1) My understanding of literacy has changed in the sense that it has expanded. I now know that literacy isn't restricted to text/literature but over many different fields of study. Particularly regarding using technology. Being able to read and write is one thing but using technology to assist that is an entirely new literacy in its own right. Reading a book about the environment and using technology to learn about the environment are totally different things. With technology you not only just read you can watch videos, actually listen to an expert rather than read what they said. I think a strategy I am more aware of is using a website to fill in the blanks for students using multimedia. Using a website allows you to easily skip to a section the students don't know much about. It allows you to be more selective in choosing the material you want students to learn. Instead of assigning a reading on the atmosphere they can go online and not only read but watch animations, videos, audio commentary even play games.

My growth has gone from literacy that is restricted to text/books/writing to one that see literacy as more of a "competent in a specific area/topic". Everyone has their own literacies whether that be video games, sports, acting, drawing, specific jobs the list can go on and on in what people are competent in. It has made me realized in regards to language arts that it is all about putting the time in, the more you do something the better you become your brain picks up on certain things and you are able to connect them to form a compete picture. LA is the same exact way students need to be exposed to the whole spectrum of what literature is, books, magazines, poems, journals, online text, comic books. Understanding the many parts of a subject/content area allows you to complete a whole picture. I didn't really grasp this idea at the beginning of our class and now I have a better understanding of it.

2) Providing effective literacy instruction requires a teacher to show the student the many aspects of a particular literacy. Whether that be with text, games, audio instruction, show and tell, reading, assignments, videos anything to get the point across to students.

My new literacy and technology has helped me see this. I did environmental literacy, in order to understand the environment you need to be aware of many different ideas and concepts, living organisms, weather, water, climate, physics, the elements and so on. This is the same thing for students when understanding anything, nothing that is learned in schools is straight forward and one dimensional students need to be exposed to multiple ideas and concepts in a variety of ways in order to build a solid understanding of anything. In the case for digital literacy students need to be exposed to multiple computers and the many programs that are on them. They need to be exposed to electronics in every way, using a projector, turning on a radio, using a game console and every different type of electronic in between helps to develop digital literacy.

In order for students to understand my literacy they need to be exposed to every different type of science imaginable. Physics, geology, geography, chemistry, weather, climate, astronomy all of these fields of study provide support for understanding the environment.