21st Century Literacy Summit

April 26-28, 2005, San Jose, California

In the context of notions like the “Digital Native” and the increasing need for communication forms that translate well across borders, aspects of visual, aural and digital literacy are increasingly seen as critical extensions of verbal literacy (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). The ways in which these skills and abilities reinforce one another and the kinds of interactions that can result are just beginning to be explored, but few would argue that they are not critically important to success in the world today.

The NMC, working with Adobe Systems and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, convened a "summit" of thought leaders in visual, aural and digital literacy over April 26-28, 2005, to articulate broad-scale priorities for the areas where these spheres converge, and develop an action list of recommendations to meet those priorities. The meeting, which was an invitation-only event, was held in San Jose, California, and provided a setting for the group to engage in a substantive dialog around emerging trends and issues related to this convergence.

The summit, which was facilitated by the renowned visual facilitator, David Sibbet, was intended to spur the expansion of visual, aural, and digital literacy awareness and programs across K-12 and higher education globally. The exchange of ideas at the summit has informed a major monograph intended to further awareness of the importance of visual, aural, and digital literacy and encourage the successful proliferation of related programs, initiatives, and projects on a large scale.

For more information, see the summit web site at http://www.nmc.org/summit/