Introduction to the 21st Century Literacy

Summary

In this educational module, the speaker introduces the concept of 21st-century literacy, exploring traditional literacy, expanded views, and the new literacies required in modern education. Traditional literacy is explained as reading and writing, while expanded literacy encompasses knowledge and communication skills. The speaker discusses new communication technologies, their impact on education, and how they create the need for digital and media literacy. Key topics for the course include multicultural literacy, social and financial literacy, and the importance of critical thinking. The session concludes with interactive group activities and supplementary resources.

Takeaways

• 📚 The course introduces 21st-century literacy with a focus on traditional, expanded, and 21st-century literacies.
• ✍️ Literacy is conventionally defined as the ability to read and write, with roots in the Latin word 'literatus', which means a person marked with letters.
• 🔡 There are three subcategories of conventional literacy: basic literacy (decoding written materials), comprehension literacy (understanding meaning), and functional literacy (applying reading skills in daily tasks).
• 📖 Reading requires both text and meaning; without comprehension, true reading has not occurred.
• 🌸 Literacy has evolved to include non-verbal forms of communication, like the 'language of flowers' in the Victorian era, demonstrating that communication isn’t limited to written or spoken language.
• 🌐 The new literacies of the 21st century involve interpreting information from various sources and being critical of its accuracy, validity, and reliability.
• 💻 21st-century literacies emphasize increased reach, speed, and breadth of communication, especially through digital and media channels.
• 🌍 The course covers various literacy types, including globalization and multicultural literacy, which require new skills for interacting with diverse cultures in real-time.
• 💬 Other forms of literacy include media, social, financial, and digital literacies, focusing on managing and navigating online information and networks.
• 🎨 The final part of the course focuses on critical literacy, which involves discerning hidden messages in texts and understanding competing ideologies in a multicultural society.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the first module in the course?

The first module focuses on 'Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum,' with three main topics: traditional or conventional literacy, expanded views on literacy, and literacy in the 21st century.

How is 'traditional or conventional literacy' defined?

Traditional or conventional literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. It stems from the word 'literate,' which comes from the Latin 'literatus,' meaning a person marked with letters, indicating someone cultured and educated.

What are the three subcategories of literacy mentioned by Miller?

Miller categorizes literacy into three subcategories: basic literacy (ability to correspond visual shapes to spoken sounds), comprehension literacy (ability to understand the meaning of what is being read), and functional and practical literacy (ability to read, decode, and comprehend materials necessary for everyday tasks).

What are the two key elements required for reading to exist?

The two elements required for reading to exist are a text (which consists of symbols and grammar) and a meaning or message (communicated by the text for the reader to extract). Without these, reading cannot take place.

What is functional literacy according to Scaletti?

Functional literacy is the ability to read, but not well enough to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level.

How has the concept of literacy evolved in modern times according to various scholars?

In modern times, literacy is viewed as knowledge, competence, and skills in specific fields. UNESCO (2006), Barton (2007), and others support this broader definition, acknowledging that literacy now extends beyond reading and writing to encompass knowledge in various domains.

What are the three critical factors that have led to the rise of new literacies in the 21st century?

The three critical factors are: increased reach (communicating with more people across distances), increased means of communication (more ways to communicate at faster speeds), and increased breadth of content (communicating about more topics than before).

What is the significance of the language of flowers in relation to literacy?

The language of flowers in the Victorian era demonstrates visual literacy, where people communicated through flower arrangements. Successfully interpreting these messages required literacy skills similar to reading and understanding texts, showcasing an early form of non-verbal literacy.

Why is literacy in media and digital communication important in the 21st century?

Literacy in media and digital communication is crucial because it helps individuals locate, verify, and manage information in an age where personal and career success often depend on effectively using online information to solve real-world problems.

How does globalization and multicultural literacy impact 21st-century communication?

