[Literacy] Amorphous + Digital

I previously alluded to the fact that literacy is in part difficult to define because of its amorphous nature.  Literacy shifts with the needs and resources available to the society in which it exists.  It can happen, and has happened (refer to the printing press revolution), that literacy skills become more accessible to a large portion of the population.  Simultaneously, however, there are higher demands and requirements placed on individuals to be considered literate when such proliferation occurs.

Because I value visuals, I have created an image to explain the links between writing systems, society, economics, resources, and value systems.

{Images lifted from all over the Internet: school of fish, crown, pyramid, tools, narwhal, apple logo, Sir Ken Robinson, fish}

The above model is applicable to writing systems across time and place.  The connections that are presented in this model are integral to understanding how a writing system develops, and how one makes sense of literacy.

Our current technological revolution, for example, can also be analyzed through this narwhal network.  The first three requirements -- urbanization, differentiated social and economic roles, and social hierarchy -- are inseparable from our common experience (at least in capitalistic society).  The other two factors -- the nature of the tools available and the values held within the culture -- do a little more to help to explain the proliferation of digital literacies.

Put simply, we, as a society, have gained new literacies (i.e. digital) because of the advances that have been made in computer technology.  Our tools and resources have expanded with new technological innovations, and our society has embraced these changes because they align with our value system.  Digital literacies, in short, are a quintessential part of life because they benefit our social structure (Smythe, 2012).

Now, the above idea would require an entire posting in itself to justify and elaborate upon, so, instead, I will briefly touch on the consequences of these new digital literacies.

Adapting to this digital culture has presented educators with the enormous challenge of keeping schools, and the education that is provided in schools, relevant.  A fantastic video from GOOD's website presents this issue and offers a number of solutions:

 

The above video follows the same rationale that is presented by Sir Ken Robinson in any of his talks: educators and the education system need to adapt to modern demands.  Luckily, this video suggests three main prerequisites for successful adaption: reading comprehension, information search and retrieval skills, and an armour against doctrine.

While I completely agree with all of these requirements -- though I re-interpret the aforementioned 'armour' to mean the development of critical thinking skills -- I would like to add a fourth prerequisite: adaptability.  Without adaptability (in both educators and students), we will be unable to keep pace with technological advancement in the future.  We need, in sum, to inculcate adaptability into our curriculum so that our students remain flexible to future needs.

{This rainbow narwhal is adaptable}

Smythe, Suzanne. (2012). Unit 3 overview. In EDUC 341-C100, Literacy, education and culture. Burnaby: Simon Fraser University. Retrieved Aug 5, 2012, from https://webct.sfu.ca/webct/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?appforward=/webct/viewMyWebCT.dowebct