New Transistion from High School to a Digital World

In our society today it takes more than just three R's for students to be prepared to transition into higher education or a work environment. Children need a foundation of digital skills in order to be prepared for the digital world that we live in. College demands so many technological skills in order to even complete a program. Even more so, many basic positions in small businesses or corporations require knowledge of computer programs that are not easily accessed or attained with out training. Additionally, with all the social outlets that are available for a person to market oneself or a business, many 18 year-olds have no idea how to use them properly.

"Being able to read new media is not just a matter of literacy, it's also a matter of survival, for two primary reasons. First, reading new text is the basis of the kind of critical thinking needed for workplace success in an information economy. It is also common place for them to be asked to participate in online communities for the purposes of collaborative problem solving and data mining."

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning and Creativity. Kindle Edition

Ohler makes a valid point by proving that new media (blogs, wikis, LinkedIn etc.) is valuable for students not only in school, but once they leave school and have to be on their own. For this reason, I believe that integrating digital story telling opportunities through new media is important because it can create a foundation of digital knowledge in every student. Even at the youngest age, students can be introduced to mouse-use, keyboard skills, program knowledge, among others that can help prepare them not only for a technology based classroom, but a technology based world.

"Second, while we want students to read new media for personal fulfillment, we also want them to read it in order to understand how it can be used to persuade its readership in powerful and often subtle ways. In an age in which media companies see young people largely in terms of market share, having the ability to read print and non-print text critically is a matter of survival."

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning and Creativity. Kindle Edition

This second reason is also important to note because there is a lot of information on the internet and students should know how to navigate and filter information for the right purposes. In fact, I agree that this is a very important "matter of survival" so that students learn how to write and interpret information for academic needs. If the foundation is laid at an early age then as students progress through the education system and transition into the work world they will be better prepared and more marketable for our digital society.