Globalization and multicultural literacy impact 21st-century communication by requiring new skills and attitudes to interact with people from diverse cultures, perspectives, and worldviews, highlighting the need for more inclusive and adaptable forms of communication.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to 21st Century Literacy

This paragraph introduces the topic of 21st-century literacy as part of the first module in a course on enhancing new literacies across the curriculum. The speaker outlines the key topics: traditional literacy, expanded views on literacy, and 21st-century literacy. The discussion will explore the evolution of literacy and its importance for teachers and students. The learning outcomes aim to define conventional literacy and provide insights into the different perspectives of literacy in today's world.

05:01

📝 Traditional Literacy Defined

The paragraph defines traditional literacy, tracing its origins to the 15th century from the Latin word 'literatus,' meaning educated or cultured. Literacy was initially linked to the ability to read and write. Three subcategories are highlighted: basic literacy (decoding written material), comprehension literacy (understanding meaning), and functional literacy (practical reading for everyday tasks). The significance of reading comprehension, as described by scholars like Miller and Scaletti, is stressed, noting that reading requires understanding beyond simply recognizing words.

10:01

🔍 Expanded Views of Literacy

This section expands on literacy by including competencies in various fields. Citing scholars like Machanda, UNESCO, and Barton, it introduces how literacy now encompasses knowledge, skills, and communication beyond traditional reading and writing. Historical examples like smoke signals and the Victorian 'language of flowers' demonstrate visual literacy, which parallels modern 21st-century literacies. The importance of understanding diverse and rapid information from multiple sources is emphasized, as these skills influence personal and societal decision-making.

🌍 Globalization and Literacy in the 21st Century

This paragraph introduces the various topics to be covered throughout the semester, including globalization and multicultural literacy, social and financial literacy, media and cyber literacy, eco-literacy, and critical literacy. Each topic explores specific skills necessary for interacting with the modern world, such as navigating social networks, managing information in a digital age, and understanding diverse perspectives. These new literacies are vital for success in both personal and professional realms.

💡 Group Activities and Learning Tasks

The final paragraph outlines group activities where students will be divided into five groups, each addressing a specific question related to literacy. The questions explore personal literacy levels, comprehension, the materials one reads, and the kinds of literacy developed in classrooms. Students are encouraged to support their answers with examples. The speaker provides supplementary reading resources and encourages students to stay safe and reach out if they have questions.

Keywords

💡Traditional Literacy

Traditional literacy refers to the ability to read and write, which has historically been the foundation of education. In the video, it is defined as stemming from the 15th century, with roots in the Latin word 'literatus' meaning a person marked by letters. The video emphasizes that traditional literacy focused on reading and writing as essential skills for understanding subjects like grammar and logic.

💡21st Century Literacies

21st century literacies encompass the expanded skill sets required in modern times, beyond just reading and writing. These literacies include the ability to process and interpret digital, media, and visual information. The video explains that with the rise of new communication technologies, individuals must now possess skills like media literacy, digital literacy, and critical literacy to navigate the complexities of the modern world.

💡Basic Literacy

Basic literacy refers to the ability to correspond visual shapes (letters) to spoken sounds in order to decode written materials and translate them into oral language. This concept forms the foundation of traditional literacy, as highlighted in the video, where being literate is linked to the capacity to read and understand.

Highlights

Introduction to 21st century literacy with topics covering traditional literacy, expanded views on literacy, and literacy in the 21st century.

Conventional literacy stems from the 15th century, derived from the Latin word 'literatus,' meaning a person marked with letters.

Basic literacy is defined as the ability to correspond visual shapes to spoken sounds in order to decode written materials.

Comprehension literacy focuses on understanding the meaning of what is read, such as identifying context and nuances.

Functional and practical literacy involves the ability to read and comprehend materials necessary for daily vocational tasks.

For reading to exist, two things are necessary: a text (symbols and grammar) and a meaning or message to be communicated.

Simply knowing how to pronounce words is not enough; true reading involves comprehension of meaning, as per Miller's definition.

Expanded views of literacy see it as knowledge, competence, and skills in specific areas, as acknowledged by UNESCO and other scholars.

Visual literacy, once used in systems like smoke signals and flower arrangements, is re-emerging in the 21st century with modern digital communication.

