indi$idualsliterac& s#ills in some cases, this new technolog& re*uires readers to ha$e no$el literac& s#ills, andlittle is #nown about how to anal&e or teach those s#illsJ (p. 4!.

"he Internet is also a reading conte't where digital di$ide issues abound ( 1olomon, 2002!. It is clearthat ad$antaged and white students ha$e far greater Internet access at home than disad$antaged andminorit& students (ebo, 200+!. Because the s#ills necessar& to achie$e high le$els of readingcomprehension on the Internet are seldom taught in schools (?adron / 9a'man, 5;;D  9arschauer, 200+ 9englins#i, 5;;!, the s#ills are more often ac*uired at home b& those economicall& ad$antagedmembers of societ& who ha$e the greatest access to the Internet and more e'tensi$e learning

opportunities (9arschauer, 200+!.

Before we can e'pect all students to be prepared to read and comprehend at high le$els on the Internet,we must pro$ide scientific data to demonstrate what these s#ills are, how to assess them, and how bestto teach them (oiro, 200+ RANC Reading 1tud& roup, 2002!. Cespite the percei$ed importance ofthe Internet as a conte't for teaching and learning (9eb6Based Fducation ommission, 2000!  .1. Cepartment of Fducation, 5;;;!, relati$el& little research e'ists on the new literacies the Internetre*uires for achie$ing high le$els of reading comprehension ( National Institute of hild <ealth and <uman Ce$elopment, 2000!. "his situation must change.

Issues of "hat $hould +e Taught and Learned "ithin a Conte&t of Continuous Change

A New iteracies ?erspecti$e suggests that an aggressi$e agenda of research must be launchedimmediatel& in order to better understand the new s#ills, strategies, and dispositions re*uired toeffecti$el& use the Internet and other I"s. ittle wor#, especiall& b& the literac& research communit&,has been conducted in this area. And, it is the literac& research communit& that needs to bring powerfulinsights about literac&, instruction, and learning to these issues. "he tas# is so large, in$ol$es literac&

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in such profound wa&s, and must be accomplished so *uic#l& that it is not possible to $est theresponsibilit& for this wor# solel& in the hands of those who ha$e traditionall& e'plored issues oftechnolog& or e$en literac& and technolog&. Fach of us must bring our special area of e'pertise to thestud& of literac& within the new worlds of the Internet and other I"s.

1cholars who stud& reading comprehension, for e'ample, need to e'amine the $arious components of

meaning construction to help us understand the e'tent to which comprehension processes are similar ordifferent within the multimedia, h&perlin#ed conte'ts of the Internet and other I"s (oiro, 200+!.Reading comprehension is li#el& to be a ma%or area of in$estigation because the Internet and otherI"s focus so much on information and learning from te't. <owe$er, gi$en recent models (RANCReading 1tud& roup, 2002! that define reading comprehension in terms of reader, te't, and tas#, the

 parameters of reading comprehension on the Internet are li#el& to e'pand to include problemidentification, search strategies, anal&sis, s&nthesis, and the meaning construction re*uired in e6mailmessages and other communication technologies. 7an& *uestions await in$estigation= 9hat newaspects of comprehension are re*uired when reading information on the Internet@ Are inferential

 processes and strategies similar or different on the Internet@ <ow do other aspects of thecomprehension process change@ Reading comprehension strategies within this conte't are li#el& to be

especiall& important, and we need to #now what these are.

1cholars doing wor# in earl& literac& must bring their special insights to help us understand when andin what wa&s &oung children should begin to read, write, and communicate with I"s. 9e ha$ealwa&s $iewed the earl& &ears as critical to literac& de$elopment. "hese scholars must now turn theirattention to the new literacies emerging from new technologies, helping us to understand how best toteach these new literacies in wa&s that answer the call for technolog& use that is de$elopmentall&appropriate, e*uitable, and integrated into the regular literac& learning en$ironment of &oung children( National Association for the Fducation of Goung hildren, 5;;D!.

