WHAT IS NEW LITERACIES?

According to UNESCO, literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create,

communicate, and compute using printed and written materials associated with varying
contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve
their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their
community and wider society.

New literacies” that arise from new technologies include things like text-messaging,
blogging, social networking, podcasting, and videomaking. These digital technologies
alter and extend our communication abilities, often blending text, sound, and imagery.
Although connected to older, “offline” practices, these technologies change what it
means to both “read” and “write” texts. (They change the meaning of “text,” as well.)
These rise of “new literacies” necessary to wield these new technologies effectively
place new demands on all of us – not just on students. We are all expected to move
much more quickly to identify problems, for example; to know where to find information
to help us address those problems – often on our own; to evaluate and synthesize
information from a number of sources in order to try to solve those problems; to
communicate with others about problems and potential solutions; and to monitor the
solutions we’ve found and stay up-to-date with new issues as they arise.
We are increasingly expected do these tasks via the Internet, of course, to address
elements of our professional and our personal lives. We do this as students, teachers,
workers, and citizens alike.

For educators, this must involve a more sophisticated response than the Internet is
“good” or “bad.” Moreover, it isn’t just a matter of thinking about potentially
different cognitive experiences of reading digital versus print materials (although there is
a growing body of research to that end). It’s about thinking about how students “move
through” materials as they read and research and how digital materials make that a
fundamentally different process.

THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

A curriculum is considered the heart of any learning institutions which means the
school or universities cannot exists without a curriculum. With its importance in formal
education, the curriculum has become a dynamic process due to the changes that occur
in our society. Therefore, in its broadest sense, curriculum refers to the total learning
experience of individuals not only in school but in the society.
IMPORTANCE OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Curriculum Development hasa broad scope because it is not about the school, the
learners, and the teachers. It is also about the development of the society in general.

In today’s knowledge economy, curriculum development plays a vital role in improving

the economy of a country. It alaso provides answers and solutions to world’s pressing
conditiond, and problems such as environment, politics, socio-economics and other
issues od poverty, climate change, and sustainable development.

There must be a chain of developmental process to develop a society. First, the school
curriculum, particularly in higher education, must be developed to preserve the country’s
national identity and to ensure its economy’s growth and stability. Thus, the president of
a country must have a clear vision for his people and the country as well.

For instance, in the Philippines, if president Aquino would like the country to become the
Asia-Pacific hub, then the school curriculum must be developed along that line.
Curricular programs for higher education can be crafted in such a way that it will boost
the tourism industry.

If universities have curricular programs that are innovative and in demand in the local or
global markets, many students even from foreign countried will enroll. A higher number
of enrollees would mean income on the part of the universities. As a result, if the income
is big, it can be used for teachers’ promotion, scholarship, and renumeration. It can be
also used in funding research and developmental endeavors, and in putting up school
facilities, libraries, and laboratories.

Hence, curriculum development matters a lot in setting the direction of chane in an

orgainzation, not only the micro but also at macro-levels. As long as the goals and
objectives of curriculum development are clear in the planners mind, cutting-edge
achievements in various concerns can be realized.
 Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Higher Education

Region IV-A DIVISION OF RIZAL

PHILIPPINE BEST TRAINING

SYSTEM
MacamotBranch

NEW LITERACIES IN THE

CURRICULUM AND THE
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

SUBMITTED BY : SUBMITTED TO:

AMPARO, JAN NICOLE MAE O. DR. EMILIA G. CAYABYAB

EVANGELISTA, JERMIE P.

FLORDELIZA, SANNY A.