Don't Forget Traditional Literacies! | W8 Q1 | Discussion

Scholar-teachers should develop both traditional text literacy and Internet literacy. Thought the focus is primarily on “new literacies”, it’s important to include traditional text literacy as it is fundamentally related to new literacies. Academia has a tendency to debate in dualities – old versus new. In fact, Coiro and Dobler (2007) note that the federal government is largely resistant to new literacies and instead continues to request research on traditional literacies (p.245). This suggests that at least some parties are viewing literacy debates as an either-or scenario – we should do what we have always done OR we should throw out the old and bring in the new. Instead, it is likely that new literacies can build on the foundational traditional literacies.
There is no doubt that Internet literacy is becoming an essential skill in the modern work environment (Coiro & Dobler, 2007; Tierney, 2009) and whether or not it is being actively taught in schools, students are increasingly engaging with online texts (Rich, 2008); This all points to the necessity of teaching Internet literacy intentionally in schools. It does not mean, however, that it must be taught at the expense of traditional literacies. Indeed, Coiro and Dobler (2007) concluded that “a reader’s knowledge of printed informational texts appeared to provide a schematic context that supported meaning construction…” (p. 241). This suggests that one can serve as a scaffold to the other instead of competing for space in the curriculum.