7edia literac& scholars, too, need to bring their understanding of critical literacies to the stud& of whatstudents need to learn within the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s. Farlier we argued that

critical literacies are essential to reading on the Internet because issues of stance, information shaping,and information $alidit& become so important within an information space where an&one ma& publishan&thing. onse*uentl&, there is new sense of urgenc& in ensuring that students de$elop an awarenessof the di$erse perspecti$es around an& *uestion the& in$estigate. iterac& educators will need toincorporate more strategies li#e those suggested b& Brunner and "all& (5;;;! to foster deeper studentinsight into the $arious wa&s of loo#ing at the same e$ent, for e'ample, $iewing a historical e$entfrom the perspecti$e of the different people in$ol$ed (e.g., $iewing a i$il 9ar $ideo series whileloo#ing for e$idence of the wa& a$erage soldiers, in contrast to generals, or men in contrast towomen, or white in contrast to blac#s, e'perienced the warJ Lp. 4DM!.

1cholars in the areas of composition and communication also ha$e much to contribute to this wor#.

"he& must bring their powerful lenses to bear on issues of e6mail communication, webpage andmultimedia composition, and the man& other important issues we need to understand in these areas.lear, rapid, and effecti$e communication that ta#es ad$antage of the networ#ed information conte'tsof I"s will be central to our students success. 9e need to #now how to support students in achie$ingthese abilities.

Although man& of us ha$e not &et recognied it, insights from multicultural and cross6culturaleducation also are going to be especiall& critical to our effecti$e use of I"s (eu, 5;;b!. 9e needthe finest minds in this area to help us understand the important e'periences ta#ing place as classroomslin# to other classrooms from different cultural conte'ts, engaging in cooperati$e pro%ects and see#ingto understand one anothers cultural conte't. As we engage in this important wor#, enormous potential

e'ists to understand the ad$antages that di$ersit& bestows b& bringing multiple perspecti$es to bear onimportant problems that face us all. "he Internet permits us to construct new definitions ofmulticultural education and broadens the definition of di$ersit& in the classroom to global dimensions.If we ta#e full ad$antage of these new opportunities the Internet will allow us to construct a trul&

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global $illage among classrooms that shows students how to ta#e full ad$antage of the man& benefitsthat di$ersit& bestows.

A central challenge for each of us is how to use these new technologies to support students withspecial needs. It is *uite possible that the gap between proficient readers and less6proficient readerswill increase within the world of rich, comple'l& structured information networ#s as the effects of

differences in reading rate and accurac& become magnified. If we do not wish to lea$e a single child behind, we must focus on the issue of how best to support students with special needs with the powerful new technologies that are a$ailable to us.

3ur colleagues who conduct research on teacher education also ha$e an enormous agenda ahead. "he&need to appl& their finest heuristics, helping us to better understand how to prepare new ande'perienced teachers to support children in the new literacies of I"s in the classroom. Increasingl&the challenge for classrooms is one that is changing from access to the thoughtful use of powerful newtechnologies for literac&. 9e need important new models and clear data to direct us in this area.

1cholars e'ploring important agendas in adolescent literac& and content area literac& ma& ha$e themost to contribute. Research in these areas can help us to better understand wa&s to support

information ac*uisition, de$elop the critical e$aluation s#ills essential to effecti$e use of Internetresources, and de$elop strategies for the effecti$e use of information to sol$e important problems.

1cholars in the area of teacher research also ha$e important wor# ahead of them. 9e #now that somee'ceptional teachers are de$eloping new insights and new models of instruction on the Internet(-archmer, 2005!. 9e need to #now how to ta#e ad$antage of these learning e'periences and use theinsights de$eloped b& these e'ceptional teachers to support our wor# in teacher education and staffde$elopment.

9e also need to in$ite scholars in the areas of adult literac& to the research table. 9e cannot afford toabandon adults who ha$e not had the ad$antage of being prepared for the new literacies re*uired of aninformation econom&. It ma& be a special challenge to broaden the literac& s#ills of this population

 because the& do not ha$e the ad$antage of growing up in a rich multimedia and technolog& world thewa& man& children ha$e. But, if we succeed in in$ol$ing adults, it will pro$ide us with specialopportunities to ta#e ad$antage of their man& &ears of e'perience. Intellectual capital is important toall of us in a networ#ed information conte't. 9e cannot afford to lose an& of it.

