A friend shared an article with me and I have been introduced to the 5 Digital Literacies as
explained by Howard Rheingold. The concept is not new, as the article was written nearly 10 years ago, but still valid.
When you learn a language, you don’t just learn how to
listen to and read it, but you also learn how to speak and write with it.
Rheingold’s 5 digital literacies as explained in the article are: Attention,
Participation, Collaboration, Network Awareness, and Critical Consumption seem
to focus mainly on the 1st part of learning a language – listening and
understanding. I think the term Digital Literacy as used by Rheingold is a
misnomer. It should be called Information Literacy. As important as these 5
components are, if we truly want to be Digitally Literate, we must be able to
engage in and drive the conversation.
Imagine this – we are all sitting in a vehicle and we all
have a seat. Where are you sitting? Are you in the back seat, just watching and
reading? You are sitting back and not really engaging online but a huge
consumer of content. Are you in the passenger seat – active with the 5 digital
literacies that Rheingold shares? You are paying attention and learning what
others are writing and discussing, even publishing a bit of your world online. You
are actively participating in discussions and adding your opinions. Or are you
the driver – a real player in the digital world – not only using the tools that
other drivers have given (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogging…) but designing
and creating new roads for others to travel (new platforms)?
I think if you want to be considered truly Digitally Literate,
you need to understand the economics and business behind the online platforms,
behind the apps, behind all of the software. You can’t just learn how to use
today’s technology, but you should engage in creating and driving tomorrow’s new
software and technology.
Back to Rheingold’s 5 ‘digital’ literacies, I think Critical
Consumption is of highest importance among them. You need to be able to think
critically in today’s world of Big Data and constant flow of information. How
does one decide which articles to read, and which ones to pass up? How do you
look analytically at the final report or article and see how data could be
manipulated to tell one side of the story over another? How can you be
different than a machine? Take a look at this image from Harold Jarche and notice what makes humans different from machines. We have creativity, imagination, and relationships.
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| Source: Jarche on Twitter |
He echoes much of Rheingold’s ideas, but pushes the idea of
collaboration and sharing ideas a bit further. I love this article https://jarche.com/2018/11/network-literacies/ by Jarche that discusses the core skill of
critical thinking in gaining fluency.
Hello! I really appreciate the car analogy. It really fits with the topic of media use and literacy. I also think that you ask some really important questions. Information flow today, as you said, is constant. It's interesting to think about what makes people scroll by as opposed to reading just a headline, or even reading a whole article. It's definitely something that media makers have to think about when creating online content.
ReplyDeleteHi Lydia, Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughtful response!
DeleteI like the car analogy that is an easier way to explain it to all age ranges. For me, now that I'm thinking about it, I am usually in the passenger seat when driving. In my home there is my mom, sister, and me. I usually have my headphones in or am just looking out the window daydreaming. Though at times I will pay attention and talk to my mom. My sister however is completely unaware of her surroundings in the back as she has her headphones in and is lost to the world. I am semi active while she is non active. Though on her social media she is more active with talking to her friends in direct messaging than making her own content. Whereas I sometimes make content but am mostly a observer. A nice food for thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the article, I'm looking forward to reading it. Your car analogy was spot on.
ReplyDeleteYour car analogy made the concept of digital literacy easy to understand. I enjoyed reading the article written by Howard Rheingold because I thought it was still accurate today as well. Digital literacy involves critically thinking. As you mentioned, I also think the business and economics of the online world should be taught to children at an early age.
ReplyDelete