4.6 Information technology, literacy and education
Literacy has always depended on technology of some sort, even if this comprises pencil and paper, or chalk and slate. Lankshear et al. (2000) note that:
What literacy is in a particular place and time is necessarily related to the technologies available locally [...] how people wrote, how much they wrote, what they wrote, why they wrote, who could read what they wrote, and when they wrote, varied in association with the literacy technology they were using.
Lankshear et al., 2000, p. 25
The authors advise caution rather than wholehearted endorsement of information technology simply because it is new, but firmly believe teachers should position themselves to take advantage of newly available technologies in the classroom.
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4.5.5 Email and computer mediated communication