Systemic Barriers to Change: an example
The Report of the 21st Century Literacy SummitThe report notes a number of barriers to change, two of which can be either enablers or firm barriers. Those two are:
* Intellectual property & Business practices
* Tools, standards, Licensing & pricing
But let’s look at some systemic barriers and I will speak to the world I know best: a faculty support unit in a major research institution:
- 21st century literacy is not well understood
- most institutions have no incentive to change
- tenure process does not acknowledge or reward innovative change in the learning environment initiated by passionate instructors
- current research on these issues hasn’t reached a mainstream audience, where many traditional faculty fall
In the past, my unit has offered many fine workshops, ranging from ubiquitous technologies such as email and discussion board to emerging technologies, and on to pure pedagogy, focused on engaging the students. Great. What’s the problem?
The faculty won’t come to the workshops. Why? No incentive. Pressure of publish or perish. No time. No departmental support. They are a hard market to reach.
So we switched to offering just a few basic workshops and moved into a service model, where we offer our expert assistance in four areas. Take a look:
http://itc.utk.edu/apply/1. Online syllabus design and development
2. Instructional design and content organization
3. Education elements (formerly known as “learning objects”)
4. Communication and collaboration
So now, instead of reaching 15 faculty with powerful two-hour workshops on issues critical to 21st century literacy, we upload documents for faculty, sneaking in pedagogy when we can. My unit hosts some of the finest and most creative staff on campus but we have trouble reaching the faculty with our gifts.
The leaders and power brokers in higher education administration need to become better informed on these issues and this report provides a great starting point. One issue that can be addressed, at the enterprise level, might be an evaluation of the faculty development model currently operating on the campus. How can that faculty development model be shifted to incorporate the absolutely essential task of “empowering teachers with 21st century literacy skills” (see page 15 of the report).
If we don’t reach the instructors, we are simply talking well but not bringing about change.
It’s imperative.
What is 21st century literacy?
The Report of the 21st Century Literacy SummitAccording to Adobe Systems, George Lucas Foundation, and New Media Consortium, it's a
global imperative. These three organizations brought together high-end global leaders and thinkers who systematically brainstormed what this new 21st century literacy is, and what our global response should be.
A new language is being born: Ârich in ways that extend traditional forms of communication with visual imagery and sound and it is a global imperative that we understand this far-reaching phenomenon.
We lack a common language with which to discuss this emerging phenomenon, but, as with the learning object dialogue of the past five years, we can begin from a working definition to see where it leads our thinking:
21st century literacy is the set of abilities and skills where aural, visual and digital literacy overlap. These include the ability to understand the power of images and sounds, to recognize and use that power, to manipulate and transform digital media, to distribute them pervasively, and to easily adapt them to new forms.
LetÂs look at just those verbs again:
To understand a new power
To use that new power
To transform media
To distribute and disseminate
To create anew
A brave new world.
Here are six characteristics of 21st century literacy to pique your own thinking skills:
Multimodal
Includes creative fluency and interpretive facility
New grammar with its own syntax
Interactive communication
Ability to use media to evoke emotional responses
Potential to transform the way we learn
In Part II we will explore the question:
What does a world that values 21st century literacy look like? Stay tuned!
