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Literacy “is the flexible and sustainable mastery of a repertoire of practices with the texts of traditional and new communications technologies via spoken, print, and multimedia” (Luke & Freebody, 2000, p.9 as cited in Anstey & Bull, 2006).
Apart from the obvious changes of literacy materials over the past few decades, as educators, we need to take note and expand on the concept of what literacy skills children are needing to succeed in this modern world. We are no longer able to teach just reading, oral and writing skills; digital multiliterate technologies require extra skills like semantic skills, management skills, networking skills and evaluation skills. Fundamental writing and reading skills are not replaced by digital literacies, but are extended to account for the shift in learning practices that technology demands (Edwards-Groves, 2012).
In order to create the best learning environment in our classrooms for our students, we need to provide a multiliterate digital-based classroom, that incorporates both traditional and new age literacy teaching practices. Gee states that the most important variable for young students for later success in literacy and content learning in school is the amount of talk, interaction, and mentoring they have had from adults early in life (2012). In order to create a heavily productive environment, as educators, we need to be informed about the continual change of literacies and embrace multiliteracies. We need to encourage oral language and facilitate for a range of different learning styles through different forms of literacy.