I don’t think I have ever questioned my definition of
literacy before, and my first thought after reading the question is that
literacy is being able to read and write. Then I started wondering if simply
knowing the phonemes and characters is enough – isn’t there a sort of an understanding
(perhaps unspoken/unwritten) that literacy involves a level of comprehension?
And that’s when I thought about the chapter from Gee and Hayes that discusses
the movement from oral language to reading to writing and how that was used to
lord power over those who couldn’t use it. It seems like a mean game that as
soon as many people have gained a skill or are moving towards it, that we
change the definition – now literacy’s definition seems to be heading in the
direction of including the abilities to analyze, criticize, and synthesize.
Leu et al state, “Individuals, groups, and societies who can
identify the most important problems, locate useful information the fastest,
critically evaluate information most effectively, synthesize information most
appropriately to develop the best solutions, and then communicate these
solutions to others most clearly will succeed in the challenging times that
await us.
When I put all of these ideas together, the picture that
pops into my head is a person with a dollar on a string; as soon as another
person gets close, the dollar is yanked away. I’m not sure if I’m on a track
here or not. Or just cynical or a little despairing; Leu and friends do mention
the dissemination of solutions to others rather than hoarding or selling to the
top bidder. It does make me know that I need to increase my use of digital literacies
in my classroom. Then my kids can band together and kick the ass of that
trickster who’s trying to keep them from the power.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not arguing for stasis in our
culture or in our levels of understanding, but I am arguing that we move
forward as a group – looking at the collective rather than the sole winner as
Gee and Hayes get at in the chapter 1 reading.
O’Brien and Scharber use images in their conclusion that I
will take with me as I continue to sort through the hows of digital literacy.
“The perspective we…take…is one of bridging and mediating the best practices…with
the most promising changes enabled by digital literacies….It behooves each of
us to seriously consider how best to weave together old, new, and future
literacies so that young people leave school literate in the ways of school* and in the ways of the world” (68). I’m
not interested in throwing away literature or tools that those who want to turn
schools into businesses seem to focus on, so I like the ideas of bridges and
weaving to create a harmonious existence for school, literacy, digital
literacies, etc.
*This “literate in the ways of school” is an interesting
phrase to me – I think that it’s meaning is very dependent on the reader and
context….
Questions for you:
How do we reconcile the push for “workplace skills” (which a
lot of the digital literacy information seems to connect to) with other
principles that are vital in an English classroom? Sort of the general
education people vs specialized education argument….
What are you most nervous about in this increasingly digital
culture? Or are you 100% on board and only psyched for it?
Resource:
Here is are current articles that discuss English departments, literature, and the swing towards digital literacies. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts:
This quote from The Daily Beast article proves the need for balance, "In this regard, the difference between reading a novel and learning a story through an “interactive video game” is the difference of musicianship between those who learn to play the guitar and those who master Guitar Hero. It is the gap in strength training between someone who bench-presses at the gym, and someone who counts reps on a bodybuilding video game."We can't have all of one or the other. We must create a balance between old and new. I think digital literacy is important but that doesn't mean my kids are going to stop reading novels.
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