:amil& literac& scholars are essential, as well, to the research that must be done. Networ#edinformation resources pro$ide special opportunities to connect schools with families. <ow can we bestta#e ad$antage of information networ#s to support a collaborati$e effort in students education@ <owcan we ensure access to I"s in the home@ 9e need answers to these *uestions if we see# to pro$idethe best learning en$ironment possible for e$er& child.

Additionall&, scholars in the areas of childrens and adolescent literature ha$e much to contribute. New

forms of literature, written b& students themsel$es, are beginning to emerge as the Internet ma#es possible new publishing opportunities. 9e need to #now how best to support the integration of thesenew opportunities for literac& and learning into school classrooms.

:inall&, while considering the contributions we re*uire in all these areas, we also ma& wish to considerthe important conse*uences resulting from a deictic $ision of new literacies for what students need tolearn. "he continuousl& changing technologies of literac& mean that we must help children learn howto learnJ new technologies of literac&. In fact, the abilit& to learn continuousl& changing technologiesfor literac& ma& be a more critical target than learning an& particular technolog& of literac& itself.

In this section, we ha$e presented %ust some of the areas that re*uire the attention of our brightestminds, our most talented scholars, and all our teachers. "he wor# ahead is immense and re*uires us to

 pool all our talents if we are to understand the new s#ills, strategies, and dispositions that studentsmust ac*uire in the new literacies of the Internet and other I"s.

Issues of %ow to Teach "ithin a Conte&t of Continuous Change

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As we consider issues related to how to teach and learn the new literacies of the Internet and otherI"s, it is li#el& that our focus will turn to understanding the social and constructi$ist nature oflearning strategies that new literacies demand. 9e indicated earlier that social and constructi$e

 perspecti$es would be important to the construction of new information within the technologiesthemsel$es. Both of these areas are important to research and practice within a New iteracies?erspecti$e. 9e need to stud& how best to support the de$elopment of new literacies withinclassrooms where students will #now more than teachers about some new literacies and see# new wa&sin which to organie and orchestrate classroom learning to ta#e ad$antage of the new literac&#nowledge others are ac*uiring. In short, we need to determine the most effecti$e wa&s to managelearning e'periences in the new literacies when these literacies are distributed throughout a classroom.As we do this, we also need to understand how best to collaborati$el& construct new information withthe Internet and other I"s, a potential that is at the $er& heart of most new literacies.

"he lessons that classroom teachers are ac*uiring about both of these issues are important tounderstand. In fact, we belie$e that teachers who integrate the Internet and other I"s into theirclassrooms will contribute as much)and perhaps more)than traditional researchers to understandingthe most effecti$e instructional practices for supporting the de$elopment of new literacies. "he Internet

and other I"s permit teachers to rapidl& connect with other teachers to share successes and e'changeinsights about how best to teach the new literacies (-archmer, 2005! and it will be important to stud&how classroom teachers connect with others, e'change information, and construct new $isions of best

 practices. Resources such as R"FA<FR (see www.reading.org!, a listser$ sponsored b& theInternational Reading Association, where teachers and others can e'change ideas about successful

 practices, are %ust the beginning of new epistemologies that will be re*uired to #eep up with the rapidl&changing nature of information about instructional practice that is a part of the changing nature of thenew literacies.

9hat seems certain is that Internet resources will increase the central role that teachers pla& inorchestrating learning e'periences for students as literac& instruction con$erges with Internet

technologies. "eachers will be challenged to thoughtfull& guide students learning within informationen$ironments that are richer and more comple' than traditional print media, presenting richer andmore comple' learning opportunities for both themsel$es and their students. "his alone should ma#eteacher education and professional de$elopment issues important priorities. In addition, howe$er, wemust recognie that as the new literacies continuall& change, new professional de$elopment andteacher education needs will emerge. It is safe to sa& that our educational s&stems ha$e ne$er beforefaced the professional de$elopment needs that will occur in our future. "he Internet, howe$er, pro$idesus with new opportunities to rapidl& disseminate new models of effecti$e instruction. 7odels ofdissemination that ta#e ad$antage of the communication potential in these new technologies, such asthose de$eloped b& the ase "echnologies to Fnhance iterac& earning ("F! group ("eale, eu, abbo, / -iner, 2002!, ma& become increasingl& important.

