Analysis

My biggest ‘Ah-ha’ moment for this course occurred while I was sitting down to interview the young lady in regards to her technology use. I was prepared to discuss her cell phone habits, perhaps chat and text. I was not prepared to launch into her MMO games, or how often she was on Skype and Tumblr. Somehow it became more of a conversation with a peer, as opposed to a conversation with a young pre-teen. Which shook my preconceptions up in a way that really needed to happen.

I was able to look back at, well, everything we had covered so far in this course, from blogs to affinity spaces, with a far more open mind. Younger children were using these tools, were visiting these spaces. These then were tools that we, as educators, could be adapting to our classrooms. And should be. The youth were already engaged with them- how then could we utilize that engagement.

I have already had some coursework in using social technologies in K-12 settings from my previous degree in library science. This served to further push me in the direction of being open in accepting what could be used in an educational context. The technology is only as good as the educator utilizing it- we cannot just pull the new and shiny tech into a room and expect it to revolutionize the learning experience. I will move forward in my studies to see just what I want to focus on leveraging. And how.

Information Literacy

In regards to adult learners, information literacy often takes the form of learning to evaluate digital or online resources for credibility. For the population I am most often working with, digital literacy and information literacy go hand in hand and it is sometimes hard to grasp that anyone can put anything on the internet. So it is important to go through a series of steps when evaluating a website.

1.       Is the website current?

a.       Is it dated at all? If you can find no information on when the information was published to the web, you want to choose another source

2.       Is the author or organization an authoritative source? Is the information reliable?

a.       If you have done research on an illness, is the site you are looking at from a drug vendor who would have an interest in convincing you that you need medicine?

b.      Is it a recognizable organization? Scientific American as compared to someone’s personal site? One definitely has more scientific authority than the other.

c.       Is there an author named at all? If there is no author named, you will want to choose another source.

3.       What kind of site is it?

a.       An Institutional site? Do you recognize the Institution?

                                                                           i.      Some official URLs:

                                                                         ii.          University or other Educational sites (.edu)

                                                                        iii.          Government (.gov, .mil)

                                                                       iv.          Non-Profit or other organization (.org)

b.      Personal webpage or blog? Remember, you can research the author of a blog to see if they are a reliable resource

                                                                           i.      Some blog urls:

1.           tumblr.com

2.           wordpress.com

3.           blogspot.com

4.           blogger.com

4.       How about the content.

a.       Is the language professional or inflammatory?

b.      Are there spelling or grammar issues?

c.       Is the content biased? If the site is trying to convince you of one point of view, is inflammatory against other points of view, or has an obvious agenda, that site is biased.

Resources

http://www.binghamton.edu/libraries/research/guides/web-page-checklist.html

http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm

There are two major public resources available for learners and instructors of digital and information literacy in New York State and beyond. The Digital Literacy in NY (http://diglitny.org/) project was established through a series of Federal grants and through partnerships with representatives from library organizations and systems. They developed a series of digital literacy standards and described the skill set one would possess to be considered digitally literate. The idea at the heart of it is that to effectively locate and process information within a digital age and context, one must be digitally literate as well, and that digital and information literacy are at this point intertwined.  Digitalliteracy.gov (http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/) is a government site that is a strong hub of resources and training materials, again similar to the NY site in that it is useful and accessible for both educators and learners.

For basic digital literacy, learners should have

1.       Basic computer skills

a.       Basic parts of a computer

b.      Turning the computer on and off

c.       Windows navigation

d.      Basic computer terminology

2.       Basic Internet

a.       Parts of the browser

b.      Difference between search engine and browers

c.       Basic search skills

3.       Communicating on the Internet

a.       email

                                                                                       i.      phishing and spam

b.      IM and chat

c.       Blogs

d.      Job search

4.       Word Processing

a.       Opening and Saving

b.      Basic formatting

c.       Printing

Resources
http://diglitny.org/
http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/

Growing Up Digital

I sat down to interview the child of a friend, a thirteen year old home-schooled girl. I was excited to discuss the technology uses and interests of a teen in a non-traditional school situation to see if it differed at all from the norm we generally see presented and discussed, especially within the realm of cellphone use. So I opened the discussion inquiring about her cellphone use. While she stated that she did have one, she said that she did not use it much. When asked what she used instead to communicate with her friends, she didn't miss a beat before telling me she used Skype.

