What is 21st century literacy?

The Report of the 21st Century Literacy Summit

According to Adobe Systems, George Lucas Foundation, and New Media Consortium, it's a global imperative. These three organizations brought together high-end global leaders and thinkers who systematically brainstormed what this new 21st century literacy is, and what our global response should be.

A new language is being born: “rich in ways that extend traditional forms of communication with visual imagery and sound” and it is a global imperative that we understand this far-reaching phenomenon.

We lack a common language with which to discuss this emerging phenomenon, but, as with the learning object dialogue of the past five years, we can begin from a working definition to see where it leads our thinking:

21st century literacy is the set of abilities and skills where aural, visual and digital literacy overlap. These include the ability to understand the power of images and sounds, to recognize and use that power, to manipulate and transform digital media, to distribute them pervasively, and to easily adapt them to new forms.

Let’s look at just those verbs again:

To understand a new power
To use that new power
To transform media
To distribute and disseminate
To create anew

A brave new world.

Here are six characteristics of 21st century literacy to pique your own thinking skills:

Multimodal
Includes creative fluency and interpretive facility
New grammar with its own syntax
Interactive communication
Ability to use media to evoke emotional responses
Potential to transform the way we learn

In Part II we will explore the question:

What does a world that values 21st century literacy look like? Stay tuned!  ¶ 10:32 AM