Digital and Media LiteracyRedeeming the promise of technology
Why literacy? “Acquiring literacy does not involve memorising sentences,
words or syllables … but rather an attitude of creation and re-creation, a self-transformation producing a stance of intervention in one's context." Paulo Freire, Education: The Practice of Freedom (1973)
Why digital? The 3 r’s are no longer enough :
Digital technologies are changing: How we do business How we do research How we interact with each other
All demand a new literacy for successful participation in a democratic society.
What is digital literacy? cognitive, emotional and social competencies that include:
the use of texts, tools and technologies the skills of critical thinking and analysis the practice of message composition and creativity the ability to engage in reflection and ethical thinking active participation through teamwork and collaboration.
From: Digital and Media Literacy: A plan of action. (Hobbs, 2011)
The essential competencies of digital literacyBack to Freire and a “stance of intervention in one’s context.” The uncompleted cycle is the unrealized potential.
Illustration from : Digital and Media Literacy: A plan of action. (Hobbs, 2011)
Building literacies – an inverse pyramid.(there is a cultural bias here in the 3r’s – is it necessary to be able to read and write in order to be digitally literate?)
Illustration from:
Toward Information Literacy Indicators Catts,R. and Lau,J. Unesco Paris,2008
How we learn about technology Most adults born before 1968 learn computer skills
informally, or at work, while younger users are taught in school. Strawn,C. The Relationship Between Literacy Proficiency and the Digital Divide Among Adults
With Low Education Attainment. 2008
What are the implications of this for any digital literacy work?
A concern Will people be able to transfer self-developed digital skills
beyond their affinity groups, etc…? What is necessary to facilitate the “skillful use” of digital
technologies?
Acceptable technologies? Revive audio as a delivery form Explore games as learning Unite what is learned online with what is enacted locally Creatively engage in a variety of bandwidths
Not just desktop or videoconferencing Text messaging, audiocasting for mobile phones
A questionable statement? “Digital and media literacy education requires and supports
the practices of reading comprehension and writing.” From: Digital and Media Literacy: A plan of action. (Hobbs, 2011)
Digital and local While technologies may “collapse distance”, we still live in a
particular place at a specific time Balancing literacy educations to respect both the
interconnectedness, and locality, of life is the challenge facing us today.
Challenges New literacies bridge local and global knowledge and
concerns We already participate in some facets of this work Is new literacy education consistent with our mission?
Contact Paul Treadwell
[email protected] @ptreadwell http://pt36.posterous.com/
Digital literacy and extension: bookmarks http://groups.diigo.com/group/digital-literacy_extension
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