MODULE IN PROF ED7

UNIT I

BY: ELENA G. VICENCIO, MPA,MPM

UNIT I: THE 21ST CENTURY LITERACY AND EDUCATION
Overview
This unit will cover 21st-century literacy and education. The topics to be discussed
include the definition of 21 st-century literacy, the distinction between traditional literacy
and 21st-century literacy, and the contrasting views between digital literacy and traditional
literacy.
The next topics will delve into exploring the 21 st-century literacies in education,
including Media Literacy, Digital Literacy, Global Literacy, Emotional Literacy,
Informational Literacy, Environmental Literacy, and Visual Literacy.
The students will define, describe, distinguish 21st-century literacy and apply them
to the classroom setting.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, I am able to:

1. Define century literacy (1.1.1)
2. Differentiate traditional literacy from 21st century literacy; (1.1.1)
3. Distinguish digital literacy from traditional literacy (1.1.1)
4. Describe the different 21st century literacies; (1.1.1)
5. Identify the application of new literacies in the 21st Century classrooms; (1.1.1)

Setting Up

I would like you to ponder the following questions before reading the topics/lessons
included in this module. Read the questions twice and try to reflect.
1. Can you define 21st-century literacy in your own words?
2. How important are the 21st-century skills for you to become globally competitive?
3. Why is it important to be literate in all aspects?

Lesson Proper

WHAT IS 21ST CENTURY LITERACY?

While traditional literacy and liberal education are still important (Nussbaum,
1997; Delbanco, 2012; Ferrall, 2011), in the 21st-century, students need to know more
and do more than they did in the past.  Students need 21st-century literacy.  This new
literacy includes traditional literacy skills, such as reading, writing, and arguing.   But
more importantly, it includes new literacy skills, such as critical thinking, scientific
reasoning, and multi-cultural awareness (NCTE, 2008; Wagner, 2008; Grubb, 2003, p.
3; Sagan, 1996, p. 325). 
 Like older forms of literacy, the new literacy requires both the "effective use" of
language and "large amounts of specific information" about the world (Hirsch, 1988,
pp. 2-3).  In addition to traditional literacy, students also need to learn about how
knowledge is created, especially how the most reliable knowledge is made through
scientific methods.  Science has become the primary tool of the 21st-century
knowledge economy; therefore, students should be exposed to all major scientific
methodologies.  Students need to understand both qualitative (Cushman, Kintgen,
Kroll, & Rose, 2001) and quantitative literacy (Paulos, 2001; Steen, 2001; Steen,
2004).  And while knowledge of most scientific methodology requires advanced
mathematical literacy, students with only minimal mathematical knowledge can still
be introduced to both qualitative and quantitative scientific methods by
understanding key concepts, theories, and data (Wilson, 2013).   To fully understand
the scientific methodology, students need to know about the research
university, academic disciplines, and the specific work that scientists do within their
disciplines.  Only then will students be able to concretely grasp how knowledge is
created, debated, and refined through the scientific process. 

Traditional Literacy & 21st Century Literacy

The 21st Century Literacy is more than just reading and writing.   It is
knowing how to learn and know.  Utilizing scientific research on cognition and meta-
cognition, students need to understand how the brain creates and uses subjective
knowledge and the different processes that create objective knowledge.   Students
need to know how concepts work to define and categorize knowledge and how
concepts can be organized into conceptual frameworks that interconnect facts into
larger fields of knowledge (Barber, 2012).  Students need to be able to understand
concepts as tools, which can be used to solve real-world problems (Fish, 2011, p. 15,
29).  Most importantly, students need to recognize threshold concepts (Land, Meyer, &
Smith, 2008), which enable new ways to see and know the world.  Two of the most
important threshold concepts involve learning to see writing as two separate tools: It
is both a tool for thinking and knowing, and it is a tool for communicating knowledge
and persuading people to see the truth.  Students need to understand the theoretical
purposes and the concrete practices of research, thinking, and writing.   Psychologists
call this holistic understanding “meta-cognition,” which means "thinking-about-
thinking" and "thinking-about-doing."  Such higher-order thinking enables us to better
understand ourselves (both our strengths and limitations), enabling us to know better
and perform better (Dunn, Saville, Baker, & Marek, 2013).   Students need to be able
to do, not just know (Wenger, 1999). 

