D-LIT: Transliteracy And Web 3.0

In order for students to be competitive in today's world, schools need to look beyond their common cores to pinpoint emerging skills. It is important to recognize the need to educate students beyond the written text using multiple literacies that often put the teacher at a disadvantage in terms of skill. According to Wikipedia, the ability to move fluidly across a range of platforms, tools, and media to read, write, and interact is transliteracy.

Digital technologies have changed literacy as we know it, and design will change the way it is received. As teachers, we cannot avoid the change taking place much faster outside of our classrooms. Kids know what is available to them, and we should embrace our students' ability to do more. Transliteracy is inextricably linked to Web 3.0. While definitions for Web 3.0 vary, the Web is changing. Web 3.0 is often referred to as the semantic web, with personalization, intelligent searches, and a seamless diffusion across devices to deliver information.

Transliteracy is multidimensional and creates a level of communication that transcends the status quo. We have long advocated for teaching students to think like a designer to transform the way they learn. While expanding the curriculum can sometimes lead to bells and whistles taking over scholarship, it is important to place emphasis on content first, and savor the pretty for second.

For today's learners, understanding transliteracy is essential. It is about integrating the design of information using a variety of technologies for the best possible result to convey meaning. It is the process of taking an idea and adding layers of information to take it to its final stage well beyond the traditional approach. Transliteracy will become the underpinning of good educational design, because it is driven by the ability to read, write, and interact to communicate ideas to a variety of audiences.

Now more than ever, there is a need to categorize and reshape information in innovative ways. Transliteracy is just that. The onslaught of stimuli resulting from digital technologies in different formats, on platforms, and through social media almost demands a multisensory approach. It is a world of 3D and 4G information. The non-static nature of learning on a variety of devices allows for this.

From an educational standpoint, this means that learning to design information in different ways is necessary. Transliteracy changes the process of how we see, and it conveys facets of meaning for a digital age. It uses D-LIT, design, literacies, information, and technology, in a multifaceted way to build content. The better trained our students are in understanding what it means to be transliterate, the more they will be ready for Web 3.0.

For more information, please check out the following:

• Transliteracy, see Buffy Hamilton's posts on this topic
• Web 3.0, see Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English (presentations) from Digital Inspiration