Digerate, Digeracy/Digiracy, & Digital Literacy

Okay, so I've spent the past week looking at the word "literacy" and has it has transformed over time into the phrase digital literacy. However, through this new phase of digital literacy, or the "new" literacies, the words "digerate," "digeracy," and "digiracy" have been coined. How much did I find on it? Well, little to nothing. I found a lot on digital literacy, but it seems a majority of the world has not adapted to this new way of saying digital literacy.

I did find this really different site that talks about being "digerate." The entire site is based on stretch-text, which is a new form of writing I have discovered. I haven't decided whether or not I really like the idea of stretch-text. At this point in time, I'm leaning towards the side of it being annoying and slightly aggravating as I'm not 100% sure where the text is taking me. Anyway, off my rant. Click the screen shot to explore the website. I'm curious to see what other people think of this set up.

As I've been exploring the new terms for digital literacy, I have discovered that I am not that adventurous and will not jump on the bandwagon...well, what seems to be a very small bandwagon. I, honestly, don't like the terms "digerate," "digeracy," and "digiracy." I feel that if it's not broken, don't fix it, and "digital literacy" has been doing a darn good job at describing...well...digital literacy. I feel that these "other" terms are doing the phrase an injustice. Is it really that hard to say digital literacy that it needs to be shortened? Okay, I'm ending my little tirade.

What I think is happening is that people think blending two words into one is a great idea. However, not everything needs to be one word. For some things it works, but for others it doesn't. Our language may become quite morphed if we continue to lean toward phrases modulating into one word. I say just leave it as digital literacy and bury "digerate," "digeracy," and "digiracy." I know this is just an opinion after doing research on the history of the word, but I'm entitled to my opinion, right?

Search Engines: Process of Finding & Learning

"The difficulty is that the searcher does not always know precisely what she means; if she did, she would have little need of searching. The word 'search' suggests that a person is interested in finding something that has been lost. People do use search engines for this, particularly to 're-find' information often they are hoping not to 'find' but to 'learn,' or to 'discover.' Perhaps, then, the ideal search engine does not just understand what you desire, but knows what the user wants even when she does not know herself." (Halavais 35)

I never really took the time to ponder what search engines do to our world, to the education system, to my every day life. I can't even tell you how many times I've used a search engine. I can guarantee that, today alone, I have "Googled" a word or phrase AT LEAST a few dozen or so different times. Honestly, I do not know what life was like before search engines, specifically Google...because I am a Google-junkie.

As I was reflecting on this particular passage from the chapter, I immediately thought of one of the teachers I work with who teaches world history. This particular teacher has decided to implement a research project, as a way to introduce the beginnings of research writing. The students' task: search a topic and write about the findings.

The students think the project is monotonousness. However, what they have found is that by merely searching what they think is a common topic, they end up learning something they didn't know. As I have had the opportunity to watch them search and see the light bulb go on (since I work a few hours a week as a media specialist), I have been able to connect what Halavais means about the finding-learning/discovering connection.

Students do not realize that "the ideal search engine does not just understand what [they] desire, but knows what [they want] even when [they do] not know [themselves]" (Halavais 35). Since students do not always realize this truth, I believe that a part of the role as a teacher is to show students all the advantages of search engines. Many times, teachers assume students know everything about technology, but I have found that students only know what they use everyday (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.) or really just what they WANT to know. Teachers need to take the time to educate students on all the possibilities technology has. You never know, something might peak their interest. Although, isn't that the goal of teaching--to help the students find connections to their lives and interests?

Writing as Connection

"The connection paradigm...values the negotiation of contexts, the ability to 'write with fragments' ([Johnson-Eilola in "Negative Spaces: From Production to Connection in Composition"] 24). In this approach, writers focus on reorganizing and rerepresenting existing (and equally intertextualized) texts--their own included--in ways that are meaningful to specific audiences" (Selber 135).

Reading the entire first portion of "Rhetorical Literacy" in Multiliteracies for a Digital Age made me shout in agreement, "YES! YES! YES!" Okay, well I didn't do any of it out loud, but the inside of my head was going crazy in excitement agreeing with what Selber had to say. Being not only an English teacher but also a special education teacher, I am HUGE on connection to texts. Honestly, I feel without connection the student will fail. Maybe not necessarily receive a failing grade, but the students will fail in taking away something essential from the class. Also, I believe that if we, as teachers, don't give multiple opportunities for allowing students to connect to the text, we have failed in our role as an educator. 

If there is no connection, my question is: what becomes the point of teaching the topic? The connection paradigm allows the teacher and the students to reflect on why this is essential both now and in the future. So, let's go out there and teach students to connect to the text by reorganizing and rerepresenting existing text, along with adding original input. This will give students a motive for actually having to learn the material and work with the text.

Applying Wikis to Teaching

A great opportunity to collaborate. An ideal way to keep everything accessible in one area. A past fascination. These are all words I use to describe wikis. I used to LOVE wikis. When I first started the Written Communication program, I thought for sure I would be doing my final project on wikis. If you would have asked me a year and a half ago, I would have guaranteed that was the path I wanted to travel, and that wikis were my passion.

Obviously, things have changed, as I've been introduced to different (and dare I say, more exciting) things. Don't get me wrong, I still believe there is merit to wikis, but they have grown old to me...at this time, at least. However, I still like talking about all the different ways I've used wikis in the past.

How have I used them? Well, I'm glad you asked. It all began during my undergraduate years (fall semester of 2007, to be exact), while taking an assistive technology course for my special education degree. Just to give a little background, this was the class that made me realize how much I have a PASSION for technology in education. Anyway, this teacher had a class wiki, a PBwiki, that we dialogued on regarding  assistive technology devices, software, websites, etc. Finally, the sun was peaking through the downpour of rain. I never understood what collaboration, team building, class effort was like until the wiki. Okay, well I may be slightly exaggerating that fact, but the truth is, that day, I fell in love with wikis (really, this part I'm NOT exaggerating).

I ended up doing an honors project for this class, and take a guess what I did! Come on, I bet you'd never guess! Well, it was a wiki. Shocked?!?! Of course you're not because I just got through saying how much I loved wikis. So, I began to complete an online encyclopedia of assistive technology devices that described and reviewed all things related to assistive technology.

It didn't end there. While I was a student teacher in a high school English classroom 2 1/2 years ago, I helped my cooperating teacher incorporate a wiki in the Steinbeck unit. She had never used one, which gave me the opportunity to help her through the process of setting it up. Even though I left part way through the use of the wiki, I would check in periodically (as I was doing my special education student teaching in the same building) to see how everything was going. She enjoyed using the wiki. It was a great place for dialoguing. It was a great place for observing collaboration.

As you can probably tell, I still really enjoy the possibilities of wikis. I think they have a lot to offer, if used properly. However, my world has recently been opened to other pieces of technology that can be incorporated in the classroom, such as blogs