This module will utilize these learning tools.  Threshold concepts will be
explained as concrete writing and thinking practices, and these concepts will be
interconnected into the following conceptual frameworks: 

(1) The history of literacy,

 (2) How knowledge is created and how different forms of knowledge are used
as
tools to know, and
(3) finally, how knowledge is communicated through writing.

These core concepts will be combined into a single concrete process, which is
set within a specific social context.  This book is about constructing and debating
knowledge in 21st Century multicultural societies.  This focus on process, rather than
products, is based on the concept of social interaction through language as the
fundamental basis for learning and knowledge creation (Vygotsky, 1981; Wertsch,
1991; Bakhtin, 1981).

And as the specific social context of multiculturalism implies, 21st-century

literacy must also include political literacy (Gale, 1994; Gutmann, 1987; NTFCLDE,
2012).  Students need background knowledge and training to become engaged citizens
capable of fostering the public good.  This important form of literacy will not be fully
covered by this book, but the links between literacy, public schooling, democracy, and
political freedom will be introduced and explained, especially in the first part of the
book focused on the history of literacy. 

21st-century literacy is a collection of many higher-order skills.   Students need

to be able to critically evaluate the reliability of diverse sources of knowledge to
construct knowledge with scientific methods.  It also entails openly arguing with
diverse groups of people to explain and prove the truth.   But we cannot forget that
these 21st-century skills are built on the foundation of traditional literacy: reading,
writing, and basic mathematics.  Knowledge is the essential first step to good
communication and effective action.  Truth has to be actively constructed by critical
thinkers through meticulous and rigorous scientific methods.  And this truth needs to
be effectively communicated to diverse audiences through arguments to direct
collective action to solve real-world problems.

Digital Literacy Versus Traditional Literacy

In the insightful interview with Jennifer Deyenberg, she describes the internet as a
gateway that opens up the classroom to opportunities. The internet as a tool has truly
changed the way students learn nowadays by enabling learning to go beyond classroom
walls. As she mentioned, students can not only bring information in but also send
information out, making the internet a unique and effective communication tool for 21st-
century learners. Deyenberg's incorporation of technology in the interview is truly
innovative, especially with blogging. I particularly like how professional the approach is
with getting parents to give their consent first and showing them how they can comment
on the blog as well. This enhances parent-teacher communication, and I am looking
forward to incorporating blogging in my classroom this way. I also really like how
Deyenberg found a way to accommodate students who weren't allowed to use the
technology. By saving their entries in draft form rather than publishing them, students
were able to still participate- effective differentiation immediately came to mind! I enjoyed
listening to Deyenberg's interview and look forward to my attempts to incorporate
technology through her example.
While teaching digital literacy as a 21st-century skill is exciting, the article Digital
Literacy will never replace the traditional kind brings up an important issue. Annie Murphy
Paul argues that the most sophisticated digital literacy skills outlined in the 21st-century
learner model won’t help students navigate the world if they don’t have a broad base of
knowledge about how the world operates. She gives the following example: "Just because
you can Google the date of Black Thursday doesn’t mean you understand why the Great
Depression happened or how it compares to our recent economic slump." While this
statement and the article's overall premise is valid, I feel it takes the notion of digital
literacy out of context.
She agrees that digital literacy skills alone cannot replace knowledge as it is
essentially the foundation for critical thinking and skill-building itself. My notion of
learning new skills means being knowledgeable about the 'what, when, where, why, and
how' aspects involved. Otherwise, learning new skills without such background becomes
completely ineffective and without purpose. People will simply become machines if they
learn skills this way without any context or knowledge, and Paul makes an excellent point
on this in her article.
However, she strongly believes that the 21st-century learner model from Alberta
Education is not saying that digital literacy skills should replace traditional literacy. The
model shows digital literacy as one area to be competent in among seven. Competencies
such as critical thinking/problem solving, communication, and lifelong learning are equally
advocated for, and digital literacy is not the sole vision of the entire 21st-century learner
model. 

