My conjecture is that the computer can concretize (and personalize) the formal.... Knowledge that was accessible only though formal processes can now be approached concretely. And the real magic comes from the fact that this knowledge includes those elements one needs to become a formal thinker.
-- Mindstorm, Seymour Papert, 1980 (p. 21)

Seymour Papert asserted that computer technology affords unique access to new processes, knowledge, ways of thinking, and definitions. Scores of terms have been used to describe contemporary literacies: the new literacy (Foster, 1979); visual literacy (Messaris, 1994); media literacy (Thoman, 1999); information literacy (Tyner, 1998); television literacy (Buckingham, 1993b); teleliteracy (Bianculli, 1992); technological, computer, post-typographic, or electronic literacy (Reinking et al., 1998); digital literacy (Edwards, 1991; Tyner); metamedia literacy (Lemke, 1998); critical literacy (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993); critical media pedagogy (McLaren, Hammer, Sholle, & Reilly, 1995); critical media literacy (Alvermann, Moon, & Hagood, 1999; Giroux & Simon, 1989; Semali & Watts Pailliotet, 1999; Sholle & Denski, 1993); critical media studies (Luke, 1999); multicultural literacy (Banks & McGee Banks, 1997; Kincheloe & Steinberg, 1997); and family literacy (Edwards, 1999).

What do these terms mean? What are their underlying principles? What are their implications and applications for literacy teaching and learning? What do literacy educators need to know and do about new technologies and literacies? In the coming months, this department will bring together experts to offer definitions, explanations, and teaching examples. It will explore these issues, as well as others that have been largely absent from scholarship or are only beginning to emerge. Topics to be addressed include

• Issues and procedures for assessment of media or multimedia texts, practices, and policies



• Standards and new literacies



• Standardized testing, high-stakes assessment, and new literacies



• Implications of new literacies for reading and writing theory and practice



• Interdisciplinary curricula, uses of multiple texts, and use of mass media and technology for content area reading, writing, and literature response



• In-depth reviews of how media, visual, and digital literacies support, relate, and extend current print literacy theories and practices



• Multiple modalities and connecting print and electronic literacies



• New theories of literacy and examples of their applications



• Accounts of how new literacies are implemented in terms of problems, procedures and policies in classes, schools, districts, and regions



• New literacies and issues of social justice



• The roles of pleasure and popular culture in classrooms



• Using media and technology with diverse populations

Each month, the New Literacies department will feature several components:

Columns About Issues, Ideas, and Practices

Article-length features will offer definitions, explanations, issues, theoretical views, innovative classroom practices, and teaching examples. Authors from traditional literacy fields and other educational disciplines will explore a wide range of interpretations about reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, representing, communicating, learning, and teaching.

Web Watch

Web sites that reflect new literacies will be featured on a regular basis. Brief descriptions and links will present concepts, resources, practices, events, and organizations of interest to literacy educators.

New Literacies in Action

This section presents narratives from teachers and students, lesson plans and materials, resources, and samples of student projects.

Invitations to Join the Conversation

Each month, the sections of the New Literacies department will be grouped around a common theme, which will be introduced with an overview and some guiding questions. I invite readers to respond through the ROL Communities. I welcome your contributions and look forward to suggestions for future topics or content. Do you have plans for media literacy, visual literacy, critical literacy, or multimedia lessons? Are you an emerging or established scholar working on a new literacy theory or practice? Have you read a quality book or article about new literacies lately? Have you watched a useful video or found a great teaching resource? Have you discovered or created a Web site, video, or project? Do you have some thoughts about teaching or student work you'd like to share with other literacy educators? This invitation is especially extended to educators in elementary through high school classrooms. You're doing exciting things! Won't you share with others? Contact me at pailliaw@whitman.edu.