How New Technologies are Changing Literacy-My Thoughts...

The reading material and video clip on new technologies impacting literacy is very accurate and makes me think of my own education and teaching experiences as it relates to literacy. Admittedly, I always thought of literacy as reading and writing, now however I am aware that literacy is much, much more. I now know that literacy is reading, writing, and communicating through various other meduims such as pictures, videos, hand signals, gestures, etc.
As a young student my exposure to literacy was through reading books and magazines and writing class assignments, letters, and postcards. As a college student, the type of reading and writing were still in effect but became enhanced as I used the libraries, audio visuals, and typewriter-word processors. I did well in my classes that involved reading and writing so I considered myself very "literate".
Now that I am an educator in this era of booming technology, and I look back on my own education, I might as well have been a Flintstone. Current and ever-advancing technology has changed the face of literacy so, that students today, even those classified as special needs, are considerate "literate", especially in comparison to when I was a younger student. PC are now as common in the home as the telephone or television. The internet is an incalculable source of available information that makes knowledge and data on virtually any topic accessible for student use. Current and ever advancing technology in word processing and assistive technology make reading, writing, and communicating easier and possible to students that were having difficulties or unable in the past. Video games and text messaging are thought to increase dexterity and give students practice writing in a fun context. Video photo technology and video story-telling, blogs, on-line chat rooms, and even "myspace", all provide students with multiple ways to communicate, learn, and share information. With these things in mind, I definitely believe the world has become more "literate".