"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.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteYour story sounds so familiar!! I grew up in a time when computers were not in the home let alone in the classroom, So, when I started college, as a nontraditional learner, I was very resistant to using a computer, but all of my assignments had to be typed before handing in. My fear forced me into a time consuming cycle. I had to first write everything out, then go back, edit, and revise all my papers, all my assignments, everything by hand! It was not until it was perfect that I would turn to the computer to word process it. It was quite a while before I embraced the beauty of using the computer from the start (what was I thinking!). It is funny, but to this day I still have to have my anything I am reading (research articles and such) in print. I like to write my thoughts all over the page as I am reading and be able to go back reread what I have written. While I know there are probably better ways to go about this, my old self hangs on to this old fashioned way of doing it.
You being up some really good points in your post. As educators we are going to have to get on board with emerging technologies if we want to continue to be effective. Today's young learners are embracing, accessing, and using technology at a rate that we are going to have to keep up with. The problem that I see so often especially with students from lower income homes who do not have access to computers at home, is that while they are using technology (cell phones, social media etc.), they are not realizing the full potential of these tools. They see them strictly as social tools. As educators we need to open the doors to the world of technology beyond social interaction.