21st Century Literacy

Intro:

21^st century literacy is the sum of all the current literacies students and youth must own and acquire to have a full understanding of learning in the social and educational world.  The graphic and the writings below should further develop and define 21^st century literacy and show how the subcategories work and are closely related.

Graphic 1  Showcases the relationship between key 21^st century literacy terminology.  It displays how certain literacies are interconnected while also showing the potential order of operational accomplishment.  Each level displays a more specific category 21^st century literacy all the while being interrelated. (created with Popplet)

 Definitions:

Visual Literacy – is very simply what a learner sees and how they interpret that sight and or image.  It is one of the most essential parts of 21^st century literacy and learning.  Without the ability to recognize visual resources and images many of the other parts of 21^st century literacy become more difficult.

Example: An English Language Arts teacher displays a picture to the classroom.  It is a man looking out into the ocean.  The teacher then asks the class to write a short narrative about what the man sees.

Information Literacy – the ability to simply process and understand information.  This is a skill that has been taught for centuries and remains an essential part of all skills for youth.  Without the skill to process, understand, relate, and provide information one would not be able to move onto the more complicated skill sets in 21^st century literacy.

Example: Students in an English class are given an article about the recent attempts to clone the woolly mammoth.  They are then asked to relate this information to their current novel assignment:  Jurassic Park.

Media Literacy – after one has mastered or understood visual and information literacy it could be time to move on to the more developed media literacy.  Media literacy is an all-encompassing literacy that showcases an understanding of how to process multiple medias such as television, radio, web, and written text.  Not only this, but one that has a mastery of such literacy would also demonstrate an ability to create in said medias.

Example: Students develop a school news program to show the current events and advancements of school classes and social attractions.

Computer Literacy – a category under the umbrella of media literacy, computer literacy is simply the skillset involved for ascertaining and creating information dealing with computers and their simple components—not necessarily their inner working parts.  It also involves simply being able to use a computer in a functional and efficient way.

Example: A student is asked to use the word processor on the school computer to type their technical paper.  They are also asked to use images they have stored on their USB drive to add to the document.  After they are done they must store the paper on their school work space.

Digital Literacy – another literacy under the umbrella of media literacy, digital literacy is the ability to use, communicate, and create with digital technologies involving such things as networks and unseen digital space.

Example: A student is asked to show understanding of current scientific theory.  The student uses YouTube and Sony Vegas to create an outstanding video.  It is published and shared with the classroom and school via the high school’s personal website.

Social Media Literacy – a category of digital literacy, social media literacy is the ability to use, understand, and decipher importance of social media such as social networks.

Example: A health class is asked to develop a wiki based on common effects of continual drug use and abuse with pictures, drawings, and graphs displaying outcomes.

Further Research/Reading:

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills – a terrific site dedicated for the advancement of the educator for developing 21^st century skills in the classroom.  It has many resources and readings for continued study.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved July 4, 2013, from http://www.p21.org/

DigitalLiteracy.gov – a site associated with Obama administration that deals with educating not only teachers and students but the general public about new digital literacies.  It has links to understand and learn new skills as well as educator tools.

            Digitalliteracy.gov. (n.d.).  Digitalliteracy.gov. Retrieved July 4, 2013, from

                         http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/

Popplet – website used to create idea bubble image at beginning of document.

 Popplet. (n.d.). Popplet. Retrieved July 4, 2013, from http://popplet.com/

 

Robert Stewart

Here is the whole document in PDF form:

21st Century Literacy Document and Graphic