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As we move beyond the turn of the 20th
century to the 21st
century our culture is finding that the literaciesneeded to make
one successful in the 20
thcentury have been added and subtracted from. These
literacies are the knowledge of being able to use, communicate
and understand new technological forms.A sampling of 20
thcentury literacies needed to make one successful might have
been to know how to
read print on paper, read print on computer screens, write in
cursive and talk on a telephone. While someof these literacies like
reading from printed paper are still needed other have been
modified like talking ona telephone or in some cases the need is
being lost like writing in cursive. This should not be viewed asa
negative culture trend, but the ongoing evolution of our culture.
To explain some of the relative terms ofthe 21
stcentury I have defined them below in both printed form, and
using a mind map with embedded
video.
21st Century Literacy:
o Definition: This all-encompassing term is used to describe the
new technology and theskills needed to work with them. These
technologies involve both technical innovationssuch as computers,
smart phones and software. They also involve the way we
aremodifying our social interactions such as blogging, networking
with people in differentcountries and dealing with different media
formats.
o Example from the classroom: Requiring a group of students from
several differentcountries to research and write a paper, then
present a PowerPoint presentation withmultimode media such as a
video and music.
Digital Literacy:
o Definition: The ability to understand and use computer based
applications.o Example from the classroom: Receiving and posting
assignments to a web site like
Oncourse
Media Literacy
o Definition: The ability to work, create and review many
different media formats. Theseformats include video, sound and
print. It also includes the ability to understand,
evaluate, analyze and synthesize media.o Example from the
classroom: Having students make video mashups and posting them
to
YouTube. Then having students review mashups that others have
made and commenton them.
Information Literacy
o Definition: Being able to find information, evaluate the
source of the information, analyzeand synthesize the information to
either solve a problem or gain knowledge on a subject.
o Example from the classroom: A teacher does an internet
scavenger hunt based ongaining knowledge in a subject with their
students. After the search the teacher candiscuss with the students
the information found and evaluate the type of source.
Computer Literacy
o Definition: Having the knowledge and skills to use computers,
software and relatedtechnology.
o Example from the classroom: Requiring students to use the
program Word to write apaper.
Visual Literacy
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o Definition: Using graphic and video as a means to find
information analyze andsynthesize the information to either solve a
problem or gain knowledge on a subject.
o Example from the classroom: Having students mark a story out
of graphics or videos.
Social Media Literacy
o
Definition: Having the knowledge and skills to us social media
platforms such asFacebook or Twitter. Specifically the knowledge
and skills are finding and evaluatinginformation. Using the
information to solve problems or gain knowledge then passing
thisinformation on to other users.
o Example from the classroom: Having students meet in a network
chat room then work asa group to solve a problem.
The mind map has the term 21st Century Literacy as the base and
the rest of the terms growing from it.On the left side we have the
information literacy area. These are the literacies that relate to
gaining,evaluating and using information. A source for gaining more
insight into the information literacies ishttp://www.medialit.org/.
This source is useful for understanding information and the
framework for how itshould be managed. The right side has the
literacies that related to how we use our technologies. Asource for
helping gain more knowledge in this area is
http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/. This source has
many tutorials designed to teach how to use many computer
related technologies.
