There Aren't Decades

Digital literacy. Yeah. That's a thing. If you think about it, teenagers and young adults, even children, of the time period know more about technology than any of our predecessors. We can pick up a computer or a phone and download just about anything.

But the older folks, some of those people that didn't grow up in this time of change, aren't really with the times. It's not their fault, really. They didn't have the teachers or the technology available to them during those very impressionable ages of their youth.

As a future educator, if I were not to teach a child to be technologically literate, that would be MY fault. I need to make sure my students are technologically literate. They'll need to know how to find credible sources on the internet. They will need to know how to make connections with other people who share their same interests. They will need to know how to use Wikis and blogs and so much more.

There are so many apps available to children on their iPads. There are note taking apps, learning apps, and so much more that are at their grasp.

There are mindmapping tools that can be substituted out in classrooms. We can redefine the classroom with these tools. Students can use things like Padlet or Loomio or Bubble.Us. They have all of these resources at their fingertips.

They just need to know they are there. That is my job as a future educator. I have to meet standards. I have to use these tools to enhance my teaching, but I have to make sure I'm using the correct tools. Not every single one of these will be beneficial to students. I need to make sure I'm guiding them in the correct direction.

Students need to understand the lingo used, too. Most people will tell you 'shoot me a text' or 'send me an email'. Those are some of the most basic forms of digital communication. They won't sit there and elaborate to that one kid in back what that means. They'll just keep on moving.

The Hicks article, "No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can't Wait", states that "We know that the nature of literacy has changed in the digital age, but unfortunately, we do not have decades to catch up to this change" (Hicks article). This statement couldn't be more true. If children aren't taught to be digitally literate, they will be behind the times. 

In college, they will drown because most classes have online submissions for work, even if they class is on campus. They don't have decades to get that assignment in. They have until that teacher's deadline. That can be a few weeks at most.

Handwritten papers aren't a thing. Type writers aren't around anymore, aside from the old, used and broken ones on display in an antique shop. Digital submission and typed papers are all the rage.

Digital literacy is NECESSARY. It can't be avoided. Society doesn't wait for the one kid in back who's struggling to connect to Google. Society will keep moving forward, and that kid will left behind, all at the fault of the educator that failed them.