The material I read in the New Media,
New Literacies course gave me a macro-level view of how to analyze our society
(from a media and technology viewpoint).
For example, Networked Publics gave me a society-wide and cultural
understanding of how technology is affecting society and vice versa. If I am analyzing a society and/or cultural
issue, I should look through the lenses of our networked society -- that is
undergoing/has undergone a major transformation or shift in technology and
culture.
When I am looking at cultural issues,
I need to consider the concept of “participatory culture.” An important issue I
need to keep in mind is that I need to consider that “participatory culture
shifts the focus of literacy from one of individual expression to community
involvement” (Jenkins, 2006, p. 9).
Individuals are no longer separate but networked groups collaborating
and producing new online content to share -- with everyone!
If I am looking at complex and
interrelated issues and situations, I can apply the Green 3-D model (the three
dimensions of Literacy and Technology) to sort issues, questions, and problems
into the operational, the cultural, and the critical dimensions of literacy and
technology. I found the more I kept
trying to work with the Green 3-D model, the more relevant and useful it
became. I was able to apply this model
in almost all of my papers and blogs. It
was very applicable to my final paper on academic libraries. Most things fit very nicely into the Green
3-D model – in terms of the library users (the operational dimension), the
library and learning environment (the cultural dimension), and the various
critical analyses by librarians, educators, and administrators (the critical
dimension).
If I am looking at educational issues,
I should look through the lens of new media and metaliteracy, as well as
studying Generation Y (Millennials) and Generation Z (Digital Natives),
although Baby Boomers and Generation X need to be analyzed as well (in terms of
continuing education or adult learners).
If I am looking at Generation Y and/or Generation Z, I have to analyze
them objectively (Tapscott, Growing Up Digital video) and not unquestioningly accept
the stereotypes applied to them, such as that they are lazy, can’t relate to
people, play video games all day, etc.
When I am looking at young people in
school, I need to look at how they use the Internet and digital and social
media, particularly in terms of participatory culture (Jenkins) and who they
collaborate with and how. I also need to
look at what skills young people need in this “new media culture,” such as:
“the
capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving; the
ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and
discovery; the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes;
the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content; the ability to scan
one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details; the ability to
interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities; the ability to
pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal; the ability
to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources; the
ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple
modalities; the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information;
the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple
perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.” (Jenkins, 2006,
p.4).
If I am looking at how language is
being used on the Internet or in digital media, I can apply the linguistic
analysis of Crystal (2004). If I also
need to determine what language I should use (or not use) on the Internet, I
can check what Crystal says about the specific situation I may need more
linguistic guidance about in order to communicate effectively online.
I am also curious about how the brain
actually functions and what effect staring at computer screens and playing
video games has on the brain. I know
researchers are studying this issue (Daphne Bavelier) and Bavelier says her
findings are counter-intuitive in terms of video games actually stimulating
brain function.
Another issue that I still have concerns
about concerns young people today.
Tapscott views these young people as very able and civic minded. Others have said that some of these people
cannot sustain concentration to read a book, do their homework, or relate to other
people. No group of people can be
stereotyped or characterized in one way, but I would like to know more about
these groups (Generations Y and Z). I
like the approach taken by Bennett and Maton (2010) who state that:
In
short, there is a significant lack of consensus over what effects digital
technology is actually having on young people. Here we adopt an agnostic position,
asking instead what the research evidence suggests and offering suggestions for
how researchers might conceptualize the problem in such a way as to advance
understanding in this area. In short,
there is a significant lack of consensus over what effects digital technology
is actually having on young people. Here we adopt an agnostic position, asking
instead what the research evidence suggests and offering suggestions for how researchers
might conceptualize the problem in such a way as to advance understanding in
this area (p. 322).
I
always prefer researchers who take an “agnostic position” as they do not have
preconceived notions of what their conclusions will be until the evidence is
collected and analyzed.
In
terms of adolescents today, one highlight
of this course was when I became aware of Sherry Turkle’s writings. I had not heard of her, but I definitely
agree with a lot of what she writes. One
ah ha moment about these adolescents was when I read something that Turkle said
in an interview:
And I think there's another thing
about the Facebook identity and adolescence, which is that many adolescents
used to play with identity, play with multiple identities in adolescence, and
that used to kind of be their fun, and now there's one identity that counts —
it's the Facebook identity. And I think many adolescents are also feeling the
pressure of that. So there are many things about the new technology that's
changing the nature of adolescence, and I think that the complaints of
adolescents about the new technology are — it's a long list, even as they're
working with it" (NPR interview, October 17, 2012, para. 7).
