Kathi Tarrant-Parks, PhD Literacy and AT Consultant, Wayne Assistive Technology Resource Center

1. Digital Literacy in the 21st Century Kenneth L. Grisham President / CEO, Co-Founder, Premier Literacy Kathi Tarrant-Parks, PhD Literacy and AT Consultant, Wayne Assistive Technology Resource Center

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. Information Trends 10 billion pages of information on the Internet. 40 million publications being digitized by Google. 200 million users on Facebook Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

4. Information Trends Google searches per month: 2006. 2.7 billion Google searches per month: 2009. 37 billion Google searches per month: 2012. 518 billion Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

5. Information Trends (con’t) Major publishers are increasingly making digital content readily available. Higher Ed is seeing increasing adoption of electronic text as part of core curricula. Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

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

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 21st Century

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

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 21st Century

10. Transition to Higher EdChallenges 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 21st Century

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 21st Century

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 21st Century

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

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

15. Internal vs. External “Intelligence” Learning strategies must now involve both “content” AND “process” EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE INTERNAL INTELLIGENCE Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

16. “Digital” Literacy is: Performed At “Internet” speeds !!!

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

18. Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment DIGITAL TOOLS DIGITAL CONTENT DIGITAL CURRICULA These Core Elements are Essential to Successful Implementation of Universal Design for Learning Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

19. Core Elements of a Digital Learning Environment Digital literacy tools enable you to maximize the value of digital content for all students Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

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: - Education - Employment - Services Digital Literacy in the 21st 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 Digital Literacy in the 21st Century 11

22. Literacy Technologies must be for EVERYONE !!!