Basim, Engin, and Kyle

Literacy is socially-embedded and dependant on context rather than a fixed series of skills. Literacy is dynamic. It evolves as time progresses, so the definition of literacy is constantly changing.

Literacy is both learned and acquired, so there are limits to the aspects of literacy we can teach.  We teach our students the kinds of literacy that enable them to attain further literacies outside the classroom.  For example, teachers can foster an awareness and sensitivity to cultural differences which allow students to successfully navigate their own intercultural communication. 

We agree that a certain amount of exposure to academic discourse is necessary to function in the academy, so teachers should strive to demystify the norms of academic discourse as well as the underlying values that inform the discourse.  Also, they should make the discourse open to student critique.  Finally, we stress that knowledge is socially constructed, and teachers should allow students to participate in constructing knowledge.

Some of our key goals for literacy education in a digital age include:

1.  To use the aspects of technology which foster students’ self-expression, creativity, and critical thinking.

2.  Following Dave Moeller (2002), we stress that technology should serve our pedagogy rather than the other way around.  Any technology used in teaching should be in service of a clearly-defined pedagogical goal.

Technology should be used in a way which facilitates interactive student involvement in the classroom. 

Contemporary literacy pedagogy should engage with and build upon students pre-existing technological literacies.  At the same time, we cannot assume that a general increase in computer literacy indicates a universal level of access or competence.  Special efforts must be made to accommodate any students who are unfamiliar with technology.  We must engage in honest and open dialogues with students who resist or refuse technology rather than demanding that they conform to the prevailing approval of technology.  These concepts apply to non-native speakers of English, some of whom have problems concerning access to technology and antagonistic attitudes toward technology in their home countries.  The vast, international nature of the internet can be used to make native and non-native speakers of English aware of the fact that standard, academic English is only one of a wide variety of World Englishes.  This exposure should foster notions of tolerance and adaptability which extend beyond the classroom.