What Does it Mean to be Literate?

At A Glance
Who: Rob Priewe - Media Literacy, Richenda Hawkins - Information Literacy, Callie Palmer - Cultural Competency, Gary Westford - The Fine Arts, Bryan Miyagashima - Organizer
What: Critical literacies for the information age
When: October 30th, 2009
Where: Diversity Achievement Center at LBCC
Why: Recognizing "National Information Literacy Month"

Learning, recognizing, and practicing literacy is a critical ability for everyone today in this "Information Age." But what is literacy? Is it the ability to read a book off of the shelf? Google a definition? Recognize a piece of art for what it really is? Or is it the ability to combine all of these together in order to navigate your way through everyday life, without prejudice or ignorance of others.

On Friday, October 30th a panel of four, some dressed for the upcoming holiday of Halloween, discussed these questions and others in an attempt to enlighten others on what it means to be literate in today's world. Attending the event were various LBCC students, staff, and representatives of the Oregon Community College Library Association.

The panel of four, consisting of LBCC professors Rob Priewe, Richenda Hawkins, Callie Palmer, and Gary Westford, discussed topics that they specialize in and felt were important for others to understand. The presentation was, as organizer Bryan Miyagishima put it, "open to anyone interested in how technology, society, and culture are shaping the lives and education of the LBCC Community".

First to discuss their topic was Richenda Hawkins, who spoke of the importance of "Information Literacy." She believes that a literate person should be able to do six things with information that they collect: determine, access, evaluate, incorporate, use, and understand. She emphasizes, however, that accessing the information, evaluating the information, and using the information are most important among the others.

Accessing information has changed in the last 20 years. It is mostly all electronic now, making it ubiquitous. But with this speed and the way the information is accessed now, it has become more complicated in the way that someone without the knowledge of computers, or access to them, would not be able to get the necessary information.

Evaluating the information has changed as well. Today's information is mostly generated by the "user" and people are less conscious about what they say because they believe its right, and are willing to say it. She stresses the importance of "knowing what's quality" and being able to look pass the bias in what we gather in order to use the information we gather correctly.

Next to speak was Rob Priewe, who's topic was Media Literacy. Priewe believes at this time in our world, that it takes a savvy news consumer to gather information. It's easy to gather information just by "googling" it, but what's difficult for most people today is sifting through the information in an attempt to find the truth. To do this people must be un-bias, and look at a wide variety of sources. He tells us to, "Just be well informed" and to "be skeptical, not cynical". Too many people today become "stooges" to their own biases. And Priewe reminds us that, "our democracy demands us to be well informed."

The third and fourth speakers, Gary Westford and Callie Palmer, although discussing separate topics of The Fine Arts and Cultural Competency, had a similar message in their short, 5 minute speeches. And to summarize it, a visually literate person should be able to comprehend what they see around them on a daily basis. Be it reading a stop sign or reading a map and using it. Westford spoke of the fine arts as being able to "Interpret the world around us related to art." More simply, being able to understand the meaning of objects or things related to the culture it coincides with. He stresses that we must understand and appreciate the visual world for what it is and not what we want it to be.

Palmer, on the related topic of cultural competence, asks the questions, "Am I aware of culture?" and "Am I aware of something outside of my culture?" Are people today able to elaborate, explore, or contribute to our world culture today without bias. Palmer emphasizes the understanding of diversity, and that it's no longer mankind, but HUMANkind. And that, "How people are first exposed to technology is important."

A Q&A followed the brief speeches on individual topics, in which people in the audience discussed topics of critical thinking, historical illiteracy and other concerns people had about our generation. Predictions were asked of the four speakers. All were optimistic about the future, but all agreed that it will look completely different than anything we've ever seen before.

When it comes down to it, what people should take away from these informative discussions is that no longer is literacy only being able to read and write. Our world has evolved into one dominated by technology, and those unable to use this technology are quickly falling behind those fortunate enough to have access to today's advances. We must promote self-awareness, and search for what we don't already know.