When I was told we were to read this book I thought to myself, “Great another how to book of stuff we already know everything about”. Instead, I am slapped in the face with what Kylene Beers opens The Socially Networked Classroom with which is a forward in which she describes asking a principal “What type of student will not do well in this school?”  This of course caught my attention because this insightful and unusual question leads to the principal admitting that the students who will struggle most in his school are those preparing for a 21st century career. This text grabbed me right away, and I started flagging all sorts of ideas even in the earliest chapters. We as educators see this all the time, with some high risk students we work with, who don’t have the everyday access to technology. In his book he states the quote of “We’re creating another generation of students who know how to consume information, when what we need to be nurturing is a generation that knows how produce new ideas.” Kist’s background as a teacher enables him to interact with educators on their level and provide realistic examples and resources. (Kist, 2010)

 

Kist begins by explaining new media and social stereotypes then introduces the reader to the new literacies of social media. Depending on the individual access of the reader to technology, Kist then provides ideas, guidelines, and strategies to implement in the classroom.  Every chapter provides real-world examples and resources, classroom questions, and samples of rubrics and worksheets. Kist describes how we can prepare students for the 21st century by linking together literacy, technology, and social media. I try to do this all the time in my classroom with literacy programs such as Start to Finish, Star fall and IXL. Through this process we will create a generation of students who can not only produce new ideas, but also effectively consume information as well on paper. 

 

In the second chapter Kist writes, “Now we face an age in which we are shifting to a screen-based society in which much of our reading will be from a screen, and therefore reading will not only encompass print but also images, sound, and motion as well.  Visual literacy skills should be included if we truly want to prepare students for this new kind of reading.” (pg. 25)  I find this so exciting because I work with students who love to listen to stories and want to read like the others but have a problem with print. I know with some of the visual literacy skills I have taught my students have helped in their reading capability and comprehension. (Kist, 2010)

 

The book is loaded with multiple ideas of classroom activities and provocative questions and the book is highly practical.  However towards the middle of the first chapter Kist asks three main questions he seems to cycle back to throughout the portion of the text I’ve read so far:

1. How do new forms (of text) transform writing?
2. Who is the audience for our writing in the new media age?
3. How do we form communities?

All three questions are very interesting to me, however the third one really has me pondering because I’m starting to see that Kist is really asking – How do we form communities both face-to-face and online? 

 

What does it mean to “write” in each of these communities?  For example, if you have a Facebook page just take a moment to look at what you have posted.  Would you have said or shared the same things in real life? No I would absolutely not nor would I normally share pictures of functions with other people who are friends with your other friends. In the context of posting things online via blogs, social networks, wikis, or collaborative word processors like Google Docs Kist asks, “What does literacy mean when it’s increasingly public and collaborative?” To me any approach that encourages participation, in society and communication between its members, helps to build literacies. Literacies begin with and are enhanced by social engagement and, therefore, go beyond the individual. For individuals, literacies provide the means of participating fully in society. Current society often refers to the importance of “building a learning culture.” It is well understood that lifelong learning increases literacy skills in the individual and, as such, begins to build the foundation of a true learning culture. Imagine the learning culture that will be created through giving more attention to the foundational skills of literacy.

 

Kist, W. (2010) the Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd.