Interesting article in Innovate (free registration required) on “Why Professor Johnny Can’t Read.” It makes the excellent point that we now have something of a generational divide between those of us who grew up defining literacy as the ability to read and write text and those who have grown up in a world of multimedia and hypertext. The older generation, not surprisingly, is claiming that the younger folks are just not “literate,” because they don’t write linear prose. This article makes the point that we might be missing something here though as the ways that the Net Generation present information give us another rich area of literacy into which we can delve:

Many faculty members developed their writing skills in a print world where text took the conventional form of paragraphs on a page or was packaged as a book or an article, a story or a novel; its production was typically conceived of as a solitary act. Consequently, their previous experiences with and understanding of text are quite different from that of the N-Gen student, which may lead to profound misunderstandings. When instructors perceive linear, print-based texts as a benchmark, the N-Gen’s texts may, at first glance, fall quite short. However, these digital texts do not necessarily lack style, coherence, or organization; they simply present meaning in ways unfamiliar to the instructor. For example, a collection of images on Flickr with authorial comments and tags certainly does not resemble the traditional essay, but the time spent on such a project, the motivation for undertaking it, and its ability to communicate meaning can certainly be equal to the investment and motivation required by the traditional essay—and the photos may actually provide more meaningful communication for their intended audience.

I think that we’re all in agreement that the ability to present information to an audience in a way that conveys meaning and thought is a critical literacy skill. Where we may have a difference of opinion, though, is in what constitutes “literate” presentation of that information to an audience. This article suggests that the skills that the Millenials bring to the table are in fact a new form of literacy that has rich potential:

The striking differences between the linear, print-based texts of instructors and the interactive, fluctuating, hyperlinked texts of the N-Gen student may keep instructors from fully appreciating the thought processes behind these texts.

So true. I’ve come to believe that when it comes to the skills needed to effectively present information to an audience, we all have a lot to learn. Linear text-driven methods are not necessarily the best choice. There’s much more of a need to use storytelling techniques and visuals to help people make sense of complex issues.  I also find that I personally feel constricted when I have to present something in an off-line environment, such as a report. I’m not able to include the links and multimedia that could better explain things. Nor can it represent collaborative thinking and different opinions as well as social media tools can. Reading a blog post with meaningful commentary may do far more to illuminate an issue than simply writing a memo or report, which is often a solitary pursuit.

What do you think about the new presentation literacies? Do we need to be thinking differently about what it means to be literate in presenting to an audience? What does that look like now?

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