Are you digitally literate? If you had to describe to me what made you digitally literate, what would you say?

In our exploration seminar at Queens University of Charlotte, our central question surrounds digital literacies. For our first weekly inquiry, students will make the case that they are, in their own words, digitally literate or digitally illiterate. To do so, each student will have to make two decisions:

1. Where is the threshold of literacy in a digital environment? In other words, what key thing or things separates those who are digitally literate from those who are not digitally literate?
2. Have I reached that threshold?

Each response can be presented in any medium. In fact, multiple media are encouraged. A particular respondent might say, “I am digitally literate,” yet submit her answer to this question in a double-spaced, 3-page word document. How much more powerful would it be for the same person to say, “I am digitally literate,” via a YouTube video she shot and edited on her iPhone?

A similar, but unlikely, contradiction could also occur if a someone says, “I am not digitally literate” and responds through a rap he created on GarageBand.

If you post your answer to this inquiry online, leave a comment here and link to it. We’ll watch, read, hear, and see the responses to this inquiry in our January 23rd meeting. Responses are welcome from people outside the seminar as well.