Part II

I found the second part of the article to be more thought-provoking than the first 36 pages. It is still wordy and repetitive, but I could understand more clearly what the authors were getting at. Some of the points were not only understandable, but also might have some practical use for teachers.

The sixth skill is distributed cognition, meaning that intelligence is not just in your brain anymore, but also in your ability to use technology to think for you. Spellcheckers, databases and other computer programs allow you to do things quickly that would take much longer if you do them on your own.

Collective intelligence refers to the ability to work with others to solve problems or to attain a common goal. When students combine knowledge and share ideas, solutions are found and goals attained. Usually the results are more complex and richer than if they had been attained without teamwork.

Judgment is the ability to evaluate sources of information. Students need to know how material is developed and the biases with which it is presented.

Transmedia navigation allows students to gain information from many sources in many forms. While reading, writing, speaking and listening are still critical skills, students need to know how to use and evaluate information from music, images, movies and each other.

Networking means that students have the ability to use the computer (search engines, databases, etc.) to gather information, to combine that information to produce new knowledge and then to communicate what they have discovered to a specific, interested audience.

Negotiation skill allows students to work effectively with a diverse population of people, ideas and cultures.

Having identified the three core problems and the eleven core skills, the authors make suggestions how schools, after-school programs and parents can help students learn this new literacy.

The challenge for this new literacy is how to give all students these skills so that there is no technological culture gap created.

This article, along with another one just published in the May issue of Reading Teacher, made me reconsider game playing for children. I can see where there would be positive results as far as working cooperatively rather than competitively, having a non-threatening environment to experiment in, receiving feedback when learning new skills, and solving complex problems using multiple sources of information. These are all important skills that should be taught purposefully to all students. The other side of that is that students also need to understand the consequences of too much technology. This morning’s paper reported on the visit to Cheldelin Middle School of the “Subway Guy.” He told the students that his weight problems began in third grade when his parents gave him a Nintendo. He spent all his time sitting at a computer or in front of the TV and lost interest in sports and outdoor activities. While he has been able to lose weight and sustain a lower weight, most people can’t. I feel the time children spend on technology needs to be balanced (or overbalanced) by time spent in physical activity, play and face-to-face social contact.