November 2009 1
Kathi Tarrant-Parks, PhDLiteracy and AT Consultant, Wayne Assistive Technology Resource Center
Kenneth L. GrishamPresident / CEO, Co-Founder, Premier Literacy
November 2009 2
"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."
Alvin Toffler, Rethinking the Future
November 2009 6
An expanding universe of information will
NEVER APPEAR IN A PRINTED BOOK !
Information Trends (con’t)
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 7
Literacy for Survival In this emerging age of:
– The Internet (wiki’s, blogs, “cloud computing”, “Tubes”)– Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask)– Social networking (My Space, Facebook, Ning)– Nanotechnology (IPods, PDAs, smart phones) etc.– Interactive whiteboards– Digital books– “Paperless” classrooms
…literacy is no longer a convenience, advantage or efficiency…
… it is quickly becoming a matter of survival.
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 8
Literacy vs. Graduation Rates
21%77%22%18%Michigan
Percent of ILLITERATE (Levels 1+2)High School
Grads
PercentHigh
School Grads
PercentLITERACY LEVEL 2 (marginal literacy)
PercentLITERACY LEVEL 1
(functional illiteracy)STATE
Source: U.S. Census - 2000
LITERACY VS. GRADUATION STATISTICS (in the general population)
25%76%26%24%New York
21%77%24%20%Illinois
Literacy Level 3 – required for gainful employment *
(* Literacy Level 3 can be roughly defined as the ability to read the daily newspaper)
(These are representative samples. Comparable findings are available from all other states.)
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 9
Literacy Rates At-Large
Government research: 15-20% of the general population (U.S.) has some degree of reading impairment.
This means that 45-60 million individuals need some kind of ongoing assistance / remediation.
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 10
Transition to Higher EdChallenges
For incoming students in Higher Ed, the NUMBER ONE challenge consistently heard is that students are UNDER-PREPARED for the reading / writing workload of Higher Ed.
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 11
Transition Challenges
General availability of literacytechnologies in Higher Ed can have a
direct financial impact to an institution in the form of
improved student retention.
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 12
We are now seeing a “wholesale transformation”,
where literacy means so much more than just simply
READING from a book.
“Digital” Literacy is:
“Digital” Literacy…a New Definition
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 13
“Digital” Literacy is:
– Digestion and Absorption of Information
– Searching
– Publication / Collaboration / Sharing– Application of Newly Found
Knowledge to Real-World Tasks
– Finding / Filtering / Identifying / Validating
– Summarization
– Permanent Retention– Organization / Storage / Retrieval
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
November 2009 14
“Digital” Literacy = Knowledge
There are TWO kinds of knowledge:
– Internal: knowledge committed to personal memory.
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
– External: knowledge readily available from one’s ability to employ digital literacy tools, techniques and practices.
November 2009 15
Internal vs. External “Intelligence”
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
EXTERNALINTELLIGENCE
INTERNALINTELLIGENCE
Digital Literacy in the 21st CenturyNovember 2009 17
Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment
DIGITALTOOLS
DIGITAL CONTENT
DIGITALCURRICULA
Digital Literacy in the 21st CenturyNovember 2009 18
Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment
DIGITALTOOLS
DIGITALCONTENT
DIGITALCURRICULA
Digital Literacy in the 21st CenturyNovember 2009 19
Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment
November 2009 20
Literacy for Survival
Digital Literacy must now be viewed as a “lifetime skill”.
Failure to become fluent with literacy tools will increase the difficulty for individuals to be competitive for:
- Employment - Education
- Services
Digital Literacy in the 21st Century
The future is bound only by...our capacity to believe
…the breadth of our imagination…our willingness to work toward what we
know must done
11November 2009 Digital Literacy in the 21st Century