I’ve really enjoyed our readings so far in this course. It seems as if we get so used to the idea of the internet, and online access that we have been taking it for granted. I may open up Google or Skype ten times everyday and I have never stopped to think of what this has meant to me in an educational/learning setting. The readings have truly opened up my eyes.
For the topic of this blog post, I want to discuss three articles. The first one is called “What’s “New” in Literacy Studies” by Brian Street.
I have many issues with this article and I found it hard to agree with the author’s viewpoint. For me, literacy is whether or not one can read, write and do simple mathematical calculations. Coming from a small town in Greece where the illiteracy levels are every high, I cannot analyse the term literacy into so many different things as the writer does in this article. Maybe it is because we (me and the author) are from different cultures but I find it hard to connect with this article. All I know is that I am a literate person in comparison to Greek standards where my grandmother who is 63 cannot read and write and is illiterate.
The writer discusses various forms of literacy (autonomous, ideological, local, distant, etc) in this piece. But to me, it seems that the writer is making an underlying assumption which he fails to mention: we can only label and define different forms of literacy ONCE we have basic literacy within a population. Once everyone within the community has basic reading, writing and mathematical skills and starts going beyond those, we can then begin grouping them into different forms. But for many societies, the basics are still missing – or are themselves a challenging struggle.
I hope someone from our class chooses to write about this article and enlightens me;)
On a last note, the only new discourse in Greece regarding literacy is digital literacy. The following video gives a good outline of this discussion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XqRR5WJ85kThe next article, “Critical Media Literacy is not an Option” by Kellner and Share discusses the need for media criticism within educational contexts. I do agree with the points made regarding the fact that literacy is not enough, one needs to be critical of what one is learning and hearing. It is not enough to know how to read but understand and criticize and have an opinion on what you read.
This was an interesting video on critical media literacy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vjGBNmdl-IIt is interesting that such a need was discussed almost a century ago by John Dewey – even before the rise of modern day mass media systems. Dewey, in 1916, writes that students need to connect reflection with action and not be mere bystanders.
But there seems to be an even more crucial need for such critiques today. Television is no inside everyone’s life. If we do not equip members of our society with the ability to critically observe this medium, we will end up reproducing what we see and hear. We must help kids and allow them to have an opinion and express it.
The dilemma is that the hierarchal structures under which all teachers function often times keeps them from expressing their own views and opinions. Nowadays most governments have their teachers follow rules, obey commands and stick to very thorough guidelines. Being a teacher myself I know that there are some things I cannot say in class just because the principle might not approve of them. Would I wan to lose my job? NO. I to am restricted by my own concerns and worries. Am I able to do my job the way I want to?
This seems to create a vicious circle in which all parties (teachers and students) are trapped.
I found myself connecting to many of the points made in the third article – ‘”Reconsidering Political and Popular Understandings of the Digital Divide” by Neil Selwyn. In the small town where I am from, Facebook has just been “discovered” by the local population less than a month ago. The main reason for this is peoples’ lack of access to the World Wide Web. The problem is that when these very kids go on to university, computer literacy is a critical prerequisite for all their work. It is simply assumed that they all know how to use a computer, word processor, internet search engine and that they own a personal computer as well.
This is not the case for many students and they are left in a quandary – they are already leagues behind their classmates because they do not have the prerequisites.
All over the world, we see a drastic shortcoming between the job market and what is actually provided students in educational settings. In order for you to find a job, keep your job and be able to function within your daily tasks, you need basic computer literacy. This is while many schools still do not provide their students with this basic necessity. Not to mention the older population who has completed school long ago, and who is expected to have computer literacy without having ever been taught it. Without children who have this basic ability, many elders are also left off this important need.
This is a good video on digital divide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZUaJ1ycrOsOn an end note, while I would love to be able to provide opinions expressed on other blogs, all the ones I have read to date are in Greek. I look forward to reading my classmates’ notes in their respective blogs, so I can begin featuring them here as well.
Be well,
Stefania
The past weekend I had to get so much work done regarding school. There were articles I needed to find, books, videos, teaching material...that the only way I would have time to find everything is if I could find them online. So like every graduate student I went on my laptop starting to search for the info I needed. Two hours after I started searching I caught myself on Facebook... Were there any articles there maybe??? NO!!! I just got distracted from everyones "news" and "posts"...
