Multiple Literacies
Blog Topics
For the remainder of this class I'll be blogging about various literacies -- media, visual, and information literacy. I'm currently working on a paper about incorporating visual literacy and visual learning in library instruction. As I find good resources, articles, etc. I'll discuss them on my blog.
Today's Article -- Expanding the Concept of Literacy
Daley, E. (2003). Expanding the concept of literacy. EDUCAUSE Review, 38(2), 32-40.
Daley comments on how technology is changing the traditional (if erroneous) definition of literacy from print based reading and writing to include a variety of concepts and competencies.
She lists 4 main arguments for this expanded definition of literacy:
1. ubiquitous nature of multimedia screen language
2. multimedia screen language can construct complex meanings without text
3. The types of communication and collaboration possible with multimedia screen language are very different from those possible in a text only environment
4. Truly literate people will be able to communicate in the multimedia language of the screen
Key Points:
- Most general education curricula do not include basic knowledge of media communications
- Educators need to look beyond a print only basis for communication and understand that media communication is here to stay
Labels: information literacy, library instruction, media literacy, multiple literacies, visual literacy
posted by Mary @ 7:35 AM
4 Comments:
I find this concept of new literacy very interesting. I have read (sorry, I don't the reference) that as the new technology (computers/Internet) has risen, verbal literacy rates have fallen. I guess we're pass the "chicken /egg" debate on this one, and I do realize that technological literacy is needed to survive in today's world. But, I wonder, do we lose some cotemplative or cognitive skills when we deemphsize verbal literacy?
Thank you Mary!
I like that you asked the question, "Can higher education learn from K-12 education regarding a more holistic, incorporated view of literacy?" since often K-12 education is expected to learn from higher education when many higher education folks have never stepped into the K-12 arena.
Literacy is an integral part of conversation in K-12 education. We talk in departments about what it means to be scientifically literate or math literate; we talk K-12 about reading literacy; we talk cross-curricularly about what it means to be technology literate. Literacy in schools has long ago stepped away from looking at the meaning of literacy as only being print-based reading and writing.
What exactly does the argument, "multimedia screen language can construct complex meanings without text" mean? Can you give me an example?
From a K-12 perspective, I find that students in my system are woefully lacking in media literacy. They are "entertainment literate" (they can download music, get videos, text message) but they do not know how to prioritize sources, do an effective search, or narrow searches.
Do you find the same from college students as well?
Here's an site with some links for Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL, pronounced "Smile") What they call SMIL enhanced presentations are,"rich media"/multimedia presentations which integrate streaming audio and video with images, text or any other media types."
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