Her social group outside of schooling prefers Skype and its visual as well as audible interface as they are often using it in conjunction with online games and, as she put it, Skypeing while playing allows them a 'tactical advantage' that she does not see mere phone chats allowing.

This led, of course, to a discussion about video games. At this point, my planned questions were tossed merrily to the wind and I was willing to let this conversation go where it may. She was very fond of MMORPS (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). Her mother tried to suggest the game she was playing currently with her friends was like World of Warcraft, and that incited an affectionate bit of back and forth argument between the two on how this game was not at all like that game and her mother needed to get with the times. I am apparently behind the times as well, as the names of the games she was blithely tossing about were ones I did not recognize, but are apparently popular with her friend set. She plays about 4 hours a day, collaboratively with her friend group. The games are all of the structure where a team plans and defends one area while working to defeat other groups. She pointed out that she does go hang out with her friends in person as well. In fact, she was going to a movie with them as soon as we were done chatting.

I snuck in the second of the pre-planned questions at this point, and asked whether or not she used Facebook. And again, contrary to expectations, she said no. She then launched into a discussion on the fact that she uses Tumblr instead. She prefers the Tumblr layout and has friends there instead. She does have a Facebook, she just does not use it apart from logging on to grab pictures to then share on Tumblr.

Tumblr led to a fun discussion of the online communities she was a part of (Tumblr, various MMO's, Deviantart) the ones she was aware of (Reddit and 4Chan) and how she explained Tumblr and Deviantart worked for her because she understood how to apply the filters she needed to apply to make sure she was seeing only the things she needed or wanted to see.

She definitely utilized technology towards her interests- following fandoms on Tumblr or working with her friends towards victory on an online game. It was fun to have a conversation that felt more like a chat between two peers- two fannish folks who enjoy tinkering about on the internet with like-minded individuals- than doing a class assignment. She was delightfully enthusiastic when it came to talking about her interests, and was overjoyed when any of mine overlapped hers (Tumblr names may have been exchanged at some point in this interview).

Being in a non-traditional school environment, she does have more freedom to explore technologies, and her mother and the home school group as a whole, is encouraging when it comes to exploration of interests. The fact that she had more time for exploration, and that would skew the conversation a bit, was something her mother discussed with me when I asked if I could interview her daughter. It also made me more interested in the interview. Given a little more free rein to explore and develop her interests, she showed not only an enjoyment in her digital participation, but a degree of understanding and control that I appreciated and loved hearing her discuss. We, people my age and older, spend a lot of time talking about how 'kids these days' don't understand their digital imprint, and here was a thirteen year old explaining to me how she meticulously monitors her presence online, filters viewing content, and is aware of what is going on around her. It really may not be that they do not understand their digital imprint, but that we are limiting their understanding through limiting their participating and experimentation.

Blogs

Weblogs and the Public Sphere, by O'Baoill, looks at the effect of blogs on public debate. As a method of idea/opinion dissemination, blogs are an accessible tool for individuals to utilize with many of them requiring only an entry level of computer/internet skill. 

Apart from skill, the time commitment needed to get a blog established and visible is considerable. O'Baoill points out that the focus is not in the writing itself, but the need to read and keep on top of news and information sources is considerable and the main impediment in a blog becoming established. The interaction needed to go from unknown to a blog that has high visibility is also considerable. 

The need for available time then is the main impediment when it comes to blogs being successful or not. Bloggers need to browse through other blogs, potential information sources, and become involved in debates. Knowing established bloggers and getting them to link back or mention your blog is a way to jump start the process (O'Baoill p2). 

