My (Borrowed) definition of 21st Century Literacy

I know that I am way late in getting this out, but it has been kind of crazy around here lately.  As I mentioned in my previous post, the whole discussion about what it means to be literate in the 21st Century has been incredibly rewarding for me.  Throughout the process of trying to follow the conversation, I came across a post by Ryan Bretag about his own definition of 21st Century Literacy.  I really identify in a number of ways with his definition: 

Literacy is a group of evolving skills and skill sets as well as a form of knowledge needed for thoughtful, meaningful, and effective communication in socially relevant contexts.  

I like that definition for two main reasons: the use of "evolving" and "socially".  

Evolving

We have barely entered the 21st century and already people are providing definitions for what it means to be literate in this century.  I believe that it is important for all of us to keep in mind not only just how much has changed, but also the rate that things change as well.  As such, we need to make sure that we are changing right along with it.  Making sure that we are fluid, relevant, and timely is critical to ensuring that we are adequately teaching 21st century literacy skills for our students (throughout the 21st century).    

Social

I think that sometimes the focus is too much on technology and not enough on the social aspect that the technology allows.  I love this quote from Michael Wesch: 

This is a social revolution, not a technological one, and its most revolutionary aspect may be the ways in which it empowers us to rethink education and the teacher-student relationship in an almost limitless variety of ways.

Our students today already use these technologies to socialize with one another and it is only a matter of time before education fits into that picture.  And having the definition for 21st century literacy focus on socially relevant situations is becoming more and more important.