Warlick - Redefining Literacy 2.0

When thinking about literacy previous to this graduate program and this class, I always thought it referred to reading and writing. As an English teacher I have taught literacy for years. I understood the word, literate, from the use of it's antonym or opposite, illiterate. People are referred to as being illiterate if they can't read or write. I've never heard of anyone referred to as illiterate because they don't know how to use computer and web technology...but according to Warlick, this is where we are headed and how the terms will eventually be, and are already being, used.
When teaching "literacy" skills to my student previously, I've told them that without language, we wouldn't or couldn't have any other disciplines because no one would know how to communicate what they know. There wouldn't be law, television, or even driving regulations. Life as we know it would be chaos. When reading Warlick I was reminded of this "speech" I give to my students and how relevant it is to information literacy or literacy 2.0 as Warlick refers to it. There are all of these great tools out there for people to make more sense of information, but no one can utilize them without learning how. Literacy 2.0 is an extension of the literacy I have been teaching in my classes all along and has unintetnionally become a part of my lessons and instruction. In asking for students to produce slideshows and movies, create Wordles, and connect on social networks such as the Ning I am educating them in Literacy 2.o. Now I know why it's important to include such conepts and can explain to my students and colleagues why integrating such tools and instruction in the classroom is important and relevant to education in the 21st century.
I am happy to know that I am not as behind the curve as I thought when I first began exploring the concept, and I'm excited to begin implementing even more concepts suggested by Warlick into my classroom instruction.