For me, a major issue beyond getting a blog established and successful is the lack of editorial oversight. I am a reference librarian at one of my day jobs, and as such I consistently consider where information is coming from- is it credible? I have found blogs who cite their sources, but those would be the big, established blogs. O'Baoill makes a strong point that the time commitment is already a deterrent for bloggers. Adding proper citations for research may just be that last straw for bloggers. It may also not be a step that is at the top of many bloggers' minds. For those using blogs as a source of information it can be just as time consuming if they are doing it correctly- verifying sources and information.

It is hard to start a new blog and to get it established and well known in a given community. It is, for all intents and purposes, a job that requires a considerable commitment of time and energy. When it comes to social/political issues blogs do provide an accessible format for discussion and debate- the comment structure allows one to follow the threads of conversation easily and to chime in as desired. The blogging sphere is dominated by Big Names, the established bloggers in a given community. The opportunity to engage and debate with those Big Names is one not to be missed, whether or not one intends on creating and maintaining their own blogs. The accessibility to people we would not otherwise be able to engage in dialog with is, in my opinion, the greatest benefit of blogs.

O'Baoill, A. (n.d.). Weblogs and the public sphere. Retrieved from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/weblogs_and_the_public_sphere.html

Affinity Spaces

Earlier this year I published an anthology. I gathered authors using fan networks across the internet. None of the authors were known for anything 'professional', but were well known and popular through their blogs and fanfiction. Blogging and fanfiction have been my 'things' since I was about 18 years old. It has been such a part of my life, I rarely think of it as anything special. But looking at the definition for participatory culture as described by Jenkins (2006) I have apparently been working within participatory culture for some time.

Online writers, bloggers and ficcers, thrive on sharing their work, and their is a solid system of feedback and commentary on pieces that have been posted. If you look at a site like AO3 (Archive of Our Own), a fanfic repository started by author Naomi Novik, visitors are encouraged to leave comments or even just a 'kudos' on stories they read. Ficcers write stories dedicated to each other, or on prompts from other ficcers. The whole culture of fanfic writers on the internet, whether they are doing it through blogs or repositories like AO3, are engaged heavily in participatory culture. There is a strong support for creating and sharing, members definitely feel a social connection with each other, members believe their contributions matter, and there is definitely a mentor-ship relationship between new ficcers and more established members of the fanfic community (Jenkins 2006).

AO3 is actually one of the better examples I could have thought to share, especially in the context of being an affinity space (Jenkins p7). There is a strong network of volunteers that keep the site working, from assisting with technical issues to outreach within and outside of the community. It is a strongly supportive group and everyone is looking out for each other. Members of the community range from the young to old, and across all manner of professions and tracks of life. The base affiliation of being in a fandom is what pulls the community together. Members give feedback as well as writing advice to each other- beta-reading, as mentioned in Jenkins' article (Jenkins p9), and in the process the writing skills of members often improves as they go along. I managed to work with a bunch of fanficcers to put out a book that is now for sale online- all of my authors were open to editorial feedback and I have to think that is a product of being involved in the beta-reading processes of the fanfic community.

A handful of years ago I would never have admitted involvement in something like the fanfic community, not in any professional sense. But the attitude towards the community has changed as people become more aware of spaces like AO3 and the fact that there are some seriously talented folks involved in those communities. Time Magazine even mentioned AO3 as one of the 50 best websites of 2013!

The participation gap (Jenkins p12) is something I work with in my position at the local public library. Through a grant in 2011 we were able to add 16 laptops to the library and form a public computing center. The main benefit of the computer center is that there is no filtering software on the computers, and no limit to time spent on the computer. In addition, patrons do not need to be a library member to use the space. It is one step at least in trying to increase access to the internet, and as a result to spaces like AO3. The participation gap still exists- there will be people who lack transportation to get to the library, or whose schedules do not make it easy to find the time to get to public computers- but we are doing what we can in order to provide increased accessibility to computers and the internet and hopefully close that participation gap. There is also a local entity, Bridging the Digital Divide, that works with all ages to provide accessibility to technology. The participation gap is something we need to be aware of, and to work to overcome as best as we can.




