Defining Virtual Literacy

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Subject: [PD 3834] Questions for day 1 "Growing Learners' Skills Through Virtual Literacy"
From: Nell Eckersley
Date: Mon Aug 3 08:36:57 EDT 2009

Hello again,

To start our discussion let's make some definitions.

A quote from Part 1:

"The role of the teacher in integrating technology may need to shift. Of course, teachers and tutors (and program administrators) need to continue to integrate technology in the classroom, in computer labs and in tutorial sessions. However, teachers have a new responsibility: to help learners use the technology they have in their pockets and purses, and at home and work, especially to use it for their own learning now and in the future. Meeting this responsibility would involve "technology literacy" that is, computer, web-accessible mobile telephone, and Internet competence and comfort."

--David Rosen

And from the Iowa Virtual Literacy Initiative, Drake University

"Virtual Literacy Defined. With emerging technologies, individuals with low literacy skills can now have immediate access to information and knowledge. Text-to-speech and speech-to-text give adult learners the opportunity to build knowledge and skills prior to their ability to gain literacy competence in the traditional sense."

How are "Technology Literacy" and "Virtual Literacy" similar? How are they different? What do these phrases mean to you as educators? What do they mean to adult learners?

Best,

Nell


Nell Eckersley

ALIES/ASISTS Program Operations Coordinator,
Literacy Assistance Center

Subject: [PD 3847] Visual Literacy
From: Richard Sebastian
Date: Tue Aug 4 14:17:25 EDT 2009

Thanks for getting this discussion going. I'd like to add a few of my own thoughts.

David's definition focuses more on the skills that enable visual (or technology) literacy rather than on the tools that can be used to acquire these literacies. I see visual literacy as part of a growing set of literacy skills, fomented by new technologies, with visual literacy being the ability to analyze, interpret, communicate with, and derive meaning from images. So, new technologies like cell phones, virtual worlds, web pages, and video games haven't simply given us new ways of acquiring literacy but have redefined what it means to be literate. It is not enough to read text. Now learners must have facility with reading hyperlinks, graphic novels, logos, web-based navigation symbols, etc. Literacy is increasing about creating, commenting, collaborating, and sharing with both text and images.

The Drake University definition presents technology as a temporary substitute, or a workaround, for traditional literacy. Learners, regardless of their level of print literacy, can now participate more fully in building their skills by using the text-to-speech and speech-to-text affordances of their technological devices. While traditional literacy will continue to be essential, I think the increasing sophistication of these tools will bring into question how we teach literacy and whether we should continue to give print literacy primacy, at least in regard to the scope and sequence of the literacy classroom.

Richard

Subject: [PD 3859] Re: Visual Literacy
From: Glenn Young
Date: Tue Aug 4 17:18:51 EDT 2009

Yes . both what is needed to be successful and therefore be considered functionally literate in this culture is changing at a pace unknown in world history .

It gives us new tools to learn, but it also gives us so much more that we need to learn

Adult literacy has to recognize this change and get modern and not only teach to read but how to use all the tools they are getting to help them to read and understand what is going on all around them . VL helps in both of these tasks

Glenn Young
CSLD

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