William Cope
Reda Sadki
May Thet Khine Nyein
Eugenia Arvanitis
Pinakini Shah
Jonathan deHaan
Alessandra Coutinho Fernandes
Ketan HeinLiteracy Teaching and Learning MOOC’s Updates
Section 1d: The Impact of New Media on Literacies
We live in a time of profound change in the ways in which humans make meaning. Within just a few generations we have seen the rise of new, digital media which are at once deeply multimodal, socially interconnected, global and deeply varied. This is the reason why we need to expand traditional understandings of literacy with a Multiteracies perspective.
To explore these themes further, read the texts in the 'New Media, New Literacies' section of our supporting materials website.
Comment Below: As you consider the history of literacies across the whole span of human existence, what do you consider the main take-away lessons for the future? As others' comments come through, discuss with them by starting with @Name to identify specific people's comments.
Make an Update: Choose an area that interests you to make an update that will be shared with the others in your community. Be sure you make the most of Scholar's multimodal capabilities by embedding media and making web links. (Note: you will need to make this on the page of your community - not your personal profile page - for the others in your community to see your post. This will be possible if your community admin has set the community as 'unrestricted'.)
- Choose a first language to research. In your update, introduce the langauge to your peers and describe its distinctive features, OR:
- Select a moment in the history of writing to research, write it up and and describe its effects for your peers, OR:
- Identify a new or emerging media technology or environment, and describe its distinctive modes of expression for your peers in terms of the Multiliteracies concept of mulitmodality. Discuss the implications of this medium for human meaning-making.
Read and comment on others' updates as they come through into your activity stream.
The history of literacy shows that the way humans communicate continues to evolve, from oral traditions to writing, and now to the digital era. An important lesson to take away is that we must be able to adapt to various forms of literacy, especially in an increasingly media-rich environment. Multiliteracy, such as the ability to understand texts, images, audio, and video, is becoming an essential skill for the future. Therefore, education must also keep up with these developments so that individuals are better prepared to face communication challenges in the digital age.
Digital literacy has brought a revolutionary change in how humans communicate, work, and connect with one another. With the advent of digital technology, text, images, and sound can now be produced and combined within the same medium, creating a more interactive and multimodal communication experience. The Internet, particularly with the evolution from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, has transformed society from being mere consumers of information to active creators and disseminators of meaning. This shift also enables the interconnection of various languages and cultures through technologies such as Unicode and automatic translation, fostering a new balance between global homogenization and the preservation of linguistic diversity. Literacy, once a privilege of the elite, has now become more inclusive, allowing individuals to actively participate in creating and sharing meaning in the digital space.
Regarding digital literacy, I agree with Lessig's point, that “we can't formally teach them how to speak and write in this way. We won't be able to set up classes that involve 21st-century creative learning and writing ... because that would establish institutions and institutional practices that effectively support what the law currently calls (piracy),”.
Currently, effective learning is indeed in creating content inseparable from exchanging content. so that learning for alpha generation children is considered more suitable than just reading textbooks.
Regarding digital literacy, I agree with Lessig's point, that “we can't formally teach them how to speak and write in this way. We won't be able to set up classes that involve 21st-century creative learning and writing ... because that would establish institutions and institutional practices that effectively support what the law currently calls (piracy),”.
Currently, effective learning is indeed in creating content inseparable from exchanging content. so that learning for alpha generation children is considered more suitable than just reading textbooks.
It was insightful to reflect upon the changes in our interactions with literacy through the evolution of humankind. Just like the Australian Aboriginals, our way of learning in India was through the Gurukul system before we were colonized by the British. In the Gurukul system, too, our ancestors learned through symbols, storytelling, practising real-life skills by living in nature and learning through observations and interactions. This changed during industrialisation when the mass form of education set in during colonization and post-independence from the British. We became mere recipients and spectators of knowledge and traditional reading and writing literacy models. It was again insightful to reflect upon how we are going back to much of the same way of learning in the present times. This time, however, it is by living in a digital world and learning using digital tools. But in a way, we are going back to using symbols, sounds, images and movement in addition to reading and writing to learn. This has indeed changed the way we are learning and implementing our skills to read and write. The de-emphasis on the use of formal language, being more inclusive of and embracing the growing use of informal or blended-cultural languages in the 21st century may help us bridge the gap in communication with our young learners, as they are the producers and consumers of these blended languages. As educators, understanding this evolution in literacy is important for us to understand our learners and how they are learning to be more effective in the ways we can facilitate their learning.
