17 Feb
Literacy Learning in the Information Age
Recent research shows that the human brain contains stem cells, which means the brain continues to develop and modify throughout life. Neuroplasticity is the term used to describe this finding. Intelligence, like the brain itself, is more subject to modification than previously thought, and schooling can play a primary role in modifying intelligence.
Literacy (and literacy learning) is marked by four ages:
• Invention of writing
• Invention of moveable type
• Invention of mechanized printing
• Invention of the Internet
The most recent is the swiftest and most global, and, as is true of all the “ages,” there is no going back.
Humans make tools and technologies, and these tools and technologies, in turn, transform humans. Digital literacy tools are currently modifying human brain functions, as well as processes of reading and writing, a process described by the term technogenesis.
Changes in our understanding of the brain and new digital tools will require schools to make important decisions about literacy learning. Three areas of rapid change where decisions will need to be made include mobile learning, online courses and ebooks and digital content.
Anne Ruggles Gere
School of Education
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
www.umich.edu/~argere