Week 3: Reflection on Jenkins Reading Highlighting the Participation Gap

The concept that interested me was the participation gap.  I felt that prior to reading this section, I could have surmised what a participation gap is, but I think that the importance of it really hit me as I read along.  Within Green’s Model, this fits in the Operational dimension because it deals with the tools and techniques associated (and the limitations that are imposed) with literacy and the ability to be literate.  With computers and internet access everywhere, it seems like there wouldn’t be much of a gap, but alas there are differences in the capabilities of people accessing the internet.  In the Jenkins reading, she states that governments have found importance in the use of the internet and they are providing access in different ways.  On a PBS Nightly News Hour in November 2005, Philadelphia mayor John Street spoke of how the city government would work on providing low income families with internet connection (Jenkins 12).  The reading also went further to say that the city’s Emergency People’s Shelter, a non-profit organization, is providing access to people in the shelter as well as other community members.  With all of this focus, and the insight into its increasing importance in completing everyday tasks, it is a wonder that more people aren’t fluent in this literacy. 

With that being said, there are hurdles in the way of access to the general public.  A good summary of these occurrences are stated plainly in the reading on page 13, where it states that “’Speed, location, quality and support, and inequalities in access do persist’ states a 2005 report on children’s online experience in the United Kingdom.” (Livingstone & Bober 13)  These are all big hurdles when it comes to both self-discovery and guided usage.  From my own experience, especially as it relates to the courses I am taking, I have noticed at the school I work at that there are hurdles in completing my studies.  Second Life, the program that is utilized in the Learning and Emerging Technologies course, is blocked because, as the IT director said, “it opens up ports that may present a security issue.”  Also, certain blogs are also blocked and for the students, the blocks are more numerous.  Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are all blocked, just to name a few.  In addition, the filtering system also makes judgments on the content of the site and when doing some research for various projects, an alert comes on the screen that may say that the website you are trying to access is “obscene/crude” and is ruled inappropriate for school usage.  I can only edit Prezi presentations on a hard line connected computer because the Wi-Fi is too slow for the speed demands of the website.  So the fear of security deficiencies and speed issues weigh on my participation (or ease of) in classes and can somewhat affect my ability to learn. 

With all of the hurdles that some people face, disadvantages occur for those with fettered connections.  While I might seem like a cry baby because I have obstacles, but I am very fortunate and I can still do what I want to.  I have internet access at home, have technology mobility at work, and am always connected by a mobile phone.  For those that are relegated to using “outdated machine[s] in a public library with mandatory filtering software and no opportunity for storage or transmission pales in comparison to what  a person can accomplish with a home computer…”. (Jenkins 13).  This inequality of ability follows disadvantaged students through school and disallows them the comforts that might otherwise enjoy if they had a clearer route to access. 

So as educators prepare students for life outside of the brick walls of an institutionalized education, computer access must be equalized.  I feel the same as Jenkins probably feels when she mirrors the achievement of skilled computer users and their network access to the historical parallel of “[the] youth who had access to books or classical recordings in their home…concerts or museums…engage[ment] in dinner conversation…skills that helped them perform well in school.” (Jenkins 14)  Jenkins further along in the reading that computer usage is less of a lifestyle as it is a part of everyday life and that computer access is becoming more of a necessity.  Work, play, and learning are increasing in presence on the internet and those that do not have access will unfortunately be left behind.  So I too echo the yearning for “free Wi-Fi coupled with new educational initiatives to help youth and adults learn how to use those tools effectively.” (Jenkins 13)      

NYT "Online, R U Really Reading"

I found this article very interesting.  The argument between traditionalists and modernists is not new.  Modernists seek to embrace change and traditionalists, well, not so much.  They find immense value in the way things are done and sometimes are distracted from the content.  When I talk to my father, an avid film buff, he often talks down the new technology used in producing modern movies. I try to remind him, are you watching the movie for the movie or are you watching it for the content.  In my response, I examine the functionality of both and offer a suggestion to value both mediums as they have different positives. 

I also understand that traditionalists would argue that this can not be done because the digital medium takes away the skill of prolonged concentration necessary for reading.  But why not try to find ways to amend the problem so that the medium doesn't take anything away from users but adds to their complete experience.  Of course typing it is very easy but I think it is trivial to fight change the way some people are doing.  The change is all around us and fighting it is a battle that will not be won. 

