Redefining educational goals for the 21st century. Not quite perfect but a start

1. 21st Century Literacies Re-defining basic educational goals for a globalized world. Paul Treadwell, March 2011

2. “Acquiring literacy does not involve memorising sentences, words or syllables … but rather an attitude of creation and re-creation, a self-transformation producing a stance of intervention in one's context." Paulo Freire, Education: The Practice of Freedom (1973) Why Talk About Literacy?

3. New literacies for a new world: Technology is becoming increasingly pervasive Webs of interconnection are being woven around the world What happens in Egypt affects what happens here Distance is contracting, and expanding, at the same time Expanding Literacies

4. If we accept the definition of literacy as: “(involving) a continuum of learning … enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.” (UNESCO 2003) Fluency in multiple literacies becomes an essential need for survival in the 21st century. Being Literate

5. New Literacies encompass a range of learning: Multicultural Informational Digital Agricultural Scientific + Civic Todays Literacies

6. Currently in New York State 24% of adults fall below basic (traditional) literacy achievement. Given that, how do we embrace all the other literacies as important? Are literacies stacked, or overlapping? Literate Necessities

7. Providing educational programming to support the development of these literacies is “golden” Pardon me, couldn’t resist…. It is also a challenge – who among us is MIDAS+ literate? The MIDAS+ Touch

8. If we accept the challenge of a redefined suite of literacies, what does that imply? Integration of these elements into existing programs Exploring new programming to fill in gaps Partnering in new ways Making skillful use of technology Start where people are

9. Not to get too philosophical but: Some literacies are “meta” literacies Supporting the development of other literacies We can’t teach what we don’t know The Meta Level

10. Technology can be a meta literacy It can support efforts to educate It, in itself, demands a literacy of it’s users Interlocks with and is dependent upon “traditional” literacy Role of Technology

11. If technology is used as a method to increase literacies, we need to expand our view of technology. Revive audio as a delivery form Explore games as learning Unite what is learned online with what is enacted locally Creatively engage in a variety of bandwidths Not just desktop or videoconferencing Text messaging, audiocasting for mobile phones A Broad View of Tech

12. While technologies may “collapse distance”, we still live in a particular place at a specific time Balancing literacy educations to respect both the interconnectedness, and locality, of life is the challenge facing us today. Near and Far

13. New literacies bridge local and global knowledge and concerns We already participate in some facets of this work Is new literacy education consistent with our mission? Challenges for Extension

14. Paul Treadwell pt36@cornell.edu @ptreadwell http://pt36.posterous.com/ Contact