James Aiello's List: DGL Vocabulary

Defining Literacy in the 21st Century:

 

  Digital and Media Literacy for Today's Learners                                                                                                                 

 

  The definition of literacy has evolved in the 21st century. The basic definition of literacy means to be able to read and write. To be successful in today's digital world, literacy goes far beyond being able to read and write. What it means to be digitally literate has reflected the change in how information is processed, delivered, and received in today's highly connected world. The University Library of The University of Illinois defines digital literacy as:

 
 
•   The ability to use digital technology, communication tools or networks to locate, evaluate, use and create information. ¹
 
•   The ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers. ²
 
•   A person’s ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment... Literacy includes the ability to read and interpret media, to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments. ³

• The ability to use digital technology, communication tools or networks to locate, evaluate, use and create information.  ¹ 
 
•  The ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers.  ² 
 
•  A person’s ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment... Literacy includes the ability to read and interpret media, to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments.

Digital Literacy is “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others in order to participate effectively in society”.

 

 

Basic elements of this definition include:

 
 
• Participation
 
• Access
 
• Integration
 
• Analysis
 
• Evaluation
 
• Management
 
• Creation
 
• Communication
 
• Empowerment

Enter Digital Natives. That is a term used by educators and others to speak of those under the age of 20. They are of the first generation that didn’t have to learn digital because they were born in it. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, iPods, video cams, cell phones and all the other gizmos of the digital age. Digital natives think and process information fundamentally different. And when the rest of us speak their language, they look at each other with a knowing shrug, reminding us we are still just poor Digital Immigrants allowed to come along for the journey in coach while they fly the plane.

The majority of school age children are Digital Natives. They learn differently and are used to receiving information relatively fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access and thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards.

A MOOC is a course in two important senses. First of all, it has assignments and evaluations built in the way that a college class has assignments and exams. Most MOOCs have quizzes along the way and exams at the end, but more subjective assignments, such as written essays or creative projects, are also possible. (The Berklee School of Music Songwriting MOOC, for example, required . . . . writing a song.) The evaluation may be done by the teacher, by software or by peers. Having assignments and evaluations distinguishes a MOOC from university initiatives like Open Yale that offer free lectures but don’t have any way of assessing a visitor to the site.

Second, MOOCs are courses in the sense of having a completion point. Khan Academy has exercises along the way, but if you jump in to start learning, for example, elementary school arithmetic, you’ll never reach a last day of school. Somehow, Sal always has recorded one more advanced mathematics lesson for you or a lesson in a related topic. MOOC courses are designed to come to a conclusion, usually after 4 – 12 weeks.