Digital Literacy

Digital literacy is defined in different ways, and is certainly a moving target. As a provisional definition, I believe this has three general components:

1. Consume
   The ability to search, explore, and filter various sources
2. Create
   The ability to compose using the predominant digital media, including various kinds of text-based communication and multimedia, using varied levels of formality
3. Connect
   The ability to share, publish, coordinate and collaborate using both digital and more general social skills

There are many ways to develop each of these kinds of literacy, and these broader capacities are more valuable than having mastery over a particular tool or service (since those are subject to change and to relevance). Here is one listing of various tools and services categorized according to this schema: Backpack2.0.

For purposes of this course in digital culture, I expect students to learn and demonstrate digital literacy through these means:

• Google+ (social network) [to connect]
  Be able to use Google+ to 
• stay current with course expectations
• be aware of and interact with fellow students
• use Google Hangouts (video conferencing)
• explore research topics
• link to blog posts or other media one has created
• do "social discovery" (connect with experts and interested parties generally)
• Blogger (blogging platform) [to create]
  Be able to 
• design a meaningful blog
• compose engaging posts that reflect good online writing practices
• use the blog to develop ideas at greater length
• use the blog to involve others in one's developing thought. 
• connect blogging to Google+ discussions and to respond to the blogs of others (including fellow students).
• Diigo (social bookmarking) [to consume]Here is a tutorial that I have prepared explaining how to use Diigo.
  I expect students to be able to 
• save bookmarks from web surfing to the cloud (privately or publicly)
• share bookmarks to our bookmarking group
• meaningfully tag bookmarks
• use social bookmarks to curate sources and use these in developing more formal content.
• eReader [to consume](Kindle software and/or hardware; other eReader software/hardware)
  Using eReader software (on an eReader device or a PC), be able to
• Find and collect/acquire eBooks
• Navigate an electronic text (Table of Contents, interior hyperlinks, book search)
• Annotate eTexts 
• Explain pros/cons of paper texts and electronic texts
• Search [to consume]
  Be able to 
• use Google in more sophisticated ways (Boolean operators, Google alerts, etc.)
• conduct web research without starting with a general Google search or a Wikipedia search (See "Ten Ways out of the Google or Wikipedia Rut")
• Social Discovery and Social Proof [to connect]
  These are more principles than a specific service. Essentially, they involve making social networking a primary method of discovering and researching information on a given topic. (See "Social Discovery" and "Making Your Content Legit: Four Phases of 'Social Proof'")

Optionally, I urge students to learn other tools of digital literacy and to share their experiences doing so with others. Some suggestions include:

• Google Reader (or another RSS feed aggregator) [to consume]
  Here is a tutorial that I have prepared to explain using Google Reader
  This makes it possible to create a custom input stream of various sources (such as a list of blogs one is following). Google Reader is integrated with Google+, making it possible to respond to sources by sharing them from Reader to Google+.
• Goodreads (social book service) [to consume, create, and connect]