Here is a detailed explanation of the model for further analysis. The message I get
from this Alberta Education model is that we should not turn a blind eye towards digital
literacy, especially since technology and social media are not going away any time soon.
Jennifer Deyenberg addresses this herself in her talk when she explains how she taught her
students in Primary 1 how to use a keyboard as a writing tool. She felt it was just as
important to teach them how to use a keyboard as to teach them how to use a pencil since
it will be an input device that they will be using for the rest of their lives. Our society is
rapidly changing, as can be seen with the rise of social networking/media, and students
will need to have such skills to participate and learn as best as they can. This does not mean
that traditional literacy should be replaced at all - it just means that it needs to be expanded
to fit our world today. Below is an image that I found on a blog by Bill Ferriter that sums up
the role of technology concisely:
 As for the example above of googling the date of Black Thursday and not
understanding the bigger picture around it, this is where a teachable moment can occur
and where technology can be readily used to our advantage rather than our demise.
Challenge students with effective learning tools such as instaGrok to research about the
Great Depression themselves rather than delivering the information in a transmissive way.
Throughout my practicum experience, I've found students nowadays to be incredibly
constructive learners, not empty vessels waiting to be filled with information. In Sharon
Friesen's study on 21st-century learners, students themselves have voiced the following
desires in their learning:
We don’t want to remember, recall and regurgitate 
We don’t want to learn for the sake of tests 
We don’t want learning made easy; rather, they want it to mean something. 
We want to learn with the media of our times. 
We want to do work that is relevant, meaningful, and authentic. 
(Sharon Friesen, 21st Century Learning and Learners)
She strongly believes that developing digital literacy skills can aid in deepening
students' traditional literacy. Of course, such skills need to stem from a broad base of
knowledge first to be effective and worthwhile. Turning a blind eye to such 21st-century
skills, however, may be detrimental to students in our world today, so it is important as
educators to enable the opportunity. 
Additional Reading:

What Does It Really Mean to Be College and Work Ready?  (2013)

EXPLORING THE 21ST CENTURY LITERACIES

By: Timothy Gangwer (03/03/2017)

Better Learning 
Dating back to the one-room schoolhouses, being literate has always meant the
ability to read, write, speak, and listen. As the world changes culturally, technologically, and
physically, so does our ever-broadening definition of literacy. In recognition of this change,
we must empower our students to explore and embrace the 21st-century literacies.

Media Literacy
Media Literacy is the skill of comprehending the nature of communications,
specifically with telecommunications and mass media. This ability requires knowledge of
the framework of the media and how it may impact the content of the media. Did you know
that by the time children reach senior citizen status, they will have spent three years of
their lives watching commercials alone?  Forty-two percent of children under the age of
eight have televisions in their bedrooms, including 30 percent of those one-year-old or
younger, 44 percent of two to four-year-olds, and 47 percent of five to eight-year-olds.
Fifty-two percent of all zero to eight-year-olds have access to a mobile device: smartphone,
iPad/tablet, and spend an average of 43 minutes a day using them. Nearly half of babies
under the age of two watch an average of two hours of television per day. Psychologists
believe children under the age of two learn best by interfacing face-to-face with other
children and adults ..., not screens.
According to the Center for Media Literacy, there are five key questions of media
literacy school-age children should be taught:
Who created this message?
What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
How might different people understand this message differently than me?
What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in or omitted from this
message?
What is the message being sent?

Digital Literacy
Digital Literacy is the capacity to use digital technology, communication devices, or
networks to locate, analyze, use, and produce information. It is the ability to read, write and
clarify media, replicate data and visuals through digital manipulation, and assess and
implement new knowledge gained from digital environments. Because Digital Literacy has
a tremendous impact on children, we must not forget the digital divide, those who have
access to the Internet and those who do not. Many students rely on the schools and public
libraries for access, limiting their quest to become digitally literate.

Global Literacy
Global Literacy is understanding the interdependence among countries and their
people and having the ability to communicate and collaborate across cultures. Here is a
Global literacy skill list to help assess students’ Global Literacy:
 Position topics and viewpoints within their environmental, economic, political, and
historical context;
 Outline obstacles and find resolutions with a thorough understanding of their
complications, without oversimplification;
 Chronicle the characteristics, elements, evolution, and ramifications of global
structures;
 Find historical and up-to-date links, recognizing how the lives and fates of people in
other parts of the world blend with our own;
 Critically scrutinize information while questioning assumptions;
 Seek out a variety of viewpoints while asking pertinent questions;
 Initiate ethical positions on global matters;
 Demonstrate an awareness of global responsibility and individual empowerment.

