Building upon research on contemporary literacies people need and acquire to succeed in complex environments in and beyond schools, educators interested in the study and implementation of 21st century skills through literacy development have established the Initiative for 21st Century Literacies Research.

Our projects help learners

• Participate effectively and critically in a networked world;
• Explore and engage critically, thoughtfully, and across a wide variety of inclusive texts and tools/modalities;
• Consume, curate, and create actively across contexts;
• Advocate for equitable access to and accessibility of texts, tools, and information;
• Build and sustain intentional global and cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so as to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought;
• Promote culturally sustaining communication and recognize the bias and privilege present in the interactions;
• Examine the rights, responsibilities, and ethical implications of the use and creation of information;
• Determine how and to what extent texts and tools amplify one’s own and others’ narratives as well as counter unproductive narratives;
• Recognize and honor the multilingual literacy identities and culture experiences individuals bring to learning environments, and provide opportunities to promote, amplify, and encourage these differing variations of language (e.g., dialect, jargon, register). (NCTE, 2019)

This initiative focuses the interest and expertise already present in our respective institutions related to 21st century literacies at a time when school reform initiatives are recognizing literacies as a common thread in successful personal, civic, and economic life.  We undertake this work collaboratively with public schools and libraries, our preservice teachers in various institutions, and our colleagues in Literacy, English, Educational Technology, Media Studies, Library and Information Science, and Instructional Systems among other disciplines.