New Media and New Literacies
JOURNAL POST #1 due 9/18:
The use of digital literacies via a social practice is and definitely
will continue to be a large part of our culture. The use of digital literacies has shaped the
way we communicate with others nearby and around the globe. We consciously and subconsciously rely on the
use of digital literacies in our jobs, classrooms and daily lives.
I have discovered that although some are resistant to the
use of digital literacies and may feel subjugated to its use, we are in many
ways empowered by it. “The ways in
which we read and write, acquire and evaluate knowledge and communication at
all levels are changing” (Leu et al., 2004).
“There are new opportunities to participate in new kinds of social activities,
civic life, learning and work” (Hague and Williamson,2009, p. 3). Through these
new opportunities we become empowered; we are creating significant platforms through
the use of digital literacies to interchange a significant amount
of information and various expressions of ideas and thoughts.
Most use digital literacies to enhance the significance of their lives
and those around them. Through the utilization
of digital literacies such as the use of facebook, texting, online banking,
airline online check in, Instagram, payment of bills online, e- books, etc.,
not only has the use of these mediums become a social practice but a very
necessary one.
What are the ways in which we use digital literacies as a
social practice? The methods in which we
use digital literacy practices are endless.
Most do not give special attention to its use within their daily lives because
it pervades our very existence. With the
use of our GPS’s IPad, Iphones, and
other common modalities- the use of digital literacies has become paramount to
our existence; it is woven into the fabric of our lives.
In regards to education, there exists “fears that values of traditional
education may be neglected; in addition, a concern is raised in regards to “how
teachers cope in contexts where technology moves so fast they cannot always lay
claim to expertise” (Digital Literacies, Gillen and Barton, 2010, p.11).
As a teacher I want to possess expertise in my
field, it is also comforting to know that I am just as much of an expertise in
the multi -modalities that I utilize to relay information to students; however , this may not always be the case. As a third year teacher, I was employed in a
special school with children with disabilities, my class consisted of nine 9th-
12th grade students who were all non-verbal. I saw this as a challenge, one that I would
set a goal (referring to Drefysus’s Model of Skill Acquisition) to become a competent
to proficient user of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC ) devices
and assistive technology . The students
ability to communicate using picture book choices, pre-recorded responses on
AAC devices, eye gaze, touch screen were paramount in their ability to access modified
digital literacies.
“Digital literacies enable educators to make the boundaries
between school and authentic domains of life and work more permeable” (Digital
Literacies , Gillen and Barton, 2010, p.17). “Today, technological change happens so
rapidly that the changes to literacy are limited not to technology, but rather
by our ability to adapt and acquire the new literacies that emerge” (Wliber,
2010 p. 1). I may not be an expertise on
the subject of using digital literacies,
however, I do aim to create a significant gain in digital fluency. In concluding, the use of digital literacies creates
a bridge among individuals and emerging methods of communication. With the use of various mediums: images (3D), audio, interactive touch screens,
personalized software, etc., instructors need to continue to give affordances to
students to access digital literacies, this promotes traditional literacy in an
effort to prepare them for successful lives within an ever evolving digital
world (Huffaker, 2005 p 93).
