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= This page may be the start of an influential knowledge base for literacy educators.= =Then again, it may not.=
 * =It all depends on us--you and me, //Wiki-teer//.=

==If the knowledge base grows at all, it will accrue starting with inquiries of t__he [|IATE] Wiki-teers__, an //ad hoc// group of English teachers who gathered on 17 October 2008 at the annual IATE convention in Oak Brook, Illinois, USA. This wiki is intended to serve as an open forum and workspace for these teachers. Here, they may come to consider and discuss questions they believe may lead to enhanced literacy learning for students. ==

A common understanding of IATE Wiki-teers is that lliteracy has changed since we were in school. The [|NCTE understands literacy] to include

 * ===proficiency with... technology===
 * ===building relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally===
 * ===designing and sharing information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes===
 * ===managing, analyzing and synthesizing multiple streams of simultaneous information===
 * ===creating, critiquing, analyzing, and evaluating multi-media texts===
 * ===attending to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments===

===There is no stringent membership requirement for this wiki. All you need to join us is an interest in our inquiries and a willingness to contribute to them. All similarly-motivated educators are welcome to join. Regardless of a teacher's willingness to become a member of this wiki, all can read and use the Teacher Resource Page. ===

The next step is up to you! Let's get the inquiries going.

 * ===A STARTING GOAL: Using the same read/write tools we hope students will use for communicative, collaborative ends, the Wiki-teers would work together in a virtual public space (such as this, or a place similar) to try out and share answers to our inquiries.. Every Wikiteer could edit the site. It is hoped that every Wikiteer will.===
 * ===A SUBSEQUENT GOAL: Would be to nurture the development and dissemination of knowledge around our questions so that other teachers and students would be encouraged to so participate. Teachers would work in groups around specific literacy learning activities. So would teachers and students, and student teachers. Any and all interested in improving education would be welcome, and the work would benefit everyone. And so on, //ad infinitum.//===

in response to questions like this, it is hoped that Wikiteers will post their responses and related inquiries on pages that each other Wikiteer can read and respond to.

 * ==My (abendelow's) first question about how we might best work on this project: How should we best proceed? Should we not begin by each of us building a new page, with a new inquiry thread on it? That way, we would share a common workspace and collaboration between us can start.==


 * To kick things off, simply post a comment using the "discussion" tab above.