New literacies arose from the increasing availability of communication technologies, like blogging, vlogging, and social media.

Three key factors in new literacies include increased reach, means of communication, and a broader scope of content.

Globalization and multicultural literacy address the skills required to interact with diverse cultures in real-time communication.

Media and digital literacies are essential for verifying and managing online information, which affects both personal and career success.

Eco-literacy focuses on managing natural resources sustainably, as rapid industrialization is placing strain on these resources.

Critical literacy emphasizes understanding underlying messages in texts, especially in a multicultural society where ideas compete for dominance.

Transcripts

hello everyone this is mrs

and today we're going to talk on the

introduction to the 21st century

literacy and this is our first module on

the course building and enhancing new

literacies across the curriculum

we have three topics the first one is

traditional or the conventional literacy

the second one is the expanded views on

literacy

and the third one is literacy in the

21st century

now in exploring and discussing the new

literacies of the 21st century

a total perspective of literacy and its

past

meaning will give us a solid foundation

and why possession them is now required

for both teachers and students in all

levels of education

here our learning outcomes will define

conventional literacy and develop a

clear and practical understanding on the

different views or expanded views on

literacy in the 21st century

okay part 1 traditional or conventional

literacy

now let's define literacy according to

literacy literate nd literacy is defined

by dictionaries as the state of being

able to read and write

traditional or conventional literacy

in the 15th century the word literacy

stems from the word literate and it was

derived from the latin word literatus

meaning a person marked with letters

that is distinguished or identified by

letters and is carried with the idea

that such person was cultured and

educated

all subjects of the time such as grammar

logic arithmetic geometry and others

were written texts that had to be

studied

the ability to write and read was

therefore of prime importance leading to

the strong association of being literate

with the ability to

read and write

now according to miller because there

are three

uh subcategories of literacy the first

one is basic literacy

in here

we defined it as the ability to

correspond visual shapes to spoken

sounds in order to decode written

materials and translate them into oral

language

the second category of literacy is

comprehension literacy

this is the ability to understand the

meaning of what is being read the

capitalize on the example above angbata

and

would be like knowing that

basa can mean either to read or to be

wet

the third subcategory of literacy is

functional and practical literacy

this is the ability to read such as

decode and comprehend

written materials needed them to perform

everyday vocational tasks

now this is the equivalent of

reading the text

and being able to understand that the

vasa here

refers to reading and not to being wet

so in ibanag in our local dialect the

basa here is my big breathing while it's

not actually being wet or

hindish

all right

there are two things for reading to

exist

the first one is a text and the second

one a meaning or message

when we say a text that consists of

symbols and grammar to be read

when we say a meaning or a message being

communicated by the text for the reader

to

to extract

without a text there would be nothing to

read and without meaning the text is

reduced to series of incomprehensible

doodles

according to miller

the act of reading implies a level of

understanding

simply knowing how to say a word or

series of fours is not the same as being

able to understand what it means

without understanding of the meaning of

the words reading has not taken place

according to scaletti

literacy

defines the concept of functional

literacy

as the state of being able to lead

but not well enough to manage daily

living and employment tasks that require

reading skills beyond a basic level

expanded use of literacy

machanda wires assistantly posed that

literacy is a form of knowledge

competence and skills in a particular

field or area

being supported by the unesco 2006

barton 2007 and khan dewar simula

mudendo and shiloh in 2017

which acknowledged that as we have just

pointed out modern views appear to

equate literacy with

knowledge

throughout history humans have

communicated on levels apart from the

spoken and written

for example visually using the long

distance

communication system smoke signals used

by the ancient chinese the ancient

greeks and the indigenous people of

northern america

in the victorian era there was such a

thing as the language of flowers

where the kind color and arrangement of

a bokeh flowers were used to communicate

messages that could not otherwise be

spoken aloud in victorian society

examples a bouquet of aucklands this

represents strength

purple roses this represents sorrow

white lilies resurrection

pale yellow tulips and rosemary memory

or resemblance remembrance

altogether communicate a message of

sympathy usefully over the death of a

loved one

successfully interpreting this visual

language required a kind of visual

literacy to understand the message being

presented and to manage the information