Emotional Literacy
Emotional Literacy is the ability to understand your emotions, the capacity to listen
to others and empathize with their emotions, and the potential to demonstrate emotions
effectively. Emotional Literacy enhances relationships, generates loving possibilities
between people, and encourages the feeling of community.
Emotional Literacy student objectives include:
 Knowing your feelings;
 Having a sense of empathy;
 Learning to direct one’s emotions;
 Mending emotional damage.
 The four R’s of Emotional Literacy are:
 Responsibility
 Resourcefulness
 Resilience
 Respect

Informational Literacy
Informational Literacy is the ability to recognize what information is required,
understand how the information is structured, distinguish the principal sources of
information for a given need, find and assess those sources critically, and then share it.
Informational Literacy student objectives include:
 Grasping the basics of the Internet;
  Examining and classifying information;
 Developing search queries;
 Understanding the justification and components of a citation;
 Evaluating plausibility, usefulness, and websites;
 Referencing sources and avoiding plagiarism.

Environmental Literacy
Environmental Literacy is the ability to demonstrate proficiency in the environment
and its conditions, especially as it applies to climate, land, air, energy, food, water, and our
ecosystems. It means students:
 Understand society’s influence on population growth, development, resource
consumption growth, and much more.
 Study and assess environmental issues, and make precise conclusions about
beneficial solutions.
 Take both independent and communal action towards tackling challenges, such as
participating in global endeavors and creating solutions that encourage action on
environmental issues.

Environmentally literate people are:

 10 percent more likely to conserve energy in the home
 10 percent more likely to obtain environmentally safe products
 50 percent more likely to recycle
 50 percent more likely to avoid using chemicals in yard care
 Ninety-five percent of American adults (95 percent are parents) believe
environmental education should be taught in schools.

Visual Literacy

Visual Literacy is the ability to identify and understand ideas communicated

through actions or images (decode) and be able to communicate ideas or messages through
imagery (encode). Sixty-five percent of people in the United States are considered by
definition to be visual learners. Therefore, we can assume that 65 percent of our school-age
population are visual learners as well. The question is, “Are their teachers - Visual
Teachers?”
It is critical to the status of our educational system that we are not using 20th-
century teaching methods to educate 21st-century learners. Creative/critical thinking skills
must be taught at the earliest age possible, for this becomes the foundation upon which our
students will construct their educational experience, one that will evolve into lifelong
learning. Just as our literacies have changed, so too will the structure of our educational
system.
Timothy Gangwer is the CEO and Professional Development Director of the Visual Teaching
Alliance (www.VisualTeachingAlliance.com). A former teacher and University Supervisor at
the University of Texas, Austin, he is the author of Visual Impact, Visual Teaching: Using
Images to Strengthen Learning, along with nine other books. He is the former Visual Literacy
Consultant to the Ministry of Education, Paris, France; Ministry of Education, Toranomon,
Japan; Mediterranean Association of International Schools, Casablanca, Morocco and the
Association of International Schools in Africa, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

References

Cushman, E., Kintgen, E. R., Kroll, B. M., & Rose, M. (Eds.).  (2001).  Literacy: A critical
sourcebook.  New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Ferriter, Bill. Technology is a Tool Image (Flickr). July 6, 2013. Retrieved July 10 2013
from https://www.flickr.com/photos/plugusin/9223386478/in/photostream/

Friesen, S., & Jardine, D. (2009). 21st-century learning and learners. Prepared for Western
and Northern Canadian Curriculum Protocol by Galileo Educational Network. Retrieved
June 6, 2012 from http://education.alberta.ca/media/1087278/wncp%2021st%20cent
%20learning%20%282%29.pdf
Gale, F. G.  (1994).  Political literacy: Rhetoric, ideology, and the possibility of justice .
Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hirsch, Jr., E. D.  (1988).  Cultural literacy: What every American needs to know .  New
York: Vintage Books.
Miller, J. E.  (2010).  Quantitative literacy across the curriculum: Integrating skills
from English composition, mathematics, and the substantive disciplines.   The
Educational Forum, 74(4): 334-346.
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).  (2008, Nov 19).  The NCTE definition
of 21st-century literacies.  Retrieved Dec. 3, 2012,
from http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentframework . 
Paul, Annie Murphy. Digital Literacy will never replace the traditional kind. Retrieved July
10, 2013, from http://ideas.time.com/2011/10/26/why-digital-literacy-will-never-
replace-the-traditional-kind/
Paulos, J. A. (2001).  Innumeracy: Mathematical illiteracy and its consequences. New
York: Hill and Wang.
Steen, L. A. (2004). Achieving quantitative literacy: An urgent challenge for higher
education. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.