Defining Literacy in the Post Modern Era or Hitting the Clay Pigeon

The first famous illiterate was?

Why? Socrates perceived no need to write. For his generationand most of written history, reading and writing have been the domain of the elite - a means of social control.

The “modern age” arrived with the first edition of the Gutenberg Bible. By 1500 there were thousands of print shops in Europe - archived knowledge burst free.

Socrates

With this came the notion of literacy. Book learning became key in “education.”

Literacy is a "social" thing, more than a cognitive thing. Thus, what is literacy?

Does our technology demand we consider non-print material literacy? How we can broaden our definitions of "literacy" in the 21st century to include alternative media such as video, film, and the Internet. Should literacy really be thought of as a a term that rapidly

changes it meaning?

Modern moved (or is moving) to Post Modern

Modern educators and students knew the “truth.” It wasnailed on the door at the church or introduced to Americanchildren in “six complete volumes.” Encyclopedia have“truth” in them don’t they?

Postmodern “truth” is a complex encounter with an idea presented from multiple perspectives.

The point is technology has changed the way we considercontent. Changed the way we consider literacy and the paceof this change is accelerating. What did King and O’Brien think about this idea in their article Adolescent’s Multiliteracies and Their Teachers’ Needs to Know: Toward a Digital Detente?

King and O'Brien talk about how computer and technology use is misrepresented in schools that have traditionally valued static textbooks. Students "play" with the technology. In addition, teachers are sometimes viewed as threatened. They no longer are the sage on the stage, but the guide on the side. Text, static text is the "control" in the classroom.

How do we move educational institution's inertia toward this new way to think about literacy and away from “control” of truth?

32nd square coupled with:

Digitization of all things known. “mediasphere”

Library of Congress

Photographic Libraries

Learning Materials

http://www.loc.gov

http://www.photographiclibraries.com

http://www.merlot.org

Makes defining literacy very difficult.

This extends to video, audio and more.

Here’s an example of what this can lead to:

This is a list of inventions or events. Can you tell me the ones you know are not possible today?

Head Transplants in MonkeysCloning of HumansWatches that tell parents where on earth their kids are (GPS)GPS for insertion into humans Cold fusion4.5 Gigahertz Computer ChipRobot's doing spinal surgeryUltra-thin 'blankets' of fatty acids that cut reservoir evaporation Three centimeter disc that can hold five 2 hour moviesA drinking glass that knows what you drink and when you need another

Has our world become improbable and if so whatthen of defining literacy?

Goldhaber's idea that the "media megaphone", as I call it, (King and O'Brien call it the mediasphere) has saturated us may be true. I always wondered about the "sieve” (filter) people have to be to make sense of the glut of information. This drowning in "raw data" as Goldhaber puts it, demands a new literacy from us. But what is this literacy? How do we deal with this megaphone?

Postman in his book, Technopoly talks about this same phenomena (this glut of information from the mediasphere) as having "broken the defenses” of our culture.

Goldhaber calls the new economy we have as a result of thisthe "attention economy".

Bruce talks about the new communities of communication that have been created due to the Internet and other technologies. This new way of making connections can be viewed a variety of ways. Harold Reingold's book on virtually communities is dedicated to this topic. It can be read at: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/ .

The Only Thing Certain is Change

What does a person need to know today to be a full-fledged, competent and literate member of the information society? This question of what it means to be information literate is more important today then ever before.

What sort of information literacy should we be promoting?

I believe there is a direct link between knowledge, liberty and happiness and that we must ask questions about what is information literacy in today’s world in order to better understand what we need to do to be sure our citizens are happy and have liberty.

Let’s look at some examples:

Non-linear writing

The promotion of literacy using the Internet

http://campus.fortunecity.com/newton/40/literacy.html

Is our initial infatuation misguided?

Powerpoint as an example.

See pro/con series at:

http://www.ntlf.com/html/pi/9705/creed_1.htm

http://www.ntlf.com/html/sf/notevil.htm

or

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html