Being literate in a real world sense means being able to both "read and write" narrative in the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. Just being able to read them is not enough. This used to involved just words. Now it involves a number of media. More importantly it involves being able to synthesize a number of media in to a coherent collage.

posted by Jason Ohler
Sep 29, 2009

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From text on paper to media collage - art becomes the next R

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An educator once told me his community was strapped for cash and had to decide whether to refinish the gym floor or have an art program. Nothing against phys ed, especially during this era of oblate obesity. But to actually consider not having an art program in the 21st century is like wondering whether to teach reading and writing after the printing press was invented.

Art is the next R. Period. It has been ever since the first jpeg file was posted on an internet site. If we are looking for changes in literacy foundations brought about by the digital age then it is the fact that the reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic have been expanded to include aRt.

The picture above tells the story of the shifting baseline literacy. Words on paper (on the left) is the traditional literacy. The media collage is the new baseline literacy. We test for the one on the left, and hope and pray that kids emerge literate in the media form depicted on the right.

We could bridge the chasm, and resolve some of the cognitive dissonance we experience between school and the rest of life, by using art across the curriculum. Literally everything we do now has a highly visual component. And it is not just visuals we need to be concerned with. The average information source blends images, text, sounds, moving images - you name it.

Yet, art is still treated like an elective, not a literacy. And for that reason, it expendable, particularly in an era of high stakes testing. It becomes something you can get rid of when, say, a gym floor needs to be refinished.

Being literate in a real world sense means being able to both "read and write" narrative in the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. Just being able to read them is not enough.

For centuries this has meant being able to consume and produce words, through reading and writing, as well as listening and speaking. But because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, widely distributed new media tools, it now means being able to read and write a number of new media forms. Most of these forms fall under the heading of "the multimedia collage" because they integrate sound, music, still and moving images and other kinds of media, as well as text, into a single narrative. And the foundational literacy that supports this is mostly certainly art.