What does it mean to be literate in the 21st Century?
At first glance, literacy is a pretty simple concept. When asked what the definition of literacy is, most people would answer with something along the lines of “the ability to read and write”, and would that be wrong? Technically, no, but from our readings and class discussions, I have learned that literacy is far more detailed than the simple definition previously stated. I would personally define literacy as having the ability to understand, interpret, communicate, and demonstrate a level of intellect regarding a certain topic. Literacy can apply to anything and anyone and is only determined through one’s overall familiarity and confidence in certain information. In this way, literacy can be specialized, meaning one could have digital literacy, literacy in football, literacy in sailing, or any other specialized form of literacy. Literacy in the 21st century is always changing and adapting to new age technology. In today’s society, every single person is literate in some way, and through our readings and class discussions, I have realized that literacy is not simply a measure of intellect, but rather a measure of skill in a particular skillset that is dependent on one’s interests, passions, experiences, and memories.
Let’s begin with the writings of Roswell and Burke where they wrote of two students, Peter and Patty. In short, these two children could not be any more different. Peter was a young man struggling with school and social skills, while also seeming to have minor special needs, and Patty was a very active, seemingly social butterfly of her school, actively engaged in classroom studies and after school recreational activities. Peter was always “a loner”, but when he spoke of Naruto he came alive with knowledge of that show. Peter has an in depth literacy of Naruto. Patty, on the other hand, is literate in her sports, her studies, her Webkinz account, amongst other things. Now, Patty seemed to be gaining more important life skills according to Roswell and Burke when they wrote, “a closer examination of Patty’s designing of her Webkinz site entails an understanding of a number of roles, such as pet owner, shopper, and interior decorator, and the earning of virtual money…” (Roswell & Burke, 2009). Even though Patty appears to be taking more valuable life skills from her hobbies, both of these students are literate. It just goes to show that people are literate in different things and that literacy is very fluid.
In the 21st century, “There is no one, fixed definition of literacy; rather, literacy is redefined every day” (Barone 2015). Technology has an immediate impact on the development of literacy in students globally in modern times. New in-class resources are developing every single day and students across the country are beginning to integrate I-Pads, Chromebooks, and other electronic devices into their everyday curriculum. With all this new digital technology, it leads to the discussion of digital literacy in the education of students nationally. It is crucial that digital literacy is addressed and reinforced consistently in schools because digital media has taken this society by a storm. The following YouTube video expresses the importance of digital literacy and its impact on the youth today.
Now, digital literacy is just another form of specialized literacy mentioned at the beginning, but what makes it so important? Well Hiller Spires, a professor of literacy and technology at North Carolina State University defines digital literacy as having three main components,” finding and consuming digital content, creating digital content and communicating or sharing it” (Heitin 2016). Digital literacy is becoming more and more integral in education and social situations, with almost every single person having some sort of smart electronic device and people constantly messaging one another. Digital literacy has many ways in can be reinforced in the class room but some of the more important ways would be “providing access to resources, creating structures to provide exposure, and supplying encouragement for interest-driven learning” (Glazer 2016). Digital literacy can only be advanced if those steps are taken in all schools nationally. This new digital content has become the mainstream content of the 21st century and has molded literacy into a completely different animal than it was a hundred years ago.
Literacy has been and always will be an imprint of what is technologically relevant of the current affinity spaces that are socially accepted at that time. In the 21st century, digital media is largely dominating social norms and communication so being literate in the 21st century is largely reliant on being digitally literate, meaning one could communicate adequately using digital resources. Again, every single person can be literate in whatever they are exposed to, intentionally or unintentionally, but modern day literacy is largely reliant on digital literacy.
References
Barone, D. (2015, July/August). The Fluid Nature of Literacy[PDF]. Literacy Today.
Glazer, K. (2016, September 28). Literacy Daily. Retrieved September 22, 2018, from https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2016/09/28/developing-digital-literacy-for-all-students
Heitin, L. (2018, June 20). What Is Digital Literacy? Retrieved September 22, 2018, from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html
Roswell, & Burke. (2009, October). Roswell & Burke_2009[PDF].
(2014, November 05). Retrieved September 22, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2k3C-iB88w
