Learning, Literacy and ICT: What’s the Connection?

Abstract

This article takes the form of a keynote address to delegates at the ‘Raising Standards through Literacy and ICT across the Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 conference’, held at Middlesex University, London in July 2000. It sets out by defining the terms ‘learning’, ‘literacy’ and ‘ICT’ and then proceeds to make connections between the areas they denote. The main connections are seen to be the increased reciprocity of reading and writing, the contiguity of the verbal and visual in contemporary communication and the re-establishment of composition at the heart of the literacy curriculum. Central to all of these is the importance of transformation in learning, not only in theory but also in the day-to-day practices of classrooms. Recent research into ICT and literacy is reviewed, practical possibilities for cross-curricular collaboration are offered, and implications for the future are considered.