Digital LiteracyWHY IT MATTERS
SLIDES FOR DISCUSSION
PAUL TREADWELL | FEBRUARY 2013
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
New literacies are needed for successful
participation in democratic society.
What does it mean to be “literate?
“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)
The essential competencies
of (digital) literacy
Illustration from : Digital and Media Literacy: A plan of action. (Hobbs, 2011)
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)
Or, put another way
Knowledge of tools
Critical thinking
Social engagement
From Tabetha Newman, with changes by Josie Fraser http://fraser.typepad.com/socialtech/2012/03/digital-literacy-practice.html
Digital Literacy encompasses :
A Digitally Literate Person:
Possesses the variety of skills – technical and cognitive – required to find, understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information in a wide variety of formats;
Is able to use diverse technologies appropriately and effectively to retrieve information, interpret results, and judge the quality of that information;
Understands the relationship between technology, life-long learning, personal privacy, and stewardship of information;
Uses these skills and the appropriate technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, colleagues, family, and on occasion, the general public; and
Uses these skills to actively participate in civic society and contribute to a vibrant, informed, and engaged community.
From The American Library Associationhttp://connect.ala.org/node/140464
Stacking literacies – an inverse pyramid.
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
How do youth learn to use technology?
What are the implications of this for any digital literacy work?• Is ad hoc and peer learning adequate?
Ramping up access
AKA “THE DIGITAL DIVIDE”
Broadbandexpress@yourlibrary
NYS BTOP
funded project
• Funded 2010- 01/31/2013
• 30 public libraries
• 5 mobile labs
OSU Mobile Computer Lab
Funded by BTOP
Providing access and training in rural areas
Tied to additional teaching efforts at public library•http://extension.oregonstate.edu/crook/crook-county-mobil-computer-lab-education-wheels
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?
And, digital literacy development alone is not enough.
From physical access to creative engagement
From Media Awareness Networkhttp://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/publication-report/full/digitalliteracypaper.pdf
Resources
• http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/DigitalLiteracy.Gov
• http://www.diglitny.org/Digital Literacy in New York
• http://bit.ly/VxEJP3Digital Literacy
Standards for New Yorkers
• http://bit.ly/WCtLW8Microsoft Digital Literacy Curriculum
• http://www.knightcomm.org/digital-and-media-literacy-a-plan-of-action/
Digital & Medial Literacy: A Plan of Action
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. P. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word & the world. South Hadley, Mass: Bergin & Garvey Publishers.
London, R. A., M. Pastor, L. J. Servon, R. Rosner, and A. Wallace. “The Role of Community Technology Centers in Promoting Youth Development.” Youth & Society 42, no. 2 (November 2009)
Mehra, B. “The Library-Community Convergence Framework for Community Action: Libraries as Catalysts.” Libri 57, no. 3 (2007). http://late-dpedago.urv.cat/site_media/papers/The_library-community_convergence_framework_for_community_action.pdf.Maia, Ivan Ferrer, and José Armando Valente. Garden of Literacies: ICDT Contributing to the Construction of New Realities for Digitally-Excluded Senior Citizens. Vol. 7. 1-2, 2011. http://www.ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/673/718.
Poore, Megan. “Digital Literacy:: Human Flourishing and Collective Intelligence in a Knowledge Society.” Australian Journal of Language & Literacy no. 2 (2011): 20–26.
Tyner, K. (1998). Literacy in a digital world: Teaching and learning in the age of information. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Williamson, Andy. 2007. “Empowering communities to action : Reclaiming local democracy through ICT.” Pp. 1–10 in Communities and Action: Prato CIRN Conference 2007.
Contact
Paul Treadwell• [email protected]• @ptreadwell• http://www.paultreadwell.com
• Digital literacy and extension: bookmarks• http://groups.diigo.com/group/digital-lit
eracy_extension
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