Colleen Patrice Clark
Managing Editor
cclark@reading.org
EDITOR’S
NOTE
his issue focuses on the central question:
What does it mean to be a learner in the
21st century?
Although the digital world has
drastically altered the way students and
teachers alike take in information, we
know that 21st-century learning is about
more than learning through technology.
It’s about creating new opportunities to
collaborate and problem solve, making
more meaningful connections in the
classroom community and the world,
and exercising the critical literacy and
responsible citizenship needed to thrive in
both digital and analog environments.
Fortunately, literacy educators are
uniquely positioned to create the 21st-
century classrooms and learners that
today’s world demands.
Through weaving new literacies
into all aspects of the curriculum and
focusing on the 21st-century skills
we know our students need, we will
empower students to become critical
thinkers and lifelong learners. But it’s
also important to acknowledge the fluid
nature of learning.
Our classroom environments, school
communities, and the world around us
continuously evolve, and so must our
teaching and learning. Welcome that
change, embrace risk taking, and model
the lifelong learning habits you aim to
instill in your students.
The complex problems of tomorrow
will be solved by the creativity of the 21st-
century students before us today.
Warmly,
21ST -CENTURY
LEARNING
Learn more and share your feedback at
literacyworldwide.org/glossary
ILA’s Literacy
Glossary—
Together, we can define
our profession,
one word at a time
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literacyworldwide.org | November/December 2018 | LITERACY TODAY