So with the reading of this article, I found that literacy has come to include reading, writing, and the skills to operate efficiently online.  Online work is cognitively challenging in capacities that are not present in reading a book and we need to fix issues to move forward to a more enriching future.

Week One Reading Response-New Literacies as a Social Practice

The quote, "The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways..." is substantial.  I think that as a society as we become more literate in new media it changes just as quickly.  In terms of what I do with text and making sense of it and how I use it to further my own education, I look towards Wikipedia.  To me, it embodies everything that is new media. 

Wikipedia, for those who are unfamiliar (probably no one), started as a free online encyclopedia that is edited by its users.  Genius right?  People that have extensive knowledge on any topic can relay it to the public in a format that is one, accessible and two immediate.  In my first experiences with the website I remember rejoicing because it gave me an avenue to quench my own inquisitive thirst.  So I read it for recreational purposes.  Who is so and so and what happened at this event are things that I researched.  I took what I read as truth because, when is the internet ever wrong? 

I was soon informed that everything on it was a lie, or at least should be scrutinized beyond all realistic questioning.  Reports came out stating that false information was posted and people used Wikipedia as the brunt of a joke.  When talking about  school reports and papers I constantly heard "You must use internet resources, and no, Wikipedia is not a valid source" from all my teachers.  How could something so noble be demonized so much?

But then, something great happened.  Wikipedia started to some of its information validated.  Someone (or many people) started verifying information on this once erroneous website.  And it is then that it was given some credence.  At the bottom of the page one can even see where the author has cited their sources.  When I started working in the high school library that I work in now, I realized that Wikipedia is an amazing resource. 

Evaluation
New media, as conveyed by Wilber article "Special themed issue: Beyond 'new' literacies" and the "Literacy and the New Technologies in School Education: Meeting the L(IT)eracy Challenge", is collaborative and participatory. It is through this that we have the breath of knowledge that we do at our fingertips because other people, sometimes with legitimate expertise, put information out there for use to use.  When I first started school, research was very difficult.  If you had no background knowledge of a particular, abstract topic, you faced an uphill battle.  Now the collaborations, which both serve to enrich our knowledge as well as "self verify" itself (conflicting information being scrutinized for apparent truth) give us something.  Wikipedia, which should never be the only resource, gives us a chance at some understanding.  Heck, I even looked up "New Media" and found some very interesting reading! So, the world is changing and  Rizvi and Lingard (1997) have found that "Students are not going to wait for their teachers to catch up with the new textual practices that they already prefer."  So we, as educators (prospective and current) can seek to utilize our new tools and reach our target audience better, on their (preferred) terms.  We should seek to make learning authentic and real and allow as many avenues of learning conveyance to be available to our students.   We need to make learning something that students take some responsibility for so that they have more connection with the content.  And as teachers, Wilber (2010) states, "[have a necessity to learn], as part of a new literacies framework, visual literacy and critical pedagogy, in order to engage students to better understand their world and construct learning." 

Sources:

Boomer, G., Green, e. B., & Teaching, A. A. (n.d.). Literacy and the new technologies in school education: Meeting the l(IT)eracy challenge? - Free Online Library. Free News, Magazines, Newspapers, Journals, Reference Articles and Classic Books - Free Online Library. Retrieved September 15, 2013

 Rizvi, F. & Lingard, B. 1997, `Foreword' in Page to Screen: Taking Literacy into the Electronic Era, ed. I. Snyder, Allen& Unwin, Sydney.

 

Wilber, D.J. (2010). Special themed issue: Beyond ʻnewʼ literacies. Digital Culture &

Education, 2:1, 1-6.

Starting Out

Hello to everyone!  I am excited to get started and figured I would create a post to see how this all works.  Honestly, I am excited to learn about all of the new technology and interested to see where it all coincides together.  With the advent of new technology, the world is literally at our fingertips and facilitating change in the world is clearly going to be more apparent as technology becomes more and more engrained in our daily lives, hopefully we do not see a dystopian future envisioned by James Cameron where technology takes over because of our human inadequacies, but only time can tell...