Originally published in TEACH Magazine, March/April 2012 Issue
By Richard Worzel, Futurist
Digital literacy is one of those phrases that we use without truly knowing its meaning. But before extending this concept into the future, I went to the past: what is the origin and original meaning of the word “literacy?” Well, literacy means “the quality of being literate,” and “literate” comes from the Latin, literatus, which my online dictionary tells me means “learned” or “scholarly.” Yet, words evolve in meaning over time, and what we mean when we say a student is “literate” is not particularly that they are scholarly, but more that they have facility relating to words and language that enable them to read, write, and communicate. Saying that a columnist or an adult is literate on the other hand, means something else, but for a student, literacy implies that the student is enabled or empowered. And I will take that as my text: that digital literacy in education means that the student is enabled or empowered by the ability to use digital media.
With this as a starting point, let’s deal with the obvious aspects of digital literacy. The Internet has provided us with history’s greatest library, in our homes, in our schools, and increasingly in our pockets and hands, with us all the time. And this availability has massively empowered all of us, students and non-students alike. It’s now hard to imagine a life without Google or Wikipedia, without being able to look up Joe Dimaggio’s batting average when we feel like it, or being able to get guidance from our peers about the best restaurant in Key West, or the best tour in Cozumel, or the atomic weight of sodium, or what number president is Barrack Obama, when the Mayan calendar runs out, or almost anything else we wish to know.
Richard Worzel is Canada’s leading futurist. Over the past 25 years, he has spoken to an estimated half a million business people around the world. He volunteers his time to speak to high school students for free as his schedule permits.
