T2. Digital Literacy

Task 2.  Brainstorming…. Digital Literacy

OK … their cooking books… but as Ellen says: « You’ve got to eat – so you might just as well learn to enjoy cooking! ».

You may well find this topic is set to become a theme in your M2 programme this year (it should do – it is about the accessibility and readership of your web content after all!) …. so it would help if we were to discuss it in English too…

In ‘my day’, the word ‘literacy’ referred to the degree of ability to be able to read and write one’s own language and perhaps numbers.  Now I watch my granddaughter and grandson: both barely able to speak but they both understand the concepts of telephone screens, tablets and PCs and can use them to choose and access information at will, flicking through screens and menus as if they’ve been doing it all their lives (which, in fact, they have –  crawl –> walk & talk –> use a screen …. maybe even: Crawl –> use a screen –> walk and SMS!!). They haven’t quite got to the the creating functions yet – but they will and as naturally as breathing.     The joke in our house is that if there is ever an ICT problem one looks for the youngest kid on the premises!

However there are at least three sorts of ‘Great Divide’ emerging here:

1. The ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have-Nots’.  Those who can own and access new technologies – AND continue to do so rapidly as new products and concepts are brought to market with incredible speed, replacing in a matter of months the former standard platform.  Those who can’t by reason of finance or incapacity find themselves locked-out or disadvantaged.  Often this can compound throughout school and into the workplace.
2. The Old(er) and the Young(er).  Look at the dates for the arrival of PCs, internet, mobile phones, tablets etc.  No-one presently in their 50s (your parents?) had the slightest exposure to such things at home, school or university – and for some such things arrived mid or late career – and they had little or no training or confidence with this ‘Brave New World’ and often had to entrust related tasks to their young juniors.  It appears that there is a sort of ‘watershed’ or cut-off date.  Prior to this, there is little or no familiarity or affinity: no habituation. Thereafter, there is a rising curve of exposure and affinity (and therefore professional, personal and social advantage).   We all hear about ‘silver surfers’, but they are a minority of the ‘Befores’.  The problem is that operators and providers of all sorts of products and services are switching off the traditional mode (like analogue TV) and forcing through the new digital technologies as the only mode of access.  This puts the young at an advantage and the older (perhaps the majority in the population) at a distinct disadvantage or at a complete loss.
3. Those who passively access and those who use creatively.  For the mostpart, the majority (perhaps the vast majority) of the younger generation that I am familiar with is more adept at accessing / ‘mining’ all sorts of things (even if rather unsure how to or disinclined to try to identify whether a source is valid and reliable) and more dexterous too, but when it comes to the creative side it has barely touched the surface of any of the programmes at their disposal – perhaps using only 5% of the functionalities available. Older generations tend not to be so quick and intuitive (perhaps), but my distinct impression is that they do learn to use a much higher % of software functionalities and tend do so creatively. For example – my kids can throw text at a screen quicker than me, but using setting tools, formatting and design functions to create something really attractive does not appear to be on their agenda.  For all their time spent online – only one has attempted to produce content beyond Facebook and Twitter (no blogs, no webpages etc….) though both their aging parents have!!!

In a country that prides itself upon Liberté, EGALITE et Fraternité…. we surely have to do more to address the issue of ‘égalité relating to the above.

Explore and consider the above – what should we be doing … or do we just leave it to market forces and the passage of time in a non-interventionist sort of way…?

As with T1, let’s discuss and brainstorm the above, and then consider whether we might best work as a group or in teams to produce and present a report.