Friday, December 23, 2011

News snippets: Malaysia; Dilgital illiteracies; Social media literacies

Firstly, several places have picked up a news release today on Bernama.com, which announced that The National Library Malaysia has launched a Malaysia Information Literacy Module "in an effort to enhance information searching skill more effectively, accurately and correctly. The launching ceremony was performed by Deputy Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Senator Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz at Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang Luit" "Speaking to reporters later, Maglin said the module was an effort by the National Library to provide guidance to the public in terms of skill in searching and choosing information to be read. It is important because it will determine the quality of information to be stored in our mind." http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=636151

Secondly, I noticed a short item about the need for digital literacy (and also, mentioned in passing, information literacy) in those teaching English as a second language:
Dudeney, G. (2011) "No place in class for digital illiterates." Guardian weekly, 6 December. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/dec/06/teaching-digital-literacy

Finally, there is a guest blog post on the Scientific American site. A researcher discusses what the digital divide might consist of now in the 21st century; as well as social inequalities she describes various skills in using information and social media (i.e. saying that it is not just about access to technology/internet).
Radovanovic, D. (2011) "Digital Divide and Social Media: Connectivity Doesn’t End the Digital Divide, Skills Do." Scientific American blogs, 14 December. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/12/14/digital-divide-and-social-media-connectivity-doesnt-end-the-digital-divide-skills-do/

Photo by Sheila Webber: Mistletoe, December 2011

No comments: