Information Literacies To Transform Societies

Abstract

Abstract
Information literacy forms the basis of lifelong learning and also is the basis for evaluating contemporary sources of information. The importance of information literacy is globally appreciated because of its potential to transform lives and societies. The world is in technological revolution which influences everything we do: the way we work, communicate and spend our leisure time. Literacy embraces the comprehensive set of skills needed by individuals to learn, work, socially interact and cope with the needs of everyday life. In the knowledge society, the widespread impact of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the lives of individuals and societies arouses the need to revise the current perspectives on literacy and to identify and define new relevant literacies. In the era of digital revolution, there is need to develop new forms of media literacy, computer literacy, and multimedia literacy, in addition to reading, writing and traditional print literacies, also known as multi-literacies or multiple-literacies. New media and cultural forms demand novel skills and competencies and if education is to be relevant to the problems and challenges of contemporary life, it must expand the concept of literacy and develop new curricula and pedagogies. Educators need to foster a variety of new types of literacies to make education relevant to the demands of the digital era. As new technologies are influencing every aspect of our society and culture, we need to understand and utilize them to transform our society. Introducing new literacies to empower individuals and group require a reconstruction of the education system to make it more responsive to the challenges of a democratic society. The acquisition of new varied literacies helps individuals to contribute in a novel way to the scientific, cultural, economic, political and social innovations. This paper explores a strong emphasis on print literacy, combined with developing multimedia literacy, computer and information literacies to help reconstruct education and society. The challenges accomplishing this task are also explored.