I just attended Learn 4 Life Digital Literacy Conference in Second Life held by some of my UK peers and now part of my network. It was a wonderful thought provoking session hence this posting.

I am also working on a paper on Digital Literacy for Higher Education Educators. I am using this public arena to get my thoughts together and hopefully get some feed back.

Web 2.0 is a new era where, unlike web1.0 where we only took in information, we now have a 2-way system:

1. take in
2. push out
   (also known as communication)

We take in, transform, remix, remodel, refine from our point of view (our cultural point of view) and then push out to social media like blogs, wikis, 2nd life ect.

In this new era, we need a digital grammar and syntax of media -> mechanics of using media as well as the critical eye.

Defining Digital Literacy:

Tabatha Newman defines Digital literacy = digital tool knowledge + critical thinking + social awareness

Josie Fraser defines Digital literacy = digital tool knowledge + critical thinking + social engagement

Howard Rheingold defines Digital literacy = attention + participation + collaboration + network savy + critical assumption (dealing with the crap)

Howard feels it is no longer a question of ‘growing up digital’ or the ‘digital divide’ but it is now the ‘can’ and ‘cannots’. We currently make assumptions about the students that aren’t necessarily true. Since they grow up digital, then they must already know the ‘how to use tech” and must be helped with the critical thinking. But that is not always the truth.

I have come a cross many college students that don’t know how to sign up for google online apps like google docs or why you would use it. I only know of a hand full that know about wikis of blogs. Using a simple online tool like gliffy.com stumps them.

We need to teach

• how to use tech tools effectively with teaching and learning
• how to transfer the skills learned in one tool to another – teach user interface transferable skills
• how to build learning communities with these tools
• how to participate
• how to recognize authenticity  (no crap please)
• how to use knowledge to define the new ways of working

Howard Rheingold
Digital divide is no longer have and have not but can and cannot

Lars Rasmussen of Google asked the question, “What would e-mail look like if it was invented today?” Google Wave attempts to answer that.

If you haven’t heard about Google Wave, then be prepare to be blown away. Take a sneak-peek into the future of how we are all going to work collaboratively across the internet. I implore you to watch this video; consider setting 80mins aside to digest this information, and then discuss it with us.

Of course there are critics for everything so take a look at this article: Five Reasons to Be Terrified of Google Wave. This post raises concerns about using Google Wave as your primary communications tool.

Don’t be scared of Google Wave, think critically; make the Wave work for you; let us know what how you can see this working in education.

The following article is intended to assist teachers with creating a profile on Facebook that upholds their professional image while sharing information

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16957158/Teachers-Guide-to-Using-Facebook