Literacy skills have always been important. - Dr.K.Govindaraju, Chairman, South Zone Board of Continuing Education (OZONE).

Dr.K.Govindaraju

‘Literacy skills have always been important and this year, International Literacy Day was celebrated across the world under the theme of ‘Literacy in a digital world’.’ stated by Dr.K.Govindaraju, Chairman, South Zone Board of Continuing Education (OZONE) while speaking on the occasion of International Literacy celebrated on 25^th Sep 2017 in Trichy. He further mentioned, “International Literacy Day is celebrated annually worldwide and brings together governments, multi- and bilateral organizations, NGOs, private sectors, communities, teachers, learners and experts in the field. It is an occasion to mark achievements and reflect on ways to counter remaining challenges for the promotion of literacy as an integral part of lifelong learning within and beyond the 2030 Education Agenda. When we talk about language literacy, we are discussing much more than the basic ability to recognize words on a page. True literacy extends beyond the ability to read and encompasses the skills needed to gain meaning and knowledge from the written word, to think critically, and to write clearly. Students need to utilize all of the higher order thinking skills taught to students in previous times. Students for centuries have been taught and encouraged to evaluate, apply, analyze and synthesize knowledge. Today's students are able to use the internet to research and find text sources, videos and presentations related to anything they would like to learn about. Technology is a lovely asset to any classroom. Students today learn in ways that their teachers could not even imagine decades ago when they were in school. Students learn technology just like they do the spoken language, by doing and today it is not uncommon for a 3 year old to have some basic knowledge regarding how to get on to the computer. The way students learn and their abilities to showcase their learning has surpassed the years of book reports, posters, and shoe box representations. Skills based on using digital tools are important, but they are also short-lived since the tools and platforms available to us change so quickly. So how can teachers and parents teach kids all they need to be truly digitally literate? Luckily, there are tons of free online resources available for teaching the necessary skills. While it is important to be aware of kids’ online activity, there’s more to keeping kids safe than monitoring them. By teaching kids to be truly digitally literate, we can keep them safe online, while helping to ensure their success in this digital world we live in”. –Kris