From Knowledge to Wisdom: Critical Evaluation in New Literacy Instruction

In an effort to expose students to a wide array of 21st century literacies, it is easy for teachers to forget the equally important role of leading students in critical inquiry regarding “when” and “why” particular media ought to be used. This results in students who possess knowledge of how to use a medium but lack the wisdom to truly understand the costs and benefits of selecting one medium over another. To correct this deficiency, the scope of literacy instruction must be expanded to include not only a breadth of media environments but also evaluation of how these environments alter the ways that humans sense, behave, and interact. The “Ideal Society” Project is one example of how teachers might meet this need: students conduct inquiry into various media environments as they design multimedia marketing campaigns aimed at specific audiences and later reflect on the strengths and limitations of the media they selected.