Week2 Blog Post, Reflective Journal Entry

When reading Networked Publics, the term accessibility stood out to me. Although listed as, “four key trends: accessibility to digital tools and networks”, Kazys Varnelis. Networked Publics (Kindle Location 54), the book, a bit dated, discusses the fact that digital tools and equipment are more mainstream.  Thus giving the common person the ability to do things they might not typically be able to do without a professional.  Additionally, the book discusses the how whole households have multiple mobile devices and may use them as a primary way to communicate.  Although the book is 8 years old, the topic of social norms came up.  A topic still relevant today.  “We are still very much in the midst of negotiating appropriate social norms in this era of layered presence” Kazys Varnelis. Networked Publics (Kindle Location 116).

I have to admit that my first thought on seeing the term accessibility was on Accessibility and Usability.  Accessibility and Usability pertains to making content accessible to people with physical disabilities and other restrictions such as, those that might be related to the economy and the environment.  As we discuss digital tool and new literacies, I have found that this factor of accessibility is barely mentioned.  A cultural key issue, as everyday people use these digital tools, adaptations have to be made to accommodate a variety of accessibility and usability features.  Usability from the standpoint of making sure the tools or result of the tool is easily navigable.  Can you get back where you were? Are you using consistent branding, etc.? Accessibility, not only limited to people with disabilities, but including styling and branding.  Consider your smart phone.  Like most of us you are quick to hop on the web to find something.  If the page you find is not styled to render on a mobile device, your ability to navigate the site is either restricted or extremely difficult.  As a user, you will probably leave that site and go to another one.  I’m sure that is not what the site creator meant for you to do. Just  one more thing to add to the growing list of new literacies.

Varnelis, K. (2008). Networked Publics. Kindle Edition

R U Reading?

“Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?” Response

Parenting a tweener, I am privileged to experience, first-hand, what new media is available to him and the new literacies that he just simply understands.  I watch my son texting his friends from his iPad with the same excitement I had in my own childhood talking for hours on a land-line.  Similar to the mom from The New York Times article, “Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?”, Deborah Konyk, I read to my son from infancy through his childhood years.  I hoped that by reading to him, he would share my love of reading.  However, as excited as he may seem at the time about a series of books, I find that I leave the school book fair with the next volume of the last book purchased so that I can continue the series. 

Most of my son’s time is spent on his iPad for the purposes of entertainment and school work.  As a rule, we restrict iPad use during the school week for entertainment, so it’s not surprising that my son is eager to do anything on his iPad.  Ranging from reading his weekly readings and library books to studying his vocabulary words and math.  Given my son’s affinity for his technology, I can certainly appreciate both sides of The New York Times article, “Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?”.  I understand the scientist’s concern that the Internet “could rob developing readers of crucial skills” (2008, para. 41). As well as, considering the argument of cognitive neuroscientist, Ken Pugh who states,  “Reading a book, and taking the time to ruminate and make inferences and engage the imaginational processing, is more cognitively enriching, without doubt, than the short little bits that you might get if you’re into the 30-second digital mode” (2008, para. 41).

However, I also understand Nadia’s eagerness for online book reading and taking in to consideration that “Web proponents believe that strong readers on the Web may eventually surpass those who rely on books. Reading five Web sites, an op-ed article and a blog post or two, experts say, can be more enriching than reading one book” (2008, para. 42).

The New York Times article debate raises the question, what counts as literacy?  Is it test scores that rates a student’s reading and comprehension? “One early study showed that giving home Internet access to low-income students appeared to improve standardized reading test scores and school grades” (2008, para. 38). This becomes an important argument when Linda Jackson, who lead the study, made the point that these same students typically wouldn’t use their free time to read.  In addition, consider that another study of over 700 low-income students found the web to be their primary source for reading  (Motoko, 2008).   

It seems that there are enough arguments for changing literacy in response to the new media landscape where some literacy experts want to redefine reading to include the interpretation of videos or pictures (Motoko, 2008). Consider the low income study referenced earlier, “The only kind of reading that related to higher academic performance was frequent novel reading, which predicted better grades in English class and higher overall grade point averages” (2008, para. 36). Elizabeth Birr Moje stated, “novel reading was similar to what schools demand already. But on the Internet, she said, students are developing new reading skills that are neither taught nor evaluated in school”   (2008, para. 37). In the on-demand world my son is growing up in, it makes sense that he would prefer online reading.  As the article states, novel reading is time consuming whereas a reader obtains more information from a variety of viewpoints in a fraction of the time from the internet (Motoko, 2008).  

I’m convinced that literacy is evolving and that readers, such as Nadia and my son, will get the benefits of reading online as much as they would a short story or a novel.  We certainly don’t want these digital technologies to go away.  In addition, let’s also take into account the other benefits of online reading, such as, availability, improved reading comprehension scores, and as a valuable resource for folks with learning difficulties.  When I read, I image myself in the story or looking at the story from a distance.  As these tools and resources emerge and evolve, my son can virtually submerge himself into the story.  It actually sounds like fun.  If the technology excites him and he reads, then I’m all in and maybe I’ll even join in on a few experiences.

References

Motoko, R. (2008, July 27). Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? - The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&

W1Blog Post, Reflective Journal Post

"The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives" (Gillen and Barton, 2010, p. 9).

In Literacies: Social, Cultural and Historical Perspectives, Lankshear and Knobel discussed literacy, reading and writing, evolving into functional literacy, read and write enough to be successful in daily activities on the job and socially (p. 6, Lankshear and Knobel, 2011) Thankfully, evolving literacies seem to be a way of life. I grew up at a time when computers were just being introduced into our high schools.  Although I never had the opportunity to work with them in high school, I navigated toward computers in my undergraduate days.  At the time, I still preferred reading print material and writing everything out before typing.  Now, flash forward to today, I would have a difficult time functioning without my digital friends(technologies).  I wouldn’t dream of choosing print over web or voice since online content is so readily available and constantly being updated.  Now, writing something out means putting my thoughts on the computer and using cut and paste to move thoughts around.  I owned the first handheld PDA which became my first cell phone, which in turn became a way of life. Gone were the days of writing my appointments into a planner, or waiting until I was at the computer to look something up. 

Just as my literacies evolved, a number of the readings this week tie how the education field is dealing with evolving literacies in the classroom. In a world where, what is “now” means something completely different five minutes later from when it was first uttered (“Special themed issue: Beyond ‘new’ literacies - Digital Culture & Education,” n.d.), it is necessary for our children to adapt to a variety of new literacies. As Barton stated, the children will continue embracing new literacies whether the teacher is ready or not.  (Gillen and Barton, Digital Literacies)

It is evident that there is careful attention being put into the Teaching and Learning Research Program (TLRP-TEL).  It’s exciting to see the digital literacies of today with project teams such as SynergyNet, creating multi-touch tables capable of detecting contact from several sets of hands.  “In addition, the project is also investigating the way that digital information can be moved around the classroom from table to table, or even projected on a wall from a table for demonstration, explanation and discussion.” (Gillen and Barton, Digital Literacies).  As well as the Learning Design Support Environment (LDSE) supporting teachers using digital technologies for designing effective learning. (Gillen and Barton, Digital Literacies) I look forward to exploring where new literacies, particularly digital literacies, will take us.

Citations

Special themed issue: Beyond “new” literacies - Digital Culture & Education. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2016, from http://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/uncategorized/dce_editorial_vol2_iss1_2010/

Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011). Literacies: Social, Cultural and Historical Perspectives. New York, New York: Peter Lang Publishing.