New literacies: resultant skills of the 'net savvy'

Are reading and writing enough to ensure one is literate in today’s society?

We first need to acknowledge the fact that the concept of literacy has changed. In Scotland, literacy has been defined as: "The ability to read and write and use numeracy, to handle information, to express ideas and opinions, to make decisions and solve problems, as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners. We now hear of terms such as multimedia literacy, information literacy, arts literacy, functional literacy, critical literacy and rhetorical literacy.

We are bombarded with information to which the various types of “literacies” must apply. Never before have we been in age where there is free access to almost any type of information. As stated by Jules et.al (2000) in their book Net Savvy, the internet is the “electronic playground” of these digital natives. The very tools they use on the web can be used in the classroom to help to develop their skills in viewing, reading, editing and publishing.

The classroom like everything else must evolve. We must nurture collaboration , cooperation, as well as individualised learning. We must rethink curriculum and how best to teach our pupils in a multimodal way.

References:

Jules, I. et.al. (2000). Net Savvy: Building information literacy in the classroom. Sage Publications: California.

http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/cs_008875.pdf