Week 2 : Literacy Debate Response

 “what counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape, and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online.”

(Jenkins, 2009)

As literacy as a whole evolves, our methods as educators and parents must also evolve. New technology is emerging and constantly changing. However, in terms of digital literacy, it can be overwhelming to keep up with and understand it fully. In my opinion, these “new forms of communication” and learning have great value to us and our students so we should treat it as such.

Rich (2008) describes the concern some have with this new age of new media and literacy online. For example, Nadia, a 15-year-old that is “addicted to the Internet”, doesn’t have any interest in book reading but she does spend the majority of her time “reading and commenting on stories written by other users and based on books, television shows or movies” on “fanfiction.net” (Rich, 2008). Nadia’s mother shares that she is concerned but is just glad she is reading something. Further, some scientists “speculate that reading on the Internet may also affect the brain's hard wring in a way that is different from book reading” and they also “worry that the fractured experience typical of the Internet could rob developing readers crucial skills” (Rich, 2008). Although these are valid concerns, the other side of the argument still wins my vote. Rich (2008) continued to share a story of another teenager, Zachary, who loves book reading but also likes to utilize the Internet where he has developed great life skills such as “locating information quickly and accurately and corroborating findings on multiple sites” so that he can explore other perspectives. 

As a young student, I related a lot to Nadia. I wasn’t a book lover and books often caused frustration for me. I read what I needed to for school but odds were that you wouldn’t see me reading outside of the classroom. However, I found other ways to develop my literacy skills online. I wasn’t frustrated. I found topics that were actually interesting to me. I learned so many great skills that I use now in my online grad school studies. 

Again, literacy is changing in schools, in careers, and at home [leisure]. In my opinion, ‘downtalking' digital literacies and continuing to only push traditional literacies is wasting potential and setting our youth up for failure in their futures. As literacy is evolving, we need to keep up and find a balance that will benefit our students’ now and down the road. 

References : 

Rich, M. (2008). Literacy debate : Online, r u really reading? The New York Times Book Review. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0