Essay On Literacy

A Change in Literacy

“Literacy—the ability to access, evaluate, and integrate information from a wide range of textual sources—is a prerequisite not only for individual educational success but for upward mobility both socially and economically,” states Sean Reardon (18). Literacy plays a significant role in civilized society. As Reardon mentioned, literacy is an important part of social and economic progression; therefore, it is unsurprising that thousands of dollars are poured into the education system each year to ensure that students can be considered literate. Reardon continues on to claim, “by third grade virtually all students can “read” in the procedural sense—they can sound out words and recognize simple words in context” (20). However,

A mere generation ago, literacy was generally focused around solely reading physical materials. Susan Metros emphasizes that most of the teachers employed in schools are from a generation that was largely based around the written word (106). Literacy was a rather simple concept. As Reardon states, “At its simplest, [literacy] is a combination of word reading skills and knowledge-based literacy competencies” (18). To put it simply, if a person could read and understand what he or she was reading, he or she could be considered literate. A wide expanse of knowledge was not required for literacy. The amount and variety of books that a person had read did not dictate that person’s level of literacy. The requirement for literacy was solely that an individual be able to read written texts. At one time, being able to interpret the words on a page was enough. Catlin Tucker asserts that, "Growing up...I knew that people who were literate could read and write, and people who were illiterate could not...Now, as an educator and parent I find myself revisiting this question of what it means to be literate. The definition of literacy is changing. Literacy means something different today than it did 10, 20, or 30 years ago"

Turckle notes the change in the culture of literacy, “when I first began studying the computer culture, a small breed of highly trained technologists thought of themselves as ‘computer people.’ That is no longer the case” (606). Computer technologies and resources have become a normal part of everyday life. The availability of millions of sources and endless information has enabled a growth in knowledge and an enhancement of literacy. Turckle helps summarize the impact of technology by saying, “Today, starting in elementary school, students use e-mail, word processing computer simulations, virtual communities, and PowerPoint software. In the process, they are absorbing more than the content of what appears on their screens. They are learning new ways to think about what it means to know and understand” (601-602). This new way of thinking and the capability to use the internet enables students to be more proficient at gathering information. No longer does a person need to wait to borrow the book, drive to the library, find a bookstore; any person, at any time, can search out and discover the information he or she needs from a variety of sources that previously would not have been