A12.3: Digital Literacy

     Before beginning this class I had no clue that there was a such a thing as digital literacy.  I never knew that I possessed these skills and I never realized how important these skills were.  Digital literacy skills help a person navigate through the digital world safely and efficiently.  Digital literacy is composed of five different literacies.  They are:

• Photo-visual Literacy which is the ability to look at a picture and understand the meaning of that picture.  There are several areas of cognition involved in understanding an image, which include but are not limited to: questioning, personal associations, categorizing, analyzing, speculating, and fact finding.  The complexity of the picture will vary so the cognitive skills involved in interpreting the meaning of the picture will change.  These skills continue to emerge as people grow and learn.  The more you know the better you will be at this.
• Information Literacy is the ability to recognize when information is needed and is able to retrieve the needed information.  The person has to know when there is a need for information.  They have to know how to obtain the information and then organize it.  These skills are needed to be a good researcher and an information literate person.
• Branching literacy involves understanding complex topics involved in technology.  It also involves using a digital device.  Branching literacy is used when you surf the internet and check databases.  It is the ability to navigate the system without getting lost in hyperspace.  This literacy emerged as technology has improved and is becoming more important as the days go by.  To be an efficient user of this skill you must be able to mentally model the space in your head.  You need to be able to use concept maps and other forms of representation to convey the idea of the world-wide web.
• Reproduction literacy is a type of digital literacy in which a person uses existing texts, images, or audio and creates a new interpretation.    This literacy is relevant in writing and art.  It enables individuals to put a new spin on an old work.  This type of literacy is important because it allows a person’s creativity and ideas to develop.  I think one thing that may come into question is when is this considered reproduction and when is it considered copyright infringement.  The skills that an individual must have to be reproduction literate are being able to think in a multidimensional ways and think outside of the box in order to create a new take on an old piece of work.  I think that the skills required are significant because a lot of individuals do not know how to do this.  I think that this is an important skill to learn because it will help in many ways.
• Socio-economic literacy is a type of digital literacy that deals with the social interactions that occur within the digital realm.  It deals with protecting yourself within the digital world.  This literacy teaches a person wrong from right and teaches a person how to discrimintate good people from bad people within the online community.

     Of course there are certain skills needed to possess digital literacy.  An individual must learn these skills in order to be an effective user of today’s technology.  As technology continues to improve the demands will increase.  These skills will help a person protect themselves while using the community.  They will become an effective researcher.  These skills are very important.

     I think that digital literacy has already changed the education system.  I hope that it continues to change so that children our more prepared to live in that society that we live in.  I hope that teachers continue to add these skills to their curriculum.  I also think that classes pertaining to these skills should be offered and maybe even required.  I know that the education system will continue to evolve with these skills.