Literacy and Technology

Abstract

Contemporary literacy education needs to acknowledge technology's nearly ubiquitous presence and leverage that status by incorporating technology into practice. For such integration to be successful, teachers need to carefully select appropriate resources, work with them until they are comfortable with them, and take time to design instruction that includes technology skills instruction as well as content instruction. The school community as a whole should systematically incorporate technology into literacy instruction by allocating resources to acquire appropriate technology, provide the infrastructure to support technology, and train educators in its use. Many tools can be used to support literacy education, including ways to address the literacy needs of specific learner populations. Literacy constitutes a pillar of education. The ability to read and write, to use language effectively, is required in today's society. Literacy is not an intuitive skill; it requires conscious and deliberate learning and practice. The explosion of technology calls for increased literacy skills, and technology can also be used to teach those literacy skills. Factors to consider in incorporating technology into literacy education are explored in this chapter.