Beyond Paper and Pen: The Changing Face of Literacy

1. Beyond Paper and Pen:The Changing Face of Literacy Priscilla Woolford In partial fulfillment of the course English 571 September 2011

2. What is Literacy? Literacy has a multitude of definitions and those definitions have evolved throughout history. Perhaps the more universally accepted definitions of literacy are (1)“the ability to make andcommunicate meaning from and by the use of a variety of socially contextual symbols,” (Dubin) and (2) “...the ability to read” and “includes writing, as well” (CCC). Historically this may “cover most of the bases” but are these enough for today’s world?

3. Communication Communication fills a need. From the guttural grunts of prehistoric man to the eloquence of the ancient rhetorists and from the earliest pictographs to the high-speed internet, communication is an ever-evolving process, spanning thousands of years. As our communications skills have morphed, so have our literacy skills.

4. Keeping Pace It is the capacity to keep pace with the changing criteria for literacy that determines one’s literacy.

5. “X” Marks the Spot “As recently as 100 years ago in the United States, the ability to sign one’s own name on a land deed or bank check was the socially acceptable mark of literacy, Merely being able to mark an “X” on a deed at times made one literate” (History of Literacy).Unfortunately many people were not able to meet this criteria.

6. Mastery of Writing Over the last century the notion of literacy has changed, perhaps more dramatically than any other time in history. Reading continues to be a benchmark of one’s literacy but the written aspect has moved from being able to sign one’s name to a mastery of written conventions and the ability to express oneself eloquently.

7. Composition Officially, the study of composition began about 50 years ago. The discipline continues to share a “correspondence to the systematic teaching of rhetoric in classical Greece” and “reflect the spirit of shared leadership that classical Greece brings to mind” (Miller, xxxv). But will the concepts of rhetoric still remain relevant to composition in our changing world?

8. Beyond Pen and Paper • At the onset of those same 50 years composition was often delivered via pen and paper. • In the early 1960’s the manual typewriter was replaced by the electric typewriter. • By the 1970’s the first home computer was invented (MITS).

9. WAY Beyond Pen and Paper • However, today’s literacy encompasses much more than the ability to read and write.

10. And on to the Digital Age • The digital age and quickly changing technologies have altered the definition of literacy. • The skills now expected to navigate literacy today were unheard of only a few years ago.

11. Skills for Twenty-First Century Literacy • “Develop proficiency with the tools of technology • Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally. • Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes • Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information • Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts • Attend to ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments” (National Council of Teachers of English)

12. Why Technology? • “But for me what’s really interesting is the notion that technology not only can be used to support our teaching goals but make possible new goals. And it’s a continuing cycle” (Palmquistqtd. in Take 20). • “…I now think of writing as a much more complicated set of activities that combines visual, aural, verbal, vocal materials in a way that would have been inconceivable to me 20 years ago” (Lunsford qtd. in Take 20).

13. Why Technology, continued • “…students are still learning the rhetorical literacies and the critical literacies, but they’re learning them across a whole range of texts, a whole range of modes, instead of just linguistic-based writing” (Ball qtd. in Take 20). • “I think most students have a lot of baggage about writing….And I think that being able to look at composition and composing across different media kind of loosens that weight a little bit….what are the skills of composing across these media, and how can you use them…” (C.McQuadeqtd. in Take 20).

14. The Challenges • For previous generations, once a level of literacy was attained a certain status quo was in place. This is no longer true. • The digital age has changed the face of literacy. To navigate within today’s literacy requires the attainment of new and changing skills. To have been literate or even highly-literate in the past, is not sufficient. • The younger generations are “natives of cyberspace” yet may be led by “linear-thinking, technologically stymied instructors” (Jones-Kavelier).

15. An New Day Dawning “For generations of adults who grew up in a world of books, traveling through cyberspace seems as treacherous and intimidating as speaking a new language….struggling to survive in a new world” (Jones-Kavelier). Literacy is no longer something to be taught to the young but a lifestyle to be embraced by the world.

16. Works Cited • "Conference on College Communication and Composition." National Council of Teachers of English. National Council of English Teachers, 22 Aug 2011. Web. 09 Sep 2011. <http://www.ncte.org/cccc/ccc/posterpages>. • Dubin, Linda. "Definition of Literacy." Web. 10 Sep 2011. <http://www.bridgew.edu/Library/CAGS_Projects/LDUBIN/Definition%20of%20Literacy.htm>. • "History of Literacy." University of Kansas, Web. 10 Sep 2011. <http://groups.ku.edu/~stl/historyofliteracy.htm>.

17. Works Cited, continued • Jones-Kavelier, Barbara, and Suzanne Flannigan. "Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century." Educause Quarterly. 29.2 (2006) Web. 11 Sep. 2011. <http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/ConnectingtheDigitalDotsLitera/157395>. • " MITS ALTAIR 8800." PC-History. Web. 11 Sep 2011. <http://pc-history.org/altair.htm>.

18. Works Cited, continued • Miller, Susan. Ed. The Norton Book of Composition Studies. 1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. xxxv. Print. • Taylor, Todd, Dir. Take 20. Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2008. Film.