Could reading as we know it become obsolete in the future?
Our digital age has extended our ability to communicate without written words. In humanity's history, technological advances brought about literacy. Could they also make the written word less important? Read some of the research and theorists I found and you may be surprised to find that the notion of reading becoming unnecessary is not as crazy as it sounds! Jump on board and be part of the future that uses our digital technology to ensure reading remains relevant.
Our digital age has extended our ability to communicate without written words. In humanity's history, technological advances brought about literacy. Could they also make the written word less important? Read some of the research and theorists I found and you may be surprised to find that the notion of reading becoming unnecessary is not as crazy as it sounds! Jump on board and be part of the future that uses our digital technology to ensure reading remains relevant.
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How do we use digital literacy to support transliteracy?Imagine being dropped into a country where you can’t read the language. Could you survive? Probably. You would use symbols on signs, pictures, context clues, a translation app on your phone - all the ways you have to gather information outside of reading. How many times do you watch a video instead of read directions? Our digital tools already give us the ability to survive daily, have a job, and lead a productive life with very little reading.
Does this mean that reading might become obsolete? I hope not. I love to read. Hunkering down with a good book is one of the most enjoyable pursuits I experience. Reading widely has enriched my life. I want my students to love to read so it can enrich their lives, not just so they can survive. An 8th grader told me that he laughed extra hard at a Sponge Bob episode because he caught the reference to Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart”, a story we just finished. Isn’t reading worth saving from becoming a historical curiosity just for moments like that? We might be able to gather information, learn, and communicate without reading, but most teachers want more than that for students.
This is where transliteracy comes into play. “Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks” (Thomas, S. with Joseph, C., Laccetti, J., Mason, B., Mills, S., Perril, S., and Pullinger, K. Transliteracy: Crossing divides, First Monday, Volume 12 Number 12 – 3 December 2007).
On the following pages I explore how our digital age could use all its resources not to replace reading, but to bolster and enrich it. Follow my journey as I came to discover how the same digital technology that could endanger reading can be used to ignite curiosity, interest, motivation, and deeper engagement in reading. Transliteracy. Reading all ways. Reading always. |
Click on this video to watch an overview of Transliteracy.
Click on the Wordle to go to my blogs.
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Research in Action!
On my research page you can see the results of two rounds of research. You can see how the conclusions from my first round of action research led me to pursue my investigation on transliteracy.
Note the results from my second phase of study where I exposed my students to a digital only language arts curriculum and then investigated students motivation, engagement, and attitudes about using this transliterate mode of reading and writing.
On my research page you can see the results of two rounds of research. You can see how the conclusions from my first round of action research led me to pursue my investigation on transliteracy.
Note the results from my second phase of study where I exposed my students to a digital only language arts curriculum and then investigated students motivation, engagement, and attitudes about using this transliterate mode of reading and writing.
- One striking result is that at the beginning of my eight week exposure to a digital platform for reading and reading instruction, 52% of my students reported hating or disliking the multi-media, online reading program. After months of exposure, the results were almost completely reversed.
- Overall 71% of the middle school prefer a digital platform for Language Arts. If motivation and buy in is half the battle in teaching, this is an encouraging number.