Literate or Not Literate

In most cases, "literate" means being able to read and write, or being an informed, educated person. I am literate in the land of pedagogy. I am becoming literate in world of fatherhood. I used to be literate in riding bicycles. On a good day, I feel I am literate in the potential of our current state of content delivery. I don't think any of us would argue the point hat there are new literacies in the workplace and in our personal lives. This is not to say that many of the old literacies are not still around and much needed. Knowing what a good father is, and being able to act on those beliefs, is certainly a needed literacy that we hope does not go away.

If there are new things we need to be educated in and understand, and our personal lives and professional lives require these new literacies, where do we acquire them? At home? In school? At work? All of the above I imagine. So as teachers, where do these new literacies fit into the content? How much time do we spend on demonstrating a computer skill or asking students to learn something new that involves the Internet? Well, literate or not, here is Howard again. Always a character.