and code that they're in

skills which are coming into use again

in the 21st

century

literacies

the difference is that now we are not

analyzing smoke signals or bokeh but

rather sounds

text and images from a hundred different

sources at a nearly non-stop rate to the

point where accuracy

validity reliability of the messages we

interpret from the basis for some very

important personal and collective

decision making

the shift in the definition of literacy

from reading and writing the knowledge

is especially important as we explore

the new literacies of the 24th century

that seem far removed from the context

upon which conventional literacy is

based

another difference involved the question

of necessity

one did not need to be literate in the

language of flowers to live a fruitful

and fulfilled life in victorian era

england

but to be in media or digitally in the

21st century makes one vulnerable to

manipulation by those who are and such

manipulation can easily cause an

individual time

money property and even life

the so-called new literacies arose from

the increasing availability of

communication technologies that were

once unavailable to the average

individual

technologies that were once unavailable

to the average individual

like blogging and vlogging social

networking and even text messaging

chains that expand both the extent and

the form of our communication

blending text sound and images in ways

unforeseen and unprecedented

there are three things that have been

critical in the rise of the new

literacies the first one is the

increased reach the second one increased

means of communication and the third one

is the increased breed of content

when we say increased reach

we are communicating with more people

from more diverse cultures across faster

distances than ever before

when we say increased means of

communication we are communicating in

more ways and at a faster speeds than

ever before

when we say increase breed of content we

are communicating about more things than

ever before

now the next part of the slides are the

different topics that we are going to

discuss for the whole semester

so here are some of it first one we have

the globalization and multicultural

literacy

this discusses how our increasing

ability to communicate with almost

anyone

anywhere in real time requires new

skills and attitudes in interacting with

people with cultures perspective world

views and priorities different from our

own

that's why we call it multicultural and

globalization

next is the social and financial

literacy

in here we are going to explore the

needs for for the ability to navigate

our own social networks

but online and offline variety the

laboratories resources which we

ourselves might not possess

another topic that we will talk is about

media and cyber digital literacies in

here we are going to explore the

emerging need to locate

verify and ultimately manage online

information especially in an age where

information and the ability to

communicate it with others and use it to

address real world problems easily spell

the difference between both personal

and career success and failure

in echo literacy and artistic and

creative literacy we're going to explore

the emerging demands for knowing how to

effectively and sustainably manage the

natural resources that are increased

industrialization and demands for

productivity are rapidly eating up

and the last one is all about the

critical literacy

this addresses the increasing need to

discern the underlying messages behind

the new texts of the 21st century

particularly in an ever increasingly

multicultural society where ideas

cultures and ideologies view

with one another for power and dominance

in the minds of the masses

here are your teaching and learning

activities you will be divided into five

groups and you will um answer one

question per group and then later on we

uh go back to our

uh plenary

okay

so as i said a while ago you have to

join

um

your group in our breakout and then you

will answer only one question

so each group will answer one question

and you might want to support your

answer by giving relevant examples

okay so number one given the traditional

conventional concept of literacy how

literate are you

okay

the second group will answer how deep is

your level of comprehension

the third group will answer what kind of

written material should be you able to

read and understand

are you reading these materials

how well can you understand them

so please do not forget to

give relevant examples to support your

answer

now the fourth group which of the new

literacies are you knowledgeable in

which of these do you lack knowledge in

the fifth group will answer

what level of literacy is being

developed when the classroom practices

focus more on memorization rather than

understanding and application

okay please take a screenshot of our

recommended learning materials and

resources for supplementary reading you

can visit the

the book the um

the links here later on after our

activity

and

uh

thank you so much for listening and i

hope you learned something for today and

please continue doing your activity in

the different breakout rooms and once

you're done let me know so we can go

back to our plenary session

okay thank you so much

i wish you have a great day everyone

please stay safe and healthy all the

time god bless us

and please if you have any questions

feel free to message me you know where

to contact me

okay so

thank you and

have a great day everyone bye