Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano:’What does it Mean to be Literate?’

READ FULL POST by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

(SOURCE: Langwitches Blog)

Does being literate mean the same for this class?

SCHOOL CLASS IN 1912- IMAGE LICENSED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS BY HISTORICBEAVERTON

Image by by Historic Beverton

than for this class?

GRADUATING CLASS 1986

or this class?

CLASS OF 2022 ~ IMAGE LICENSED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS BY MELANIE HOLTSMAN

image by holtsman

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano continues her post writing …

‘..The official definition from the dictionary defines “to be literate” as:

able to read and write

There is change in the air though.

Being able to read and write seems to remain as the same definition. What is changing, at a rapid speed though, is the medium we are reading in and writing with.

No longer is reading a handwritten letter or note, a printed sheet of paper, a poster, a telephone book, a newspaper, a magazine or a book the only medium of communicating information. Since having access to the Internet has become mainstream over 10 years ago, being able to find and read a website has expanded the notion of what it means to be “able to read”. New forms of media are being developed and are allowing us to take information in , to be able to “read” in new shapes and forms. With the beginning of web 2.0, the shift from simply consuming (reading) information/content to having the ability of producing (writing) information and content has now expanded the notion of writing as well.

The options, that are available to us humans, to communicate in another form, other than speaking verbally to someone face to face, has exponentially grown in the last 5 years. Being able to expand the reach of our communication has opened up opportunities that have not existed before in history.

So, what does that mean for the initial question of this blog post:

What does it mean to be literate?

I have written often on this blog,Â how I see the concept of “Literacy” changing & expanding. I am reminded of the Norwegian video clip about the Medieval Help Desk, when one monk explains to another how to use, this new way of reading text, called a book. The monk had tremendous difficulty in grasping the concept of the book, compared to the scrolls he was used to until then…’

READ FULL POST by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano