What does it mean to be literate in the 21st Century?

If there is anything I have learned from the past four weeks of class, it is that literacy has a broad spectrum of definitions. Before this class began, I believed literacy only applied to the ability to read and write. As a matter of fact, when you google “What is literacy?” the definition provided is “the ability to read and write.” Much to my surprise, it is so much more than that. The definition I would give today is as follows: Literacy is the ability to be able to be aware and cognizant of the task you are doing or the situation you are in. Being literate is the ability to critically analyze texts and interpret them to have meaning.

There is no such thing as “illiterate”, there are just certain things in life that people are more or less literate about. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to literacy. Someone can be extremely literate when it comes to reading and critically analyzing a book for their English class, but then be less literate when it comes to knowing about the parts of a car and how an engine works.

Some people argue that to be literate in the 21st century you must be able to be digitally literate. So what does it mean to be digitally literate? Being digitally literate means being able to fluently navigate and know how to use technology to your advantage. Technology is constantly evolving and updating. As educators, it is our responsibility to keep up with technology because the student’s we teach are evolving with technology as well. And if technology is integrated into our student’s every day's lives then isn’t our job to at least try to integrate into schools too? In order to do this, first teacher’s need to become digitally literate. Traditional teaching is not challenging the students anymore. They’re sick of the whiteboard and chalkboard when all their really thinking about is going home to their tablets and smartphones. If we can integrate technology into our classrooms, then I believe we can get students engaged and excited about school again. Worksheet after worksheet just is not cutting anymore. If you show kids you are interested in incorporating their interests into school, then they will be more interactive with lessons and school in general. This is may seem easy to ask of all the teachers, however, a lot effort and money would have to be used to get teachers up to date on all of the technology useful to classrooms today.

This video describes the changes that students and teachers face today as technology changes. The video describes that “readers of traditional print-based texts tend to be knowledge seekers, whereas visitors to multimodal texts, such as websites, become information hunters.” Thus making education a more interactive process in general. The video also discusses how teachers need to adjust their role to the adjustments of technology. Also according to the video, “the construction process begins when students’ seek out and interact with digital tools, reference materials, video, music, and the internet.”

According to Richard Grazier, “To effectively teach digital literacy, teachers need to be trained in how to interact positively with digital media so that they aren’t daunted by the experience, empowering them to facilitate learning that uses the technology to foster student-directed inquiry, focussing their instruction on prioritizing higher order skills and learning, and providing support and timely intervention when required.” (Glasier, 2018)

So is integrating technology in the classroom really the most beneficial for student learning? Some arguments against it include; distractive environment, limiting ability to monitor it, too much effort in the teacher’s part, etc. These are some legitimate concerns to have when deciding if teachers should practice digital literacy and integrate technology in their classrooms. However, there are some major benefits based on research that heavily outweigh and disprove these fears. For example, using technology in the classroom “improves engagement, improves knowledge retention, encourages individual learning, encourages collaboration, teaches students’ useful skills, and benefits teachers” (Paddick, 2016).

In summary, literacy in the 21st century means a lot more than just being able to read and write. In this day and age, it is essential to human and more simply learner development to also be digitally literate. To remind you of my definition of literacy, “ Literacy is the ability to be able aware and cognizant of the task you are doing or the situation you are in. Being literate is the ability to critically analyze texts and interpret them to have meaning.” As for teaching, it is crucial to adapt and become aware to these new technological advances we are seeing in everyday life. Some teachers are already implementing this in their classrooms. “Teachers are using technology to replace old models of standardized, rote learning and creating more personalized, self-directed experiences for their students” (https://www.steelcase.com/research/articles/topics/technology/how-technology-is-changing-education/). It is easy to be intimidated by digital literacy, however, is not worth a try if it means you can have more engaged and interactive learners in your classroom? To end on an interesting quote from Andrew Kim, “ What’s interesting is that as learning is becoming more virtual, the virtual activities are actually becoming more physical. One might say virtual and physical are meeting in the middle” (W, 2018).

Sources

Grazier, Richard. How Technology Is Changing Education. (2018, May 11). Retrieved September 21, 2018, from https://www.steelcase.com/research/articles/topics/technology/how-technology-is-changing-education/

Paddick, R. (2016, August 13). So what does it really mean to be digitally literate? Retrieved September 21, 2018, from https://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/so-what-does-it-really-mean-to-be-digitally-literate

W. (2018, July 27). Top 6 benefits of using technology in the classroom. Retrieved September 21, 2018, from https://www.webanywhere.co.uk/blog/2016/02/top-6-benefits-technology-classroom/