Adolescents and Digital Literacies

Because I am interested in technology and literacy, I was very excited when I heard about Sara Kajder's new book Adolescents and Digital Literacies: Learning Alongside Our Students. Not only did I recently read the book, but I also participated in two of the three on-line discussion groups hosted by NCTE and loved the opportunity to talk about digital literacies with others in the field. While I was sad to miss the last session, I was glad that it and the first two are available on NCTE's Ning.

In the beginning of the book Kajder explains the purpose of it, "This book is less about 'translating' these new technology terms (which will be outdated and obsolete before this book appears in print) and more about how we work as English teachers to navigate a changing landscape--and how we lead our students to do the same. [...] It isn't about the tools. It is about reading, writing, communicating, and pedagogy" (3). A recurring theme throughout the book was examining the types of literacies that students do outside of school, and reexamining the type of literacies that we, as English teachers, value (10).

The book begins with a copy of NCTE's Adolescent Literacy brief, and Kajder links back to the brief often throughout the book. Each chapter of the book begins with quote(s) about technology, and there were so many that I loved. For example, I could not help but smile when I read Alan Kay's quote, "Technology is only technology for people who are born before it was invented" (13). In addition, there are many examples from different classrooms about integrating different technologies into classrooms. I appreciated that the classrooms were from diverse backgrounds with different levels of access to technology.

Once again, this is one more reason to be excited for Heinemann's Boothbay Literacy Retreat! My final thought (for now about the book) is an excerpt that I underlined and starred with the comment, "excellent point" in the margin. Kajder's comment embodies why I integrating technology is so fascinating and vital, "what keeps me firmly rooted in valuing and learning new literacy practices is that I want all of my students to be literate in the dominant media of their time" (37).