Abstract:

Global educational initiatives and polices are increasingly focused on developing 21st century skills through 21st century technologies. This trend speaks to the Generation Z student. Born after 1990, Generation Z is a comprised of a class of students that has never known a world not constantly connected through web-based networks. While the proliferation of laptops, tablets, smartphones, and mobile learning devices, make this connectedness possible – and are now foundational to the educational process – questions still remain about how educators can best use these technologies to support student learning. At the center of these debates is digital literacy. In order to be responsible and ethical engaged academic, social, and cultural citizens, it is necessary to redefine literacy to meet the needs and challenges of information systems of the digital age. This paper explores the shifting definitions of digital literacy and argues that teaching pedagogies in composition studies must engage these new technologies as part of the architecture of course material and the expansive space of the classroom to support key analytical skill development in the digital age.

To unpack this argument, this paper focuses on teaching research methods in the digital age in composition and English courses. As the space of information changes, so does the way that information is discovered, gathered, and evaluated. While traditional organizational technologies of physical libraries still exist, today’s university students must learn how to navigate much more complex networks that encompass a vast array of web-based sources and deploy necessary critical thinking and analytical skills to ethically evaluate and judge texts and the information. Teaching these evaluative skills is no easy process. While many instructors lament students’ reliance on web-based sources, the conversation must shift to consider how educators can use technological resources to develop students 21st century analytical skills through such enhanced digital apparatuses. In considering these challenges, some of the key questions that this paper engages are: How does the postmodern university define literacy in the digital age? What skills do students need for functional academic literacy? How does reading instruction change? How are students taught to make ethical research choices?

In deconstructing these complex questions, this paper examines a comparative case study of a lower division English composition course and an upper division Liberal Arts research capstone course at DeVry University in the United States to help trace the trajectory of digital literacy in general educational programs. First, this paper provides a summary of the relationship between Generation Z students and global educational policy shifts that highlight and enthusiastically embrace the development of 21st century skills in post-secondary education. Second, this paper connects these goals with classroom practice by offering a model of instruction to highlight research methodologies through a series of tutorials and active learning engagements that allow students to learn how to effectively navigate digital architectures while developing critical thinking and evaluative reasoning skills that support oral and written communication development. Finally, this paper concludes by connecting these digital age skills to the larger goals of career development and readiness and global digital citizenship.

Keywords:

Curriculum, pedagogy, digital literacy.