According to the blog, “The importance of media literacy” by Doris Montfort, digital literacy requires the reader to use the same skills to detect manipulation that was once used in print (http://www.ifc.com/makemediamatter/blog/2009/06/the-importance-of-media-litera.php). Today more than ever, people need to question the authenticity of the sources from both books and websites. Historically, people did not have the education or the resources to question the legitimacy of the information they received. They would have to rely on unsavoury sources. Often times, this led to disastrous results. For example, Hitler, during the Second World War, used the printed medium and radio to manipulate the German people. Hitler used pamphlets, radio, and newspapers to operate an effective propaganda machine. In today society, this type of manipulation still goes on because in some parts of the world people do not have adequate education or the capability to access unbiased sources to evaluate the information they are receiving. When I traveled to Cuba two years ago, I saw billboards about Fidel Castro’s achievements, and how the country was better off with him as their leader. Is that true? I don’t think so. When you look around Cuba, people are living in substandard housing without clean water. How would the average person in Cuba know that they are being manipulated by their government? They don’t. They don’t have access to the internet, and when they do, their access is severely restricted. They are not given the adequate resources to question the leaders of their country. So does this happen in Canada? It sure does. Every day, businesses use the internet to find out about their competitors. How do they know whether this information they are gathering is correct? How do they know whether or not they are being manipulated by a person with a hidden agenda? They don’t. Business could be making important business decisions based on erroneous information. This could adversely affect their bottom line. For some businesses, this could spell disaster. That is why; businesses in Canada must check their sources carefully to ensure that they are legitimate. History has taught us how important this is.

The video, Digital Literacy in the Google Generation ,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XqRR5WJ85k focuses on why we need to be critical of digital literacy when using the Google search engine on the internet. Students often depend on Google to research their reports. They need to ensure that they use credible sources when using Google. For example when the librarian from Nait did a lecture on database research for our Communications class, she showed us a website about Martin Luther King (www.martinlutherking.org). According to Google, this website is a “valuable resource for teachers and students”. However when you research the website more closely, the author is a neo Nazi. Obviously, this website is biased towards Martin Luther King.

IM Changed My Internet

Read the article “Seven Things You Should Know About… Instant Messaging” by the Educause Learning Initiative. It talks about the power and the significance of Instant Messaging in people’s lives. Here is a story about when my life was changed by IM.

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7008.pdf

I don’t remember the exact day my family got connected to the internet, but why should I? I had no use for it. I didn’t have an email address, I didn’t need to update myself to the latest blogs, I didn’t know what a Viral Video was, I didn’t even download music. The internet didn’t really mean too much to me.

I do, however, remember the first time I used the internet to chat amongst friends. I was in my grade 6 math class. (I remember this because that day was a giant step in my own digital literacy.) Of course math was not the subject we were discussing. Everyone was talking about how they discovered how to use the popular instant messaging service MSN Messenger. They could chat, webcam, use microphones, play games and even share pictures with each other.

That afternoon, very excited, I went home, made my first email account on Hotmail and then proceeded to download and install MSN Messenger. From that moment on I could be connected to my friends and never actually see them in person. There was also the idea of self expression; I was able to create any screen name I chose, pick a font, color, and show off a personalized have a display picture. That day is still is still a vivid memory in my mind. That day, the internet had purpose.

Over a decade later, I have MSN on my computer but with its new name Windows messenger. Today I am still able to laugh out loud or roll on the floor laughing with friends from that grade 6 class. And as I look back, I figure that that was the day I learnt how to use digital technology to communicate.

The cartoon, “This Modern Life” from Wellington Grey (Miscellanea.wellingtongrey.net/2007/06/03/this-modern-life/) reflects how computers have changed our lives. E-mails, twitter, facebook, and computer games have made the computer an important part of our social life. Why spend an evening at a nightclub or a night out visiting with friends, when you can stay at home chatting with your friends over the internet. Is this a good thing? I don’t know. Although scientific evidence suggests that computer use is improving our society’s literacy rates, I wonder if there is a cost. With the growing epidemic of obesity in our society and the health costs associated, are we, as a society, truly better off?

Informational Literacy

Although information literacy is commonly overlooked as one of the five cognitive thinking strategies it is one of the most important. In today’s connected world, everyone is able to access a vast amount of information that may or may not be correct. We commonly use this skill to ensure the reliability of our sources and the second hand facts that we gather. One definition that was written by the CILIP (Chartered Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals) accompanied this photo explained that information literacy is, “knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner.”
http://www.informationliteracy.org.uk/Information_literacy_definitions/Definitions.aspx