New Media & New Literacies

Designing activities across spaces is not about choosing between pen and paper or iPads. It is about weaving them together so students can move fluidly between their worlds. Our kids already live in a mash-up of TikTok, notebooks, family kitchens, and group chats. The question is: how do we honor that hybridity in our teaching while still pushing toward complex learning goals? One project I could use is a Family Cookbook + Digital Storytelling unit . The idea is simple but layered. Students bring in a recipe from home and interview a family member about its history, like why grandma’s arroz con pollo shows up at every birthday or how their uncle tweaks mac and cheese with extra cheddar. From there, they create: An analog piece : a handwritten or illustrated cookbook entry with drawings, measurements, and family notes. A digital piece : a short story told through Flipgrid, Canva, or iMovie where they narrate the recipe’s cultural significance and share it with classmates. This pr...

When I first thought about “new literacies,” my mind went straight to tools like iPads, Chromebooks, and apps. But after sitting with Knobel and Lankshear (2007), the International Literacy Association (2018), and Vanek (2019), my perspective shifted. It is not the tools that make literacies new, it is the practices people build around them. Knobel and Lankshear (2007) call this “sampling the new,” and it really made me pause. I see this in my own classroom every day. My students all have iPads, but the real question is: are they just tapping through math drills, or are they remixing, creating, and sharing ideas in ways that give them agency? That is the real literacy shift, not the device but the empowerment. The ILA (2018) statement hit me even harder. It reminded me that digital literacies can either open doors or reinforce barriers. Giving every kid a Chromebook does not automatically create equity. If we are not intentional, technology can replicate the same old inequities on a sl...

When I think about new literacies , I immediately connect them to both my classroom and my everyday life. Knobel and Lankshear (2007) remind us that literacy isn’t just decoding print, but “socially recognized ways of generating, communicating and negotiating meaningful content” (p. 24). In my classroom, that looks like visuals, icons, AAC tools, and interactive slides—valid literacies that give my students access to meaning. Personally, I see the same dynamic in memes, reels, and voice notes, which all function as ways of participating in community. The problem is that schools often shrink literacy down to “reading and writing academic English.” That narrow view silences students who bring rich cultural and digital literacies into the classroom. A child fluent in Spanish, AAVE, or video-based expression may be labeled “behind” when in reality they are operating in sophisticated literacies that simply don’t fit the old mold. This creates barriers for multilingual learners, students wit...

Welcome to my blog for New Media & New Literacies ! The design you see here is Y2K inspired, with neon glow, sparkles, and retro icons. I chose this style on purpose because the Y2K era was a turning point in how people understood media. It was the moment of Myspace pages, AIM chats, and even the Y2K “bug,” when we first realized how much technology shaped our lives. This course asks us to explore how new media affects our social, political, economic, and personal worlds. For me, Y2K represents the beginning of these shifts. This blog will be my space to reflect on how media continues to evolve, how we adapt to it, and how it shapes both teaching and learning. And of course, it will sparkle, because media has always been about meaning and vibe. 💿✨