Beyond Technology for Technology's Sake: Advancing Multiliteracies in the Twenty-First Century

Borsheim, C., Merritt, K., & Reed, D. (2008). Beyond Technology for Technology's sake: Advancing Multiliteracies in the Twenty-First Century. The Clearing House , 87-90.

The point of this article is to demonstrate that teachers must go beyond implementing technology for technology's sake and consider the evolving nature of texts and the literacy skills associated with consuming and producing those texts.The authors share examples for adapting teaching to the impact of technology, rather than adapting technology to teaching.(Borsheim, Merritt, & Reed, 2008, p.87)They contend that teachers who use a variety of media and technologies in their teaching do more than familiarize students with specific technologies. They are preparing their students for the multiliteracies of the 21st century.
This article applies to all ages and levels of teaching. It is an important concept that we embrace that technology is here to stay. It is not a toy to play with in the classroom to meet a standard, but an important tool to learn how to utilize for learning.
Each writer demonstrated the use of a different technology. Carlin Borsheim project was the traditional research paper unit in which she utilized the internet, wikis, film-editing software and Word.
Dawn Reed utilized podcasting to with her class. After listening to essays, the students wrote their own and then recorded and edited their podcasts, and posted them on a blog.
Kelly Merritt used wikis in her classroom to communicate, share documents, fet feedback, build collective experiences and integrate additional forms of technology into the classroom experience. (Borsheim, Merritt, & Reed, 2008, p. 90)