Understanding the Literacies Terms and Definitions

Literacy "The definition of literacy, which once referred only to the reading and writing of print text now includes all forms of texts that convey messages including videos, music, images, songs, gestures and more." (Thompson & Hughes, 2012)

Critical Literacy -moving beyond passive acceptance of knowledge -taking an active role in the learning process and in the reader-author relationship -questioning who wrote the text, what the author wanted the reader to believe and what information was included/excluded from the text (McLaughlin & DeVoogd, 2004)

Critical Literacy  “…is naturally abrasive; it involves second guessing, reading against the grain, asking hard and harder questions, seeing underneath, behind, and beyond texts, trying to see and “call” how these texts establish and use power over us, over others, on whose behalf, in whose interests” (Luke, 2000)

Digital Literacy -ability to understand and use information from various digital sources -includes navigating, searching for information using critical thinking -being able to publish, communicate and construct new knowledge -enables constructive social action and reflection (Gilster, 1997)(Bawden, 2001)and (Martin, 2006)

Critical Media Literacy -expands traditional view of literacy -includes all forms of communication, digital and print -goal is to "critically analyze relationships between media and audiences, information and power" -encourages students to challenge the messages by using critical thinking skills (Kellner and Share, 2007)

Critical Media Literacy -is tied to the radical democracy ideology -develops skills that enhance democratization and civic participation -will show learners how to use media as instrument of change and social communication -should include elements of pop culture -should be a democratic pedagogy (Kellner and Share, 2007)

Critical Media Literacy "It is insufficient to teach literacy that only addresses traditional concepts of print while ignoring the other major ways we receive, process and create images and information” (Kellner and Share, 2007)

Critical Media Literacy “...brings an understanding of ideology, power, and domination that challenges relativist and apolitical notions of most media education in order to guide teachers and students in their explorations of how power and information are always linked.” Kellner & Share (2007)

Further Readings  Flores-Khoulesh  Robertson and Hughes  Koltay

References  Bawden, D. (2001). Information and digital literacies: a review of concepts. Journal of Documentation 57(2): 218–259.  Gilster,P. (1997). Digital Literacy. New York: Wiley.  Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2006). Critical media literacy is not an option. Social Sciences and Comparative Education,. Retrieved from:  Luke, A. (2000). Critical Literacy in Australia. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 43 (5),  Martin, A. (2006). Literacies for the digital age. In: Martin A and Madigan D (eds) Digital Literacies for Learning. London: Facet,  McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G. (2004). Critical literacy. New York, NY: Scholastic.  Thompson, S. & Hughes, J. (2012). The Writing is on My Wall: Engagement and LearNING through Social Networking: An interactive digital collaboration between students of the present and teachers of the future. Eds. S. Van Nuland & J. Greenlaw. Social Media and Teacher Learning. UOIT e-Press, pp