Abstract

In our era, new technologies are challenging traditional definitions of what it means to be literate. Reading and writing remain important facets of literacy but are not themselves synonymous with literacy. Specifically, digital media have revived the importance of listening and oral literacy. This is happening at the same time that brain imaging technologies have radically altered our understanding of how the brain works and learns. We now see the way in which three brain networks coordinate how we listen and how listening helps us learn. Many areas of the brain are involved in listening, and skillful listening involves a complex and varied set of activities.

Because individual learners approach the same learning task in widely varied ways, it is essential to provide multiple means for achieving success. Learners need multiple ways of recognizing important information, variety in how to strategically approach a learning task and multiple means of becoming engaged in learning. For these reasons, listening can play an essential role in supporting learners with diverse needs, abilities, and styles. Tools such as digital text, text-to-speech and audiobooks offer powerful alternatives to traditional classroom materials that rely almost exclusively on printed text. Twenty-first century learning environments should leverage the advantages of new digital media to provide these options—thereby expanding the potential circle of successful learners in today’s classrooms.

Next Section – Plato Revisited: Learning Through Listening in the Digital World

Download in RTF format | Download in PDF format