As an educator, I'm thinking about the importance of understanding who our students are and how they engage with multiliteracies in their daily lives. We cannot continue to rely on pedagogies that maintain a divide between school and 'real life'. Quite the opposite, we need to find out what grabs our students' interest and imagination, and give them tools and agency to create. For example, in some schools children are using stop-motion animation to create their own narratives and bring them to life in ways that make sense to them. Children may use clay, play-do, legos or other materials to create with their hands, then manipulate the tools to create each frame, then learn how to edit, perhaps add captions, audio record their voices or add sound. However, not all children have access to this type of technology, which means that the inequities will continue to exist. Those who live in richer countries or communities will always have an advantage, and until access is universal, there is the risk of reproducing a 'consumption' model' for students with less access.
Patricia
@Patricia Ferreyra I agree with your opinion. That introducing literacy is adapted to the ability of students, especially in the current digital era. But this can apply when all students have experienced digital equalization.
In Indonesia, as an archipelago, the use of digital has not been evenly distributed. So the use of animation or the like is still far from expectations.
The introduction of multiliteracy will be suitable if used in big cities. However, disparities still occur in big cities even in our country.
It takes the support of various parties so that the understanding of multiliteracy with digital utilization is evenly distributed. Of course this is related to the economy and politics in a country.
As we live in a generation where technology is around us and continues to develop, the individual are also exposed to these new advancement. This technology help in many ways such we can read now various news articles, videos and texts just by searching on media. But, despite of this advantages brought by technology, there are some issues that continues to grow and the problem is that some people cant ready between the lines and sometimes they believe everything posted on online without looking for facts. And this is one of the problem that should be fixed. Which is why teaching literacies to students are important.
@Venus Naomi Dauran, I'm not sure how people learn to read between the lines. I think that schools should teach students how to develop the ability to think critically about anything they learn or experience. The other important factor to consider it the type of society one individual lives in, and whether they are allowed to access information or express their opinions freely. Some people may not have opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills.
We live in an era of rapid development of information technology. You can treat them differently, but the essence of this will not change - these are our modern realities. Today, an endless stream of information falls upon us daily and hourly, and if earlier only newspapers, magazines and television were its source, today it is difficult to imagine a person who would not use the global worldwide network.
And therefore the most important skill is the ability to understand, analyze and use any incoming information. Thus, the emphasis in education is shifting from the collection and memorization of information to mastering the skill of its correct application. This skill is necessary for a young person today for him to feel confident in society.
In our time, the concept of literacy is changing and expanding, but it still remains associated with the understanding of a wide variety of texts. Along with printed texts, a modern person can also read e-books, audio books are also very popular today, so students must learn to work with various texts: “paper”, electronic and sound.
@Shakhlo Kamalova, I agree that schools should teach their students how to analyze the information they access critically. The next step is to decide what to do with that information. However, I think that confidence has to do with other factors. We have been socialized into societal norms that we don't necessary question or challenge - we just accept things the way they are. And sometimes society itself creates a sense of self-doubt in an individual. Think about minoritized populations in different countries, and the inequities they experience. Would knowing a set of skills be enough to assert confidence?
I wish to share a comment after reading Vanessa Bueno's Update.
I find it so crazy how MySpace, Friendster, or Path have this duality when we hear of them. They both resonate with most of us and feel very current yet they have been outlived, as new media are emerging daily. Thank you for the share and discussion, Vanessa.@Vanessa Bueno
Writing has allowed for the development and maintenance of large and complex societies, the formalization of both academic and practical learning as well as the ability to exchange information on a global level.
With an increasing need to write more and faster, early Roman cursive evolved. This was a popular script between the 1st century BCE and the third century CE, mainly used in shop transactions and letters.
Writing is definitely the most prominent way that society can keep in contact with other people. Writing can be formal in some settings, and it can be informal when communicating between friends. It is fascinating to see how cursive came to be. Humans tend to be lazy and look for shortcuts wherever possible. That is why some sounds have changed in oral language as well.