Issues of 0ssessment "ithin a Conte&t of Continuous Change

A fundamental challenge to the integration of new literacies into the curriculum, at least in the nited1tates, is that we currentl& do not include these important literac& s#ills on national and stateassessments. i$en the e$idence that teachers emphasie literac& s#ills appearing on importantassessments (inn, raue, / 1anders, 5;;0!, there is little incenti$e for teachers to ma#e newliteracies a central part of the curriculum until these are included in state and national standards and onliterac& assessments.

"he best e$idence that educational s&stems ignore the new literacies of Internet technologies, at leastin the nited 1tates, can be seen in the state assessment programs that e$aluate childrens performance

in reading and writing. New literacies, such as reading on the Internet or within other I"s, are notincluded on an& state assessments, and most states ha$e no immediate plans to include these withinliterac& assessments (eu / Ata&a, 2002!. 7oreo$er, most states ha$e seen the assessment of newliteracies, such as comprehending te't on the Internet, composing e6mail messages, or writing with aword processor, as a technolog& assessment issue, not a reading or writing assessment issue. "his

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continues to occur e$en though the abilit& to locate, read, and e$aluate information on the Internet isincreasingl& a part of our dail& li$es (ebo, 200+!. In addition, not a single state permits an& studentwho prefers to use a word processor to do so during state writing assessments, unless this is formall&specified in a special education students Indi$idualied Fducational ?lan. "his continues to occurdespite e$idence that nearl& 20K more students are able to pass the 7assachusetts state writingassessment when permitted to use word processors (Russell / ?lati, 2000!.

"here are other challenges we face in the assessment of new literacies. "he most prominent one, perhaps, is that literac& assessments, to date, are alwa&s assessments of an indi$idual wor#ing alone.i$en the importance of social learning and collaborati$e meaning construction on the Internet andother I"s, we will need to begin to assess how well students can learn new literacies from others andhow well the& can co6construct meaning and collaborate in constructing written information withothers. As we ha$e pointed out, learning how to learn from others and learning how to collaborati$el&construct meaning will be increasingl& important. It seems clear that new technologies will re*uirenew approaches to both what is assessed and how we go about the assessment (?ellegrino, hudows#&, / laser, 2005!.

Concluding Thoughts 0)out a New Literacies /ers*ectie

hange increasingl& defines the nature of literac& and the nature of literac& learning. Newtechnologies generate new literacies that become important to our li$es in a global information age.9e belie$e that we are on the cusp of a new era in literac& research, one in which the nature ofreading, writing, and communication is being fundamentall& transformed. "o inform this %ourne&, weha$e defined a New iteracies ?erspecti$e, which pro$ides a useful starting point to in*uir& in thisarea. 9e ha$e e'plained how literac& has changed regularl& throughout time, influenced b& importantsocial forces and technologies. 9e e'plored the social conte't of the current period including globaleconomic competition, the rise of the Internet and other I"s, and educational policies from nations

around the world that emphasie higher achie$ement in literac& and the effecti$e use of informationtechnologies. "hen, we re$iewed emerging theoretical perspecti$es in this area and e'plained wh& we

 belie$e a New iteracies ?erspecti$e is especiall& useful to understand the changes that are ta#ing place. :inall&, we presented a set of principles that inform our research in this area and discussed someof their more challenging implications to both research and practice.

It will be up to each of us to recognie the continuall& changing nature of literac& and to de$elop a richunderstanding of these changes. 9e hope that &ou will bring &our own e'pertise to the important wor#that lies ahead as we all see# to prepare students for the new literacies of the Internet and other I"sthat define their future. "he& deser$e nothing less.

Note

S ?ortions of this section are an e'pansion of wor# that appeared originall& in -iner and eander(200+!, and *uotations from this section should reference that wor#.

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