In the new literacy, we use new technology (media) to
convey our ideas and thoughts; however I feel that the new ways of
disseminating information or communicating lacks something due to the
impersonal nature of texts and social media. It is very difficult to ascertain
the true emotion or meaning when communicating or providing information to
another person through these new ways of communicating.
As Dana Wilber (2010) writes in Beyond "New"
Literacies, a decade ago the new literacy was more about the emerging
technologies changing the dissemination of information and the means of
learning, because "new literacies change faster than traditional
literacies because of the rapidity of technological change." It is
inevitable that new technologies will continue to change the landscape of
communications in all aspects of our lives and it will be up to us to keep up
with all the tools so that we can maintain the fast-paced environment that we
have created. Very often text messages are written in abbreviated form, using
acronyms, such as the familiar LOL (Laughing out Loud), BRB (Be Right Back),
and IDK (I don't know). For me, being middle aged, it took some time to
understand and get familiar with the new way of communicating; however I seem
to have managed. I sometimes get annoyed when I receive an email from someone
and they write 'u' instead of 'you'. It is almost as if I find it acceptable in
a text message to receive a 'u' instead of a 'you' but when it comes to real
communication, I get annoyed with the new abbreviated literacy, almost as if
there is a new English.
I feel that the this new literacy will take over the traditional
literacy our country has used for more than 200 years. This is due to the fact
that technology has made it easier and faster to communicate. The new way of
communicating is making our traditional literacy and language obsolete. In our
traditional language we can be more expressive and more meaningful providing a
more comprehensive message utilizing our vast vocabulary which is not used in
text messages, on social media and even in email in some cases since the focus
is on brevity.
The new literacy is not going to go away and will only
grow and continue to evolve. It is important to take advantage of the
new technologies and to infuse them into our educational system. For years
teachers forbid electronic devices in their classrooms for many reasons,
including the ability to cheat as well as the potential for distractions from texting,
gaming, etc. However, it may have made more sense to embrace
electronic devices in the classroom and looked at as a way to integrate the
enormous amount of versatile material into the learning experience. The
opportunities for students to learn from new media is endless. For the better
part of ten years, classrooms across the nation have utilized SYPE or other
video conferencing tools to learn from those in China. The use of email and
multimedia instruction has benefited so many of those with learning disabilities.
I have always thought that much resistance from some teachers
was because they were entering uncharted waters, or set in their ways
with what worked well for them. However, as some of the readings assigned in
this module have shown us, technology when integrated with education can not
only enhance the learning experience but ultimately improve the education
of our students.
In the article Literacy in the Classroom, the author
illustrates the ways to keep literacy alive in the educational arena. It
is up to the educators (as well as parents) to spark the need for reading and
learning through various modes of communication and information sharing.
The important part here is to focus on the foundation of education in all
areas of curricula are based on literacy. When examining education and the new
literacy, I feel that it is important to emphasize that the root of any area in
learning depends on understanding and comprehending literacy.
As Wilber (2010) states in her article, the multimodal use of
technology has infiltrated into all aspects of our lives. From the workplace to
our personal text messages, the advancements in technology has given us a
cornucopia of means to communicate and disseminate information. And as
expressed in Literacy and the new technologies in school education:
Meeting the l(IT)eracy challenge? it is even more evident that the
options for teaching in the classroom have surpassed paper, pencil, chalk and
text book. Perhaps this is what needs to be embraced in all aspects of
teaching, especially for those who depend on differentiated instruction. The
people that are auditory learners have an abundance of resources as those
who are visual learners. Gone are the days of the encyclopedias, because
anything can be researched on line. Therefore, using the new technologies to
provide a plethora of options to our students and giving them access to the
abundance of data and information out there needs to be used appropriately to
enhance learn in all ages. This is the world that we live in and we need to
accept it. At the same time, we need to find ways to preserve our traditional
language. Perhaps the use of e-books needs part of the array of technology in
our educational system. Stopping the evolution of technology is impossible; I feel
that rather than stifling it, we should incorporate it within our daily work
and capitalize on the ways we can share information immediately, express
gratitude through social media, encourage economic benefits with personalized
websites and teach all learners with a selection of tools.
References
Huffaker, D. (2005). The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to
Promote Literacy in the Classroom. AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98. Norfolk,
VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Literacy and the new technologies in school education: Meeting the l(IT)eracy challenge?. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved May 19 2015 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Literacy+and+the+new+technologies+in+school+education%3a+Meeting+the...-a063132991
Wilber, Dana J. (May 31, 2010) Beyond "new" literacies. Digital
Culture and Education. Retrieved May 20 2015 from http://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/uncategorized/dce_editorial_vol2_iss1_2010/
Lori,
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology removes the human aspect of learning that would be expected in the traditional environment. But with everything moving towards technology and new media this is a transition that the education system has too evolve with to keep up with the social parameters of today. Some children are being introduced to technology as early has age three. They begin to develop skills on creating texts (not text messages) and the educational system needs to find a way to capitalize on these skills when they start the formal education process.
Finally, technology can seem to have made things easy to our generation but to this generation this is new to them. I believe there is a shifting in the entire education which is going to capitalize on new media and new literacies which will bring a host of new cognitive theories on learning.
Derek J
Derek,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your input. Agreed! I truly think that one of the biggest hurdles will be the older teachers that are gun shy to technology. When I served on my school board, we had Verizon come in and do a presentation to the entire board and community on the benefits of hand held technology in the classroom. It was incredible to hear and see all that could be done by a small multimodal tool. The possibilities were endless and the opportunity would have been incredible... Sadly enough the 'old timer' board members (retired 32 year veteran Math teacher, retired 27 year ELA teacher ) posed such opposition that it was not even a discussion piece again. They raised points that it would be detrimental to the learning process and it would create distractions in the classroom. The one board member took it to the next level, since he was the chair of the policy committee for the district he had help from the district's attorneys to draft a "no cell phone" policy which the result was 'bag and tag' any and all electronic hand held devices. Now you see what I am talking about... the opposition for some can be extreme.
However on the bright side of things, I think that new literacies are a great resource for special ed students and children with profound disabilities. By accepting the versatility of this transformation, results in helping those students who need differentiated instruction.
Thanks
Lori
One thing that is tough to keep in mind about new literacies: it doesn't have to be an all old-school approach or all new literacies approach. What is super interesting is how we can help students flip among literacy practices to suit their needs. My research interest is in the theory of transmediation and what happens when students create across modes. Past research has shown that this process is always generative and always involves deep thinking. This thinking then, is "transferable" to all modes of reading and writing. Print won't go away just as technology isn't going away. Helping students figure out when which language and mode is appropriate is so important.
ReplyDeleteyour response is so true and as I responded to your post on your journal post, technology can only help us reach all students, where as years ago... reaching some was difficult without these new resources. Improvements can only be made here!
DeleteI'm not as concerned as you are about how language is changing. Your comment about brevity is revealing. That trend is not new. Consider any modern writer against even a relatively recent writer like Austen or Dickens, much less Chaucer, and you'll see a pronounced shortening of sentences and even words. (I'm not following that trend in this comment, of course.) Language changes. That's inevitable.
ReplyDelete