Twenty-First Century Literacies: Digital Literacy as a Baseline

Literacy used to mean that one was able to read and write, but educators have applied old thoughts to new students. Literacy is now a much more vague term, and it is more similar to a word like “capable”. One can be literate in mathematics or science, but aliterate in different areas that one may typically consider to be areas of literacy. Students in the American Education System are commonly literate in specific areas, such as social media, digital devices, and affinity spaces, but they’re considered illiterate because they’re not “literate” in areas that teachers want them to be. Teachers must aid their students to be literate in the ways students will encounter in the world outside of school walls.

Schools are considered by some to be “microcosms” for the outside world; however, this is no longer true. Schools used to be microcosms, meaning they are small reflections of how the rest of the world functions, but the “real world” doesn’t look like students being told they can’t have cell phones, being forced into content that they hate. Digital applications are federally mandated in schools, yet there is still a lot of pushback from educators (Warner 2018). Students need to be literate digitally, but many teachers feel as though it distracts students from the content. Students are distracted, and they should be. They are constantly bombarded with new information, affinity spaces, comments, and a need for affirmation through social media (Robinson 2014). Technology is a tool, and it’s up to educators to teach students how to use the tool.

Of course teachers should teach students to be literate in the world they encounter each day, but technology can be useful in reaching students. Media has shaped the way students think, and literacy can be shown in a variety of ways. Reading digital texts can shape students’ minds in different ways (Rowsell 2009). Educators should be working to form young minds into minds that can function socially with the world; this is what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century. Being literate in the twenty-first century means that you are capable in some way (meaning, any way), and that you’re able to utilize the social spaces needed to be an active member in society. Teachers need to guide students in navigating digital spaces.

Students who don’t know how to properly navigate social media and affinity spaces tend to lose themselves. The young mind, and maybe the old mind too, searches for affirmation and fulfillment through these affinity spaces (Warner 2018). These affinity spaces, such as Facebook, Instagram, and many more, have a large impact on individual identity. The digital world can cause students to lose their individuality if they’re not taught to navigate it properly because it promote uniformity (Kegley 2018). Again, technology is a tool. If students aren’t taught how to use it properly, it’ll be a tool for their demise. Students must be taught to be digitally literate, and educators must start helping students navigate these realms if they want successful students.

Literacy does mean to be capable in one, meaning any, area, but one must recognize that digital literacy must be a baseline in the twenty-first century. De Pietro explains that using these tools in schools can help students want to learn by writing, “There is a persuasive argument that facile learning makes education pleasurable: Students who learn easily will be contented. Contented students, motivated to learn and empowered by what they learn, are productive students. Productive students are successful students. In theory, social media can do all of this,” (DePietro 2013). Schools can use social media and technology to reach students and provoke interest, and productive students grow.

Being literate in the twenty-first century can mean many things, but students need to be digitally literate to function within the world. Schools have ignored the progression of literacy, yet they need to be progressing alongside of students. It’s difficult to implement strategies to help students, but this is a vital step if one truly wants to prepare them for the world after school. For years schools have followed the old definition of literacy: to be able to read and write. This definition of literacy constricts our students, and it’s a key reason why students gain labels such learning disabilities or illiterate. The definition of literacy must change alongside the meaning of “text”. A text is no longer an essay or something that must be read, but it’s anything that can provoke interpretation. Students can be literate with manuals, social media, motors, or anything to be considered literate today, but to function in society and through its changes students need to be digitally literate first.

Bibliography

Burke, A., & Hammett, R. F. (2009). Assessing New Literacies: Perspectives From the Classroom. New York: Peter Lang.

DePietro, P. (2013). SOCIAL MEDIA AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING. Counterpoints, 435, 47–62.

Kegley, Jacquelyn Ann. “Royce on Self and Relationships: Speaking to the Digital and Texting Self of Today.” The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, vol. 32, no. 2, 2018, pp. 285–303.

Robinson, Ken. (2010). Changing education paradigms , TED Ideas Worth Spreading.

Warner, J. (2017). Adolescents New Literacies with and through Mobile Phones. New York: Peter Lang Publishing New York.