The following are resources related to a presentation given on September 30 at the Regional Neighborhood Network Conference, Champaign, IL.
- RNNC Slides Handout (PDF)
- RNNC Slides With Notes (PDF)
- Digital Literacy Reconsidered Handout (PDF)
- Digital Inclusion, Digital Equity, and a Reconsideration of Digital Literacy Graphic
- Besides this blog, more information and examples can be found at our project websites:
- Digital Literacy for ALL Learners (http://dl4all.illinois.edu)
- Digital Innovation Leadership Program (http://dilp.lis.illinois.edu)
- The Center for Digital Inclusion website will continue to be updated with links to new projects and resources
Martin, just curious, can you summarize why the need to consider digital literacy is urgent?
Sure thing, Charles. On April 4, 1967 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered is Beyond Vietnam speech. Part way through he states: “We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” As I’ve observed many different tech-oriented educational programs, and as I’ve critically reflected on my own such programs, I’ve become increasingly convinced we ourselves have contributed to the perpetuation of the giant triplets to the extent that we’ve overly focused on the technology resources and technical skills of digital literacy. But in our best moments, we’ve focused on people, their capabilities and agency, and have championed building of inclusive communities. When resources and technical skills are in-fill supporting people’s exercise of their capabilities and agency to achieve that which they value being and doing, self-sufficiency, participation, and community growth happens.
So why the urgency? Because we stand at one of the more equal times in our nations history; because we have made consumerism and materialism a civic duty; because we spend more on our military today than the next 10 countries combined; because another layer of the racism onion has been peeled away to once again demonstrate the need for truth and reconciliation; because when we continue in the dominant, tech-oriented narrative, we remain culpable of reifying the giant triplets.