ETL401: What does it mean to be literate in the 21st Century?

People are communiating differently: cell phones, facebook, skype, etc. Its much easier to reach a global audience easily and quickly. With the changing nature of literacy, we need new skills. It is so much more than just reading and writing today; we are required to have fluency is visual, textual, digital and aural literacy, as we receive information through these different communications. A big difference is that the printed text is one-way communication, where as 21st century literacy interacts with the audience. 21st century literacy is inevitable changing the way we learn, and therefore MUST change the way we teach. It will be impossible to reach the students of today if we do not keep up with understanding and using the tools of the 21st century.