21st Century Literacy — It’s not what you think
When posed with the question, “What is Literacy?”, just a few short weeks ago, my answer was, “Literacy is the ability to read and write.” As this course has progressed it has become increasingly clear that my view of literacy was quite simpler than what it really is. As a Mathematics Teaching major, I had no clue how a literacy class could apply to me. I found out quite quickly that literacy is not only applicable to my field, but also to my everyday life. Literacy is not just about reading and writing. You can be literate in many different fields. In the field of mathematics, one is literate if they understand equations, can read word problems, can manipulate variables and can work with shapes. Likewise, one in literate in chemistry if they can interpret the periodic table, balance equations and make conversions. I have also found out that literacy goes a lot deeper than just the ability to read and write. The depth of literacy is really reflected in the following picture.
This visual encompasses the many components of 21st century literacy. It highlights the large impact that technology has on 21st century literacy by making it stand out. This centrality of technology will come as no surprise as we dive deeper into the ever changing definition of literacy. This visual also highlights the importance of connecting with people, working in a group, understanding images, and adapting. One of the things that I love most about this visual is that right in the middle it has the word possibilities. I can’t be sure what the artist meant by this, but to me this speaks to the fact that with literacy there are so many possibilities. Being literate in our own way will open each of us up to the many possibilities that this world has in store for us.
So, now that we’ve talked about what literacy is not, let’s talk about what literacy is. In my opinion, literacy is the ability to analyze the world around you, allowing you to solve problems and communicate. So, for one to be literate in the 21st century, they must understand the technology of this time. It is no secret that technology is ever changing. Since technology is such a large part of 21st century literacy, it following that literacy itself is ever changing. Our definition of literacy is no longer confined to reading and writing. It is changing with the times to keep up with technology. Being able to communicate in the 21st century is almost wholly dependent on being able to use at least minimal technology. Since the ability to communicate is so key to my definition of 21st century literacy, one could make the assertion that technology is also key to 21st century literacy. Coincidentally, at times technology makes those who are literate seems illiterate when others do not understand the norms of certain affinity spaces. This can be seen in Julie Warner’s Book, Adolescents’ New Literacies with and through Mobile Phones. In chapter 6 she gives us the example of a boy named Eli. She includes a selfie that Eli posted (below) with a caption in which he purposefully spells “McDonald’s” incorrectly by putting “mcdnaldz” instead. In the not so distant past, this misspelling would have categorized Eli as illiterate. In the 21st century this is not the case. With new technologies come new affinity spaces and in these spaces the norms are different. This example highlights the fact that in social media affinity spaces, misspellings are understood as one being witty or funny instead of one being illiterate. This shows my point that as technology changes, so do our ways of communication. Being able to communicate using those technologies is what really makes one literate.
The following video speaks of this new definition of literacy. It also shows why literacy will be important to us as future teachers. It points out that it will be our job to teach our students to be literate in a world where the definition of literacy is changing. John Dewey said it best, “If we teach today’s student the way we taught them yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow.” (Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century).
It seems that in the 21st century, to be literate one must be able to keep up. It is impossible to keep up with all of the changes happening around us, but it is our job to remain literate in the affinity spaces that we occupy. This is especially important as we go out into our careers and impact the literacy of the future generations. If we intend to train our students to be literate in the 21st century, then we must give them the ability to analyze the world around them, thus allowing them to solve problems and communicate in an ever changing world.
References
Agerbeck, Brandy. (October 21, 2005) 21st Century Literacy — International Visual Practitioners Conference.
Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/107628541
Warner, Julie. (2017). Adolescents’ New Literacies with and through Mobile Phones. 109–111.
(April 19, 2012). 21st Century Literacy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGTl-OdkVIE
