The Building Blocks of 21st Century Literacy

 Possessing the skills needed to be effectively literate for 21st century learning requires several different components and fluencies of  learners and teachers.  These skills are particulary of a technological nature.  Of course, it is necessary that one be literate in traditional ways (a whole separate set of building blocks) first in order to be technologically literate.  As future educators, we will see more and more technology being implemented for the purpose of instructing students.  As mentioned in a previous posts this dynamic requires higher-order thinking skills of the learner.  It also requires higher-order thinking from educators.  This higher thinking doesn't come pre-packaged in one box.  There are steps, sharp inclines, and cliffs to ascend to reach the summit.  In order to drive the machine of 21st Century Learning teachers and students need to embrace, harness, and effectively utilize three main building blocks...

• Computer Literacy is basically the comfort level at which the user is at with basic computer skills. It is the physicality, the familiararity with the machine.  Can you turn it on?  Do you know how to navigate through the hard drive?  Can you install/unintall software and hardware to personalize your machine?  The extent to which one is computer literate is an integral component to driving the machine.
• Information Literacy is knowing how to make your computer literacy work for you.  Do you know how and where to find information that is most important to you?  Can you merge Computer and Information Literacies effectively and efficeintly to get better gas mileage out of your machine.
• Integration Literacy is ultimately the culmination of the two drive components.  Can you effectively integrate all literacies to learn?  Learning technologically requires the ability to make connections, comparisons, and to draw on any and all resources to reach the driver's seat.