1. November 2009 1 Kathi Tarrant-Parks, PhD Literacy and AT Consultant, Wayne Assistive Technology Resource Center Kenneth L. Grisham President / CEO, Co-Founder, Premier Literacy

2. November 2009 2 "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler, Rethinking the Future

3. November 2009 3 Information Trends Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

4. November 2009 4 Information Trends Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

5. November 2009 5 Information Trends (con’t) Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

6. November 2009 6 An expanding universe of information will NEVER APPEAR IN A PRINTED BOOK ! Information Trends (con’t) Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

7. November 2009 7 Literacy for Survival In this emerging age of: –The Internet (wiki’s, blogs, “cloud computing”, “Tubes”) –Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask) –Social networking (My Space, Facebook, Ning) –Nanotechnology (IPods, PDAs, smart phones) etc. –Interactive whiteboards –Digital books –“Paperless” classrooms …literacy is no longer a convenience, advantage or efficiency… … it is quickly becoming a matter of survival. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

8. November 2009 8 Literacy vs. Graduation Rates 21%77%22%18%Michigan Percent of ILLITERATE (Levels 1+2) High School Grads Percent High School Grads Percent LITERACY LEVEL 2 (marginal literacy) Percent LITERACY LEVEL 1 (functional illiteracy)STATE Source: U.S. Census - 2000 LITERACY VS. GRADUATION STATISTICS ( in the general population) 25%76%26%24%New York 21%77%24%20%Illinois Literacy Level 3 – required for gainful employment * (* Literacy Level 3 can be roughly defined as the ability to read the daily newspaper) (These are representative samples. Comparable findings are available from all other states.) Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

9. November 2009 9 Literacy Rates At-Large  Government research: 15-20% of the general population (U.S.) has some degree of reading impairment.  This means that 45-60 million individuals need some kind of ongoing assistance / remediation. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

10. November 2009 10 Transition to Higher Ed Challenges For incoming students in Higher Ed, the NUMBER ONE challenge consistently heard is that students are UNDER-PREPARED for the reading / writing workload of Higher Ed. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

11. November 2009 11 Transition Challenges General availability of literacy technologies in Higher Ed can have a direct financial impact to an institution in the form of improved student retention. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

12. November 2009 12 We are now seeing a “wholesale transformation”, where literacy means so much more than just simply READING from a book. “Digital” Literacy is: “Digital” Literacy… a New Definition Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

13. November 2009 13 “Digital” Literacy is: –Digestion and Absorption of Information –Searching –Publication / Collaboration / Sharing –Application of Newly Found Knowledge to Real-World Tasks –Finding / Filtering / Identifying / Validating –Summarization –Permanent Retention –Organization / Storage / Retrieval Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

14. November 2009 14 “Digital” Literacy = Knowledge There are TWO kinds of knowledge: –Internal: knowledge committed to personal memory. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century –External: knowledge readily available from one’s ability to employ digital literacy tools, techniques and practices.

15. November 2009 15 Internal vs. External “Intelligence” Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE INTERNAL INTELLIGENCE

16. February 2009 16 “Digital” Literacy is:

17. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century November 2009 17 Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment DIGITAL TOOLS DIGITAL CONTENT DIGITAL CURRICULA

18. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century November 2009 18 Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment DIGITAL TOOLS DIGITAL CONTENT DIGITAL CURRICULA

19. Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century November 2009 19 Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment

20. November 2009 20 Literacy for Survival Digital Literacy must now be viewed as a “lifetime skill”. Failure to become fluent with literacy tools will increase the difficulty for individuals to be competitive for: - Employment - Education - Services Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

21. The future is bound only by...our capacity to believe …the breadth of our imagination …our willingness to work toward what we know must done 11 November 2009Digital Literacy in the 21 st Century

22. February 2009 22 Literacy Technologies must be for EVERYONE !!!