Jenkins, H.J. (2006)., Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Evolving Literacy

According to Lanshear and Knoble (2011) functional literacy can be boiled down to ones ability to cope with the world. It implies and ability and an awareness when it comes to modes of communication. In an increasingly digital landscape, the scope of literacy changes. There are more aspects of the world and many more modes of communication beyond just the written word to take into account. Digital literacy emerges as less of a competitor to traditional literacy and more of a companion. 

If we as instructors do not expand our understanding of literacy to embrace digital media we are doing our students a disservice. One cannot function in today's world without a base level of digital literacy, and to thrive they must exceed it- much like the ideas of functional literacy expressed previously. Applying for school, applying for jobs, applying for government aid; all are done online. Popular modes of communication have moved towards the digital and away from the physical. These trends aren't going to stop just because we have decided not to teach digital literacy formally in schools. But we should carefully and thoughtfully start to work digital literacy into our curriculum. 

If we are concerned that students are not getting anything out of internet use, they they are wasting their time flitting about from distraction to distraction and ignoring the books we would like them to read, let's address it. Work with them in the digital and find ways to work in the traditional as well.

Motoko, R. (July 27, 2008) Literacy Debate: Online, R U really reading? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

Lanshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011) Literacies: Social, cultural, and historical perspectives. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Working with texts

I have always needed to be physically involved with any texts I am reading for anything apart from pleasure. For example, the readings for this assignment had to be printed out before they could be read so I could underline and annotate as I went along. Colleagues of mine, both socially and at work, are able to load the same texts onto their mobile reading device and annotate digitally. That does not work for me. The act of connecting thoughts occurs for me when I am physically marking up the paper- it assists my recall later. Reading for pleasure or entertainment, on the other hand, I have come to much prefer reading on a screen- be it a computer, eReader, or other mobile device. I own both a tablet and eInk eReader, and they leave the house with me on a daily basis.

This need to print out materials for study means when there is material apart from the written word within a text I have to put a bit more work into making sure I gather all parts to print. As pointed out by Gillen and Barton (2010), the use of entities such as computers allow for different approaches to reading, and thus teaching. Often the things I am reading for research or work purposes contain links to other information or presentations that are integral to the original text. So the act of reading, and for me printing, is no longer a strictly linear activity.

As there are different learning styles in the traditional classroom, there will be different learning styles in regards to the utilization of new technologies. Apart from being a librarian I am a writer. Being able to search online databases and other environments such as forums, blogs, and chats has been invaluable to my ability to do quick research when on a deadline or when I have honestly just written myself into a corner. Again, I will generally print out information I think I will reference more than once but I do utilize online environments for research itself- even something as simple as a quick image search or using Google Earth to get a feel for a place I am trying to describe.

As a librarian I can be a little wary of personal blogs for research use. I do use them, but I spend a lot of time verifying the information contained within. I will read a few blogs on the same topic and see where they agree, where they do not. Again, as a librarian who spends a lot of time teaching reference skills and digital literacy, blogs are an incredible tool for that exercise. Huffaker (2005) states that blogs are a perfect medium for literacy. They are a magnificent tool for both traditional and digital literacy. Blog authors must have the ability to read and write, and a basic comfort with computers and the internet so as to post their blogs. They can expand that skill by tinkering with the layout and format of the blog itself as they go along. Beyond that, the act of reading and interacting with blogs helps teach individuals the skills needed to be discerning readers, as I mentioned before. I once had someone confront me over information I had posted in a blog I maintain, stating that I was misinforming my readers. My response was to state I hoped my readers would read what I had to say, and then do their own research as opposed to taking a single blog on the internet as straight truth.

Gillen, J., & Barton, D. (2010). Digital Literacies. Retrieved from http://www.tlrp.org/docs/DigitalLiteracies.pdf

Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom.
AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98