With the advent of the digital revolution, reading is just the starting point for a whole new world of social engagement, remixing, and content creation. That's according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, who addressed new notions of literacy and the inherent challenges that accompany technology's impact in his plenary presentation at SLJ's Leadership Summit, held September 22-23 in Arlington, VA.
A few key points by Rainie based on Pew data (video of the 34-minute presentation is below, along with his slides):
Reading is "raw material," says Rainie. People approach reading as the starting point for creation and "think of it as something to play with and share and reorient to their own lives."
Reading is real time. People engage text on their own schedule, on their own devices, and in all environments
"New literacies" are coming and mastery of which is more urgent
Of students ages 12-17, 94 percent do research online, 48 percent do so on a typical day.
Despite the many ways they engage content online, kids don't view this as reading.
Pew has been tracking the rise of texting among kids, and Rainie expects these numbers will grow even higher in the next report, due out in November. As for email? That's something they only use under direct order, says Rainie, "it's a formal thing that you do with teachers and your Grandma." So it's a real challenge for educators and parents to get into kids' line of sight.
Doing some informal polling of his own, Rainie asked summit attendees if they use mobile apps with students. Very few hands went up.
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