So today’s adolescents are as
ambivalent about technology as the rest of us.
Another ah ha moment I had was when I
read Crystal (2004) regarding the chapter “Finding an Identity.” It is very interesting and illuminating how “the
uncertain linguistic identity of Netspeak” is dealt with (p. 62). What I find illuminating is that the
descriptive/prescriptive analytic approach applied by Crystal to the language
of Netspeak could be usefully applied to any situation (just like the Green 3-D
diagram). Crystal says:
Prescriptivism is the view that one
variety of language has an inherently higher value than others, and that this
ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community. It is an authoritarian
view….The descriptive approach, by contrast, does not condemn usages that do not
follow the rules thought up by prescriptively minded authors. Rather, it
describes the variations in usage found within a language, and explains why variant
forms exist….Descriptivists do not like the narrow-minded intolerance and misinformed
purism of prescriptivists. Prescriptivists,
correspondingly, do not like the all-inclusiveness and egalitarian philosophy of
descriptivists, which they interpret as a lack of responsibility towards what
is best in a language. The controversy
shows no sign of going away, even after 250 years, with the arguments being recycled
by each generation, and refuelled by new developments in society, such as
broadcasting and, now, the Internet (Crystal, D. Language and the Internet, p.
63-64).
Just as Kress and Van Leeuwen have
made me more sensitive to the images I see every day – in that I am much more
aware that all of these images are communicating underlying messages to the
viewer, Crystal’s book has made me more attuned to the language (Netspeak) I read
and use on the Internet.
Crystal’s book is a really good
illustration of how much more valuable it is to step back, not take sides, and communicate
in an objective way about whatever it is you want to write (or talk) about.
I also had another ah ha moment when I
read Mackey and Jacobson (2011), when these authors stated:
Social media environments and online
communities are innovative collaborative technologies that challenge
traditional definitions of information literacy. Metaliteracy is an overarching and
self-referential framework that integrates emerging technologies and unifies
multiple literacy types. This
redefinition of information literacy expands the scope of generally understood
information competencies and places a particular emphasis on producing and
sharing information in participatory digital environments (p. 62).
I had been looking at information
literacy from the flipside. Whatever
innovative approaches developed could be grouped under the Association &
Research College Libraries (ACRL) definition of information literacy. I, now, believe that Mackey and Jacobson are
right when they say that all the different literacies need to be grouped under
the “metaliteracy” category because all of the new technological capabilities
go way beyond the traditional information literacy of the find-and-retrieve-the-information
model (along with, then evaluate the information). It is much more constructive and efficient to
group all literacies under the metaliteracy label and proceed from this unitary
framework.
In sum, all the different facets of the
readings/videos/audios we studied in this course provide me useful tools to
analyze issues and situations that may or will arise in future courses and in
the workplace – depending on what the underlying nature of the issue or
situation is. The course materials
provide macro- and micro-level tools to help me study and evaluate concerns and
problems that I will most likely encounter in my future school work or at my
job.
References
Association
of College & Research Libraries. (2000). Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency
Bavelier,
D. (2012, June). Your brain on video games. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games
Bennett,
S. & Maton, K.(2010). Beyond the
‘digital natives’ debate: Towards a more nuanced understanding of students’ technology
experiences. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26, 321–331. Retrieved from http://www.karlmaton.com/pdf/2010BennettMaton_JCAL.pdf
Crystal,
D. (2004). Language and the Internet.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://irenechc89ukm.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/david-crystal.pdf
Graphical
representation of GREEN's approach to literacy.
Retrieved from https://moodle.esc.edu/mod/page/view.php?id=821667
Jenkins,
H.L. (2006). Confronting the challenges
of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
Kress,
G. & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge.
Mackey,
T.P., & Jacobson, T.E. (2011). Reframing information literacy as a
metaliteracy. College & Research Libraries, 72(1), 62-78. Retrieved from
http://crl.acrl.org/content/72/1/62.full.pdf
Tapscott,
D. (2009, June 2). Growing up digital: How the Net Generation is changing the
world. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZsWtEkIp90
Turkle,
Sherry (2012, October 17). In Constant Digital Contact, We Feel 'Alone
Together'. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2012/10/18/163098594/in-constant-digital-contact-we-feel-alone-together
Varnelis, K. (2008). Networked publics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
