What does it mean to be cyber-literate?

Cyber-literacy or digital literacy is so broad that experts (such as Doug Belshaw) prefer the expression digital “literacies”, reflecting the fact that numerous types of abilities are required to be qualified as cyber-literate, not to mention that these same abilities are constantly evolving.

Being literate can be simply defined as being able to read. However, a proficient reader not only knows how to read, but might also able to criticize a play, to compare different authors’ styles, and even to compose a creative text. It’s kind of the same with cyber-literacy. Users of the web can simply be consumers of different types of media, for example. As they learn to interact with media, create their own media, and integrate their critical point of view to an interactive message, they become more cyber-savvy.

Among other things, Doug discusses the role of memes in the digital age. Memes are simply humorous associations of text with an image, such as the one of the cats shown above. And although memes communicate basic ideas at what seems to be a very basic level of communication, they represent a NEW form of exchanging ideas. To create a meme, one must be creative and must communicate the meme with the right audience for it to then be accepted and eventually shared to a larger public. If you want to find out more about Doug, you can watch his TED talk here.

Being cyber-literate is obviously much more than creating memes, but it has to do with understanding how the flow of ideas and information works and being able to interact with it.  It’s about confidently participating in the digital era, knowing that sharing ideas can be a strong tool to build a better tomorrow.

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) format is a great example of the emergence of a new type of literacy. The digital age provides new spaces for learners to meet, read, write, share, watch videos, but, most importantly, to integrate all of these processes to their reflective processes. Doug calls REMIX the capacity to use different digital objects for a given purpose.

By participating in the etMOOC project, I’m giving myself the opportunity to be part of a community of learners who are interested in the digital “literacies” by being open to the idea of trying out new things and sharing their experiences with the rest of the group.

A motivating (new) way to learn!

Finally, being cyber-literate is not a given for me! Posting my second article on WordPress has been harder than I expected, and I still haven’t personalized my blog at all. Well, a lot of work ahead, let’s see how it goes..!