I spent a week in late July at  the University of Rhode Island with amazing educators that left my head spinning. The focus of the Summer Institute in Digital Literacy 2016 was digital and media literacies. The group of almost 200 educators from 21 states and 7 countries that assembled was a regular ‘Who’s Who?’ in digital literacy experts. To say that a week of learning with the likes of Julie Coiro, Renee Hobbs, Troy Hicks, Chris Lehmann and many of their closest and respected colleagues would be anything short of magnificent would be an understatement. But, there I was with three of my Scarsdale colleagues immersed in ideas and pedagogy that had veterans in the field standing up and taking notice.

Our leaders at the institute underscored the week with the idea that project based inquiry using a variety of texts, tools, and technologies would give students and educators the foothold that they would need in the cultural and technological shift that is taking place in teaching and learning today.

As we worked together for six days passionately re-inventing classroom experiences to meet the new demands of globally-connected life we thought and discussed long and hard about the critical role of technology in literacy. Digital writing through blogging was the focus of our group and the infographic below describes some of our thinking. The new media for writing that is now available is a game changer. As teachers of today’s learner, our role is to support students as they develop their digital toolkit and digital literacy skills.

Hobbs and Coiro answered the question of why digital literacy is important to 21st century learners best when they expounded,  “Literacy is expanding as a result of new media communication technologies and educators, librarians, youth media specialists, researchers and media professionals are central to the educational change process. Along with policy makers and other educational leaders, we must all be actively involved in creating new visions and pathways for education.”

Have you begun to think about how you can best serve the needs of your students by including digital writing into their classroom experiences? There is a plethora of now common tools out there. All you have to do is choose one or two and get your students started!