After reading the section “Digital Literacy” , I have come to the conclusion that everyone involved is making this more complex than what it needs to be. Kress believes that the term literacy should only refer to writing. Ulmer introduces a new term “electracy” to describe the digital-era literacy. Initially when I read this, I immediately thought it sounded like “electricity”. The definition that I agree with the most was from the The National Council of Teachers of English. They were able to state that 21st century literacies evolve based on technology and culture.
It doesn’t need to be this difficult, it only needs to be taught better in school. An example of this is this course. Before taking this course, I did not know that this term can be referred to many different things. I am now in college, this could be something to consider for the curriculum in the younger grades. People who do not take this course may still struggle to understand what digital literacy really means. I think it is important to teach the future generations of this because everything is more technology based.
All the kids these days seem to have some sort of device on-hand. My younger brother, for example, grew up with having easy access to phones and tablets. From a young age he knew how to work all devices. This only shows that because kids are more involved with technology, they should be taught the important side of it all. Had I known and understood the complexity of digital literacy, I feel as though I would be better prepared.
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