Is Technology and Digital Literacy Affecting Traditional Literacy?

I should probably preface this post with the notion that I am currently completing an additional qualification in information and integration communications technologies... yet I have come to wonder whether or not a massive push by Education systems to teach digital literacy skills is starting to affect traditional literacy skills. An important question, especially as we are now a month away from the 2016 OSSLT.

I am raising this question after reading The Toronto Star's article, "Young grads need to brush up on 3 Rs, employers say"

I currently teach several levels of English, ESL, Workplace and College level. I have also taught University level in the past; as recently as last summer - and I am continuing to see a decline in student literacy rates. Most students have trouble navigating electronic resources, and hardly consider ever consulting physical resources (*Books or a Library). They sit online and only look for information that they tend to agree with. Students are spending an unprecedented 10+ hours per day connected to media. This should be seen as problem.

Internet access among Canadian students has reached an unprecedented level; 99%.

Nearly all Canadian Students have a basic understanding of how to use the Internet. However, only 61% of students use more than 1 search engine (outside of Google); and the same 61% of students restart a search if they are not happy with initial results. Only 35% know of and use advanced search tools.

 Only 50% of student scan a pages results before deciding on a link. These numbers indicate digital literacy concerns; by themselves; let alone when we ask a student to read and analyse a physical text or write anything formal.

When being graded on their work, 89% of student will verify online content. However, only 71% of students will verify information when it is for a family member or friend. This drops to 66% when research is for personal interest.

Only 60% of students will verify information found on a blogs, social media, or news sources. An alarming 80% of students will seek teacher support for assessing the reliability of sources! This clearly indicates that digital literacy strategies are not working as well as we believe.

 Horrifyingly, only 51% of students actually want to know if information they find is true or accurate.

Where are students learning their skills?

• 45% of students responded to learn their online skills from teachers, while 47% learned their online skills from their Parents.The remaining 8% were either unsure, or believed they taught themselves. These numbers indicate, that Parents and Teachers have a shared responsibility in helping students become Digitally Literate. They need to know how to Question what they are reading online, and how to deeply analyze what they are seeing. 

So as we as teachers push must of our focus to digital literacy, are we neglecting traditional literacy? 

In 2015, of the 25 971 students who wrote the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) and who had not met the reading standard in Grade 6, fewer than half (48% or 12 383) were successful. Of the 27 361 students who wrote the OSSLT and who had not met the writing standard in Grade 6, 14 904 (54%) were successful.

Most of the first-time eligible students who were unsuccessful on this year’s OSSLT also had not met the provincial standard in one or both of reading and writing in Grade 6.

Reading 

Of the 19 777 students who were unsuccessful on the 2015 OSSLT and who had written the junior-division assessment in 2011, 69% (13 588) also had not met the provincial reading standard in Grade 6.

Writing 

Of the 19 777 students who were unsuccessful on the 2015 OSSLT and who had written the junior-division assessment in 2011, 63% (12 457) also had not met the provincial writing standard in Grade 6.

Furthermore, of the 17 875 students (17%) who had not met the standard in reading in Grade 3 and had also not met it in Grade 6, 60% (7233) not were successful on the OSSLT. This number slighly decreases when compared to the writing standard (54%).

Are we doing enough? 

These numbers would indicate no. Although the government seems to skim over these results. Saying, of the 127 867 first-time eligible students who wrote the test, 105 309 (82%) were successful and 22 558 (18%) were unsuccessful.

An 18% failure rate on the Literacy test in the 21st century is horrible, yet somehow it is acceptable. The 2015 rates are about the same as the past 5 years. Therefore, our students are not getting more literate.

Test Results for the OSSLT: 2011-2015

2011	83% Success Rate
2012	82% Success Rate
2013	82% Success Rate
2014	83% Success Rate
2015	82% Success Rate

I believe a re-think is necissary for both teaching digital literacy and traditional literacy skills.

Thoughts?

Resources: 

 “Experts orAmateurs? Gauging YoungCanadians Digital Literacy Skills” created by Media Smarts study, Young Canadians in a Wired World (2014)

"Highlights of the Provincial Results: OSSLT 2015" Education Quality and Accountability Office (2015)