Digital Literacy And You

As Eyman discusses in article “Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice” Digital literacy is a requirement of digital rhetoric, which makes sense.

Without any kind of literacy, we wouldn’t have any understanding of the topic at hand. Some understanding, no matter how small, is still understanding and a requirement to use and understand rhetoric.

By calling these abilities literacy, we show that these abilities are important. With our current society’s dependence on technology, knowing how these practices work is key to understanding society as a whole.

Computer Literacy

Virtual literacy is made up of several kinds of literacy. From computer to media and electrical literacy are all under the umbrella. While some worry it could dull our understanding of print literacy, literacy in itself refers to the knowledge of writing. With digital being all-encompassing, there are many sub-genres, all different, and thus, someone may have different levels of understanding each topic but all contribute to to the main topic.

This brings us to Eyman’s conclusion, which is as follows: “Computer literacy is a necessary and embedded component of digital literacy and would be an appropriate name for the functional digital literacy necessary for the development of critical digital literacy and for the use of digital rhetoric.” To summarize, he believes knowing how to use a computer is a key part of this type of literacy and is necessary for this kind of literacy and rhetoric.

In summary: Computers are a key part of this type of literacy. A good part of digital work online uses computers. Of course, there are other ways to write online such as phones and tablets but computers are the most common. In school, I was taught how to type. As schools use technology more, typing assignments and submitting them online is commonplace. Like Eyaman says computer literacy is a key part of digital literacy.