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Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman come from different backgrounds and have different ideals, but they're all superheroes that people look up to. Not all superheroes have superpowers.
N.C. Central University's College of Liberal Arts and School of Education have teamed up to bring new ways of using technology in the classroom.
Sandra Vavra, of NCCU's Department of English and Mass Communications, and Sharon L. Spencer, of the School of Education, have compiled and edited a book called "CLASH! : Superheroic Yet Sensible Strategies for Teaching The New Literacies Despite the Status Quo."
The book is a collection of essays which impart strategies for incorporating digital media into the 21st century classroom.
Fifteen submissions were approved for the book, six of them from NCCU.
They include four professors from NCCU's Department of English and Mass Communication: Lisa Carl, Stephanie Frigo, Carolyn Fulford, and Rachelle Gold; and two professors from the School of Education: Tom Scheft and Doris Tyler.
"It's a step toward breaking out of your comfort zone," said Vavra.
"It's important that we make this change. It would be educational malpractice if we don't."
Gold's chapter, "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?," discusses how old technology, such as the radio, can be used in a new way.
"Students [now] can express beliefs and opinions in more complex ways with technology today," said Gold.
She chose this title because she believes it links the present with the past.
The cover, designed by Vavra's daughter, Jess Vavra, a student at the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham, could be mistaken for a comic book or graphic novel.
The woman on the cover represents the "Super Teacher," eager to introduce digital technologies into the classroom.
The exact publishing date for CLASH! has not yet been determined, but the book might be on shelves by April 2011.
Many teachers frown upon using technological devices in their classes, viewing them as distractions.
Some are also be intimidated by the media itself, knowing that their students are more knowledgeable of how it will work.
"Sometimes, I feel a little stretched because students do tend to know more, but it is necessary to have a fusion of technology into classrooms today," said Fulford.
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