M2: Blog Post 1- Defining New Literacies and Why They Matter

 

            Within nursing academia and the workforce, new literacies have a significant impact on developing critical thinking as well as patient care experiences. When new literacies are introduced and integrated into nursing curriculum, nursing students view course material and learning objectives from a new perspective (Potts & Schaller, 2024). New literacies practices are increasingly pertinent to integrate into nursing academia as the digitally demanding and evolving nursing workforce utilizes literacies to align with nursing communication, information management, and patient care. By definition, new literacies extend beyond the narrow definition of traditional reading and writing (Sang, 2017). Literacies include culture, digital technologies, and can take on many forms such as podcasts, virtual learning platforms, and social media accounts like X. Multiliteracies such as pictures, gestures, and different forms of language are also present within the nursing field, such as the use of “SBAR” in patient reporting: situation, background, assessment, and recommendations for care. Other examples of this is in describing surgical procedures, saying “appy” instead of appendectomy, gesturing and body language used when testing out a nursing student on hands-on skills that communicate what step in the process should be done first, or when a nurse is showing a patient pictures of the best position to enhance breathing.

Digital literacy and developing critical thinking skills are essential for nurses working in technologically advanced healthcare settings. Competency in these new literacies is a must for nursing educators in and outside of the classroom. These competencies enable nurses to effectively navigate medication orders, electronic health records, engage in telehealth services, and participate in continuous online professional development (Potts and Schaller, 2024). One very clever integration of new literacies into nursing education was the use of X (Twitter) chats that replaced discussion boards (Potts and Schaller, 2024). By introducing this, students were more engaged with traditional classroom content (Potts and Schaller, 2024). When lecturing about the respiratory system to sophomore nursing students, in their supplemental education folder on mylearning, I included TikToks of professionals describing topics. One that I included was a pulmonologist differentiating between asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to a popular song and TikTok trend. Little did I know, I was including new literacies into curriculum!

See link here: TikTok- COPD vs. Asthma

When literacy is defined in the “traditional” sense of reading and writing the English language via print/text, this can be problematic to the goal of increasing equity and access in educational spaces. The narrow definition robs students of opportunities to demonstrate and develop mastery in new forms of communication and discourse that are arguably more ubiquitous (and effective) than print in both current society and their personal lives. Skills associated with traditional literacy include spelling, penmanship, and vocabulary but informing, influencing, and encouraging discussion is largely in electronic and interactive formats. Albert Einstein (maybe- so we think) is quoted as saying, "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." I believe this speaks to the heart of this discussion concerning traditional/narrowly defined literacy vs. new literacies.

 

References

Potts, M., & Schaller, F. (2024). Twitter chats as an alternative to discussion boards in graduate nursing courses. Journal of Nursing Education, 63(10), 709-712. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20240313-01

Sang, Y. (2017). Expanded territories of ‘literacy’: New literacies and multiliteracies. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(27), 134-140. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1139059.pdf