21ST CENTURY LITERACY

1. INTRODUCTION TO
21ST CENTURY
LITERACIES
INDICATIVE CONTENTS:
• Explore
• Lesson 1 Traditional or Conventional Literacy
• Lesson 2 Expanded Views of Literacy
• Enhance
• Reflect

2. Learning Outcomes
On completion of this lesson, one should be able to develop a clear
and practical understanding of the following:
1. Definitions of conventional literacy: and
2. Describe expanded views of literacy in the 21st century.

3. Explore
• Literacy is defined by dictionaries as the state of being able to
read and write (Literacy, Literate, n.d.). Although it is the
ultimate thesis of this chapter that such a traditional definition
no longer suffices in the information age.
• A thorough understanding of literacy and its past nuances will
give us a solid foundation in exploring and discussing the "new"
literacies of the 21st century and why possessing them is now
mandatory for both teachers and students in all levels of
education.

4. • This module explores several definitions of literacy and what
being literate means in the multiplicity of contexts in the 21st
century, with the goal of raising awareness in readers who
might be presently unaware of the evolving perspectives on
literacy and giving teachers the opportunity to pause and
reflect on their own literacies even as they attempt to teach
the new literacies to their students.

5. Traditional or
Conventional Literacy
• The word "literacy" stem from the word "literate," which first
appeared in the 15th century
• derived the Latin word litteratus, meaning "(a person) marked
with letters"-that is, "distinguished or identified by meaning
letters" and it carried with it the idea that such a person was
cultured and educate.
• Since the subjects of the time (e.g., grammar, logic, arithmetic,
geometry, etc.) all had written texts (which were composed of
letters) that had to be studied.

6. • The ability to read and write was therefore of prime
importance, leading to the strong association of being
“literate” with the ability to read and write.

7. Miller (1973) divides this
conventional concept of
literacy into three sub-
categories:

8. Basic Literacy
• It is the ability to correspond visual shapes to
spoken sounds in order to decode written materials
and translate shapes them into oral language.
Simply put, it is the ability to recognize letters and
words.
• This would be akin to recognizing that the sequence
of letter “b-a-s-a” forms the word basa in Filipino
even without understanding what it means.

9. Comprehension Literacy
• It is the ability to understand the meaning
of what is being read. To capitalize on the
example above, this would be like knowing
that basa can mean either "to read" or "to
be wet".

10. Functional or Practical Literacy
• It is the ability to read (i.e., decode and
comprehend) written materials needed to
perform everyday vocational tasks. This is the
equivalent of reading the text "Ang bata ay
nagbabasa." and being able to understand
that basa here refers to reading and not to
being wet.

11. Based on this conventional view of literacy, we
notice two things for reading and therefore literacy
to exist;
1. A text (consisting of symbols and grammar) to be read.
• without a text, there would be nothing to read
2. A meaning or message being communicated by the text
for the reader to extract
• without meaning, the text is reduced to series of
incomprehensible doodles.

12. Schlechty(2001)
• Defines the concept of functional literacy as the
state of being able to read, but not well enough
to manage daily living and employment tasks
that require reading skills beyond a basic level.

13. Expanded Views of Literacy
• This shift in the definition of literacy from "reading and
writing" to "knowledge" is especially important as we explore
the "new" literacies of the 21st century that seem far-removed
from the contexts upon which conventional literacy is based.
• When viewed from the perspective of conventional/traditional
literacy the concept of "new" literacies is a bit of a misnomer,
as even these new literacies of the 21st century make generous
use of being able to read and write, rather than supplant them
as skills necessary for survival.

14. • Despite the ubiquity of the traditional view of literacy,
Roberts (1995) notes that "in the past fifty years, hundreds of
definitions of "literacy' have been advanced by scholars, adult
literacy workers, and programme planners," with even the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO, 2006) acknowledging that literacy as
a concept has proven to be complex and dynamic, it being
continually defined and interpreted in multiple ways.

15. Enhance
• One of the ways students can be trained in the new
literacies is to engage them in digital storytelling, wherein
the students take part in the traditional process of
storytelling, but with some digital enhancements.
• They choose a topic, conduct research, write a script,
develop a story, and through the use of multimedia, create
something that can be played online or on a computer.

16. Digital Storytelling can be broken down into following six steps:
1. Writing -Write about a particular story from your life. The
story must have a central theme.
2. Developing a Script - Develop a script that identifies the
important points of your story.
3. Creating a Storyboard - Create a storyboard that visually
organizes the flow of the story. Assign a particular image to
portions of the script.

17. 4. Locating Multimedia - Use search engines to locate photos
and videos. Photos and videos from one's personal collection
may also be used.
5. Creating the Digital Story - Record the voice over for your
movie. Create the movie using the software that is available to
you.
6. Sharing and Uploading - Share your story in class and upload
your work online.

18. Reflect
• Traditional Literacy is the ability to read and write.
• The traditional or conventional concept of literacy can be
divided into sub-categories:
1. Basic Literacy, which is the ability to recognize letters and words
2. Comprehension Literacy, which is the ability to understand the
meaning of
what is being read: and
3. Functional/Practical Literacy, which is the ability to read written
materials needed to perform everyday vocational tasks.

19. • Modern views of literacy equate it with knowledge.
• New literacies have risen due to increased reach, increased
means communication, and increased breadth of content.
These new literacies means more globalization and
multicultural literacy, social and financial literacies are
globalization media and cyber/di literacy, eco -literacy, arts,
and creativity literacy and critical literacy.

20. THANK YOU!

21. Group 1 members:
• BAROC, RONNEL C.
• BARNIZO, JOHN
• BONITA, ROBERTO
• CLARITO, ARNEL JAY C.