Topic 6: Reading and Literacy

Reading and literacy are the heart of the educational process. Definitions of reading and literacy have expanded to encompass technology as well as the language arts (Kinzer & Verhoeven, 2008). The 21^stCentury’s increasing reliance on technology skills for daily human interaction—such as cell phone communication, Internet searches, and decision-making—depend on the quality of a person's reading and literary skills. Content areas, such as science and the social sciences, as well as the humanities, rely on language knowledge to comprehend ideas and skills (Hakata, 2011; Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2010). Thus, a person's level of reading and technology literacy is related to educational attainment, social status, political status, and economic status (National Endowment for the Arts, 2007). Parents, community members, and policymakers believe that students should possess sufficient knowledge and skill in the language arts to enter college (Bushaw & Lopez, 2010; Porter, McMaken, Hwang, & Yang, 2011). If so, reading and literacy should pervade the school environment in exciting and meaningful ways, utilizing multimedia.