This expanding access to digital information is changing the very definition of literacy.
The International Reading Association* asserts that becoming literate in today’s world includes developing literacy in information and communications technologies (ICT). Similarly, definitions of 21^st century skills typically include information and technological literacy.

Understanding the Internet
Education theorist Marc Prensky writes of this change as one which has highlighted a new disparity in the classroom. Students today have been inculcated with these technologies and are, in essence, digital natives, speaking the language of the Internet, instant messaging, text messaging, and blogs. Most teachers, on the other hand, are immigrants to this digital world. The challenge is to enable educators to communicate with their students on this newly emerging plane of discourse.

Additionally, the sea change in education that has resulted from increased use of the Internet is different from past technological revolutions. The change is not merely one of increased use of the tools, but of a fundamental shift in communicating. Educator and author Alan November refers to the effects of this change as one where the fundamental grammar of communication has changed. That is, students can find out almost anything on the Internet—supporting any cause or idea. Thus, educators need to radically change their means of teaching, becoming immigrants to the land of digital natives.

Ideas and examples of how teachers are using the Internet and other technology resources can be found in An Innovation Odyssey, an online collection of stories from educators around the world.

Email
For many new technology users, email is the most comfortable place to begin implementing these sorts of changes. Over the past five years, Internet use has gone up dramatically and one of the forces which pushed that use has been email. As an educator, there are a number of strategies you can use to help get the most out of email. The first is to collect the email addresses of the parents of your students. For many schools, you can access this from your school’s student information system (SIS). If not, asking students by sending home a note or at back-to-school night is a way to get started on this database. Once collected, use this list to digital publish and mail out a newsletter. Even something as simple as two to three paragraphs will help bridge connections between home and school.

The second strategy is to take advantage of the free email accounts available for you, your colleagues, and even your students. Locations such as Gmail* (provided by Google*), Yahoo Mail*, and Hotmail* all provide free accounts with fairly large amounts of storage capacity. If your school doesn’t provide email to students, or if the parents of your students don’t have accounts, encourage them to sign up.

Search Engines
To make the most of the Internet, you will need to use a search engine. A search engine is a Web site with the purpose of gathering and reporting information on a portion of the Internet. Search engines are easy to use—you simply input the term or terms you want to find more information on, and the search engine finds you a collection of sites which meet that criteria.

The difficulty, of course, is in how many returns you often get. A search for “educational resources” on Google* returns nearly 400 million responses. So, how can you limit this number? There are two strategies you can employ. The first is in the selection of your search criteria—the words you enter in the engine. The second is in which search engine you use. The most ubiquitous is Google*. However, MSN* now has a search engine, as does Yahoo* and Amazon*. All of these engines do a great job of searching millions and millions of Web pages. However, what you put into the engine is still the most important factor. Some of the best strategies include searching for entire phrases (not just one or two words) as well as using Boolean operators (and, not, or) in your search query. An excellent resource to investigate is the UC Berkeley Library Online if you have more questions.