Digital literacy is essential for effective participation in modern society, emphasizing critical thinking, emotional and ethical competencies, and social engagement. It requires individuals to possess both technical and cognitive skills to navigate digital information and collaborate effectively. As technology evolves, addressing the digital access divide and integrating new literacies within local contexts are critical challenges for education and community engagement.

1. Digital Literacy
WHY IT MATTERS
SLIDES FOR DISCUSSION
PAUL TREADWELL | FEBRUARY 2013

2. Why digital?
Digital technologies
are changing:
The 3 r’s are no •How we do business
longer enough : •How we do research
•How we interact with
each other
New literacies are
needed for
successful
participation in
democratic society.

3. What does it mean to be
“literate?
 “Acquiring literacy does not involve memorising
sentences, words or syllables … but rather an
attitude of creation and re-creation, a self-
transformation producing a stance of intervention in
one's context." Paulo Freire, Education: The Practice of
Freedom (1973)

4. The essential
competencies
of (digital)
literacy
Illustration from : Digital and Media Literacy: A
plan of action. (Hobbs, 2011)

5. What is digital literacy?
•the use of texts, tools and technologies
•the skills of critical thinking and analysis
cognitive, •the practice of message composition and
emotional and creativity
•the ability to engage in reflection and
social ethical thinking
competencies •active participation through teamwork
that include: and collaboration.
•From: Digital and Media Literacy: A plan
of action. (Hobbs, 2011)

6. Or, put another way
Digital Literacy encompasses :
Knowledge of tools
Critical thinking
Social engagement
From Tabetha Newman, with changes by Josie Fraser
http://fraser.typepad.com/socialtech/2012/03/digital-literacy-practice.html

7. A Digitally Literate Person:
Possesses the variety of skills – technical and cognitive – required to find,
understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information in a wide
variety of formats;
Is able to use diverse technologies appropriately and effectively to retrieve
information, interpret results, and judge the quality of that information;
Understands the relationship between technology, life-long learning, personal
privacy, and stewardship of information;
Uses these skills and the appropriate technology to communicate and collaborate
with peers, colleagues, family, and on occasion, the general public; and
Uses these skills to actively participate in civic society and contribute to a vibrant,
informed, and engaged community.
From The American Library Association
http://connect.ala.org/node/140464

8. Stacking literacies
– an inverse
pyramid.
Illustration from:
Toward Information Literacy
Indicators Catts,R. and Lau,J.
Unesco Paris,2008

9. How we learn about
technology
Most adults born before 1968 learn computer skills informally,
or at work, while younger users are taught in school.
•Strawn,C. The Relationship Between Literacy Proficiency and the Digital
Divide Among Adults With Low Education Attainment. 2008
How do youth learn to use technology?
What are the implications of this for any digital literacy work?
•Is ad hoc and peer learning adequate?

10. Ramping up AKA “THE DIGITAL
access DIVIDE”

11. Broadbandexpress@yourlibrary
NYS • Funded 2010-
BTOP 01/31/2013
funded • 30 public libraries
project • 5 mobile labs

12. OSU Mobile
Computer Lab
Funded by BTOP
Providing access and training in rural
areas
Tied to additional teaching efforts at
public library
•http://extension.oregonstate.edu/crook/crook-
county-mobil-computer-lab-education-wheels

13. Digital and local
 While technologies may “collapse distance”, we still
live in a particular place at a specific time
 Balancing literacy educations to respect both the
interconnectedness, and locality, of life is the
challenge facing us today.

14. Challenges
New literacies bridge local and global
knowledge and concerns
We already participate in some facets of
this work
• Is new literacy education consistent with our
mission?
And, digital literacy development alone
is not enough.

15. From physical access to creative
engagement
From Media Awareness Network
http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/publication-
report/full/digitalliteracypaper.pdf

16. Resources
DigitalLiteracy.Gov • http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/
Digital Literacy in New
York
• http://www.diglitny.org/
Digital Literacy Standards
for New Yorkers
• http://bit.ly/VxEJP3
Microsoft Digital Literacy
Curriculum
• http://bit.ly/WCtLW8
Digital & Medial Literacy: • http://www.knightcomm.org/digital-and-
A Plan of Action media-literacy-a-plan-of-action/

17. Freire, P., & Macedo, D. P. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word & the world. South Hadley, Mass: Bergin &
Garvey Publishers.
London, R. A., M. Pastor, L. J. Servon, R. Rosner, and A. Wallace. “The Role of Community Technology Centers
in Promoting Youth Development.” Youth & Society 42, no. 2 (November 2009)
Mehra, B. “The Library-Community Convergence Framework for Community Action: Libraries as Catalysts.”
Libri 57, no. 3 (2007). http://late-dpedago.urv.cat/site_media/papers/The_library-
community_convergence_framework_for_community_action.pdf.
Maia, Ivan Ferrer, and José Armando Valente. Garden of Literacies: ICDT Contributing to the Construction of
New Realities for Digitally-Excluded Senior Citizens. Vol. 7. 1-2, 2011. http://www.ci-
journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/673/718.
Poore, Megan. “Digital Literacy:: Human Flourishing and Collective Intelligence in a Knowledge Society.”
Australian Journal of Language & Literacy no. 2 (2011): 20–26.
Tyner, K. (1998). Literacy in a digital world: Teaching and learning in the age of information. Mahwah, N.J:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Williamson, Andy. 2007. “Empowering communities to action Reclaiming local democracy through ICT.”
:
Pp. 1–10 in Communities and Action: Prato CIRN Conference 2007.

18. Contact
Paul Treadwell
•pt36@cornell.edu
•@ptreadwell
•http://www.paultreadwell.com
•Digital literacy and extension: bookmarks
•http://groups.diigo.com/group/digital-
literacy_extension