If You Build It... You Know the Rest: Personalizing Digital Literacy Based Instruction in Higher Education
Type of Presentation
Poster Session (45 minutes)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Abstract
In the 21st Century, Literacy is comprised of multiple literacies including traditional literacies, information literacy, cultural literacy, and most of all digital literacy. Because digital literacy impacts all other literacies, it forms the basis for teaching and learning. True acquisition of literacy requires more than consuming information via the computer or mobile device or emails and social networking. All literacies require both “consuming” information with technology and creating with technology. Moreover, all literacies require application of critical thinking to determine the quality of sources ranging from professional websites to academic journals.
A college-composition writing course may seem like an environment steeped with traditional texts and assignments, where understanding reading skills, writing, word processing software and research form the extent of a students’ literacy. Contemporary composition course sequences actually prove an ideal place to promote multiple digital literacies through best practices, modelling, and assignments that challenge students to critically assess their use of technology and information gather to convey a specific message to specific audiences.
This presentation will examine how a composition sequence works to inspire even the most resistant student to consider the impact of multiple literacies. The course sequence takes students through the process of researching and writing in multiple topics for personal, professional, and academic audiences. Students are then asked to apply the knowledge they acquire to traditional and non-traditional deliverables, including those rooted in technology. Through these processes, students learn to determine the credibility of information, use various sources for various purposes, and apply appropriate methods of communication to their topics depending on the audience.
Selber, S. (2004). Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Selfe, C. (2009 June). The movement of air, the breath of meaning: Aurality and multimodal composition. College Composition and Communication, 60(4). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/cccc/ccc
Presentation Description
Instructors constantly seek ways to develop students’ digital literacies in a world where information appears readily available, but true acquisition of knowledge and understanding requires more than the ability to turn on a computer or mobile device. Participants will engage in activities that require both “consuming” information with technology and creating information with technology.
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Kelly, Teresa Marie, "If You Build It... You Know the Rest: Personalizing Digital Literacy Based Instruction in Higher Education" (2015). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 85.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2015/2015/85
If You Build It... You Know the Rest: Personalizing Digital Literacy Based Instruction in Higher Education
In the 21st Century, Literacy is comprised of multiple literacies including traditional literacies, information literacy, cultural literacy, and most of all digital literacy. Because digital literacy impacts all other literacies, it forms the basis for teaching and learning. True acquisition of literacy requires more than consuming information via the computer or mobile device or emails and social networking. All literacies require both “consuming” information with technology and creating with technology. Moreover, all literacies require application of critical thinking to determine the quality of sources ranging from professional websites to academic journals.
A college-composition writing course may seem like an environment steeped with traditional texts and assignments, where understanding reading skills, writing, word processing software and research form the extent of a students’ literacy. Contemporary composition course sequences actually prove an ideal place to promote multiple digital literacies through best practices, modelling, and assignments that challenge students to critically assess their use of technology and information gather to convey a specific message to specific audiences.
This presentation will examine how a composition sequence works to inspire even the most resistant student to consider the impact of multiple literacies. The course sequence takes students through the process of researching and writing in multiple topics for personal, professional, and academic audiences. Students are then asked to apply the knowledge they acquire to traditional and non-traditional deliverables, including those rooted in technology. Through these processes, students learn to determine the credibility of information, use various sources for various purposes, and apply appropriate methods of communication to their topics depending on the audience.
Selber, S. (2004). Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Selfe, C. (2009 June). The movement of air, the breath of meaning: Aurality and multimodal composition. College Composition and Communication, 60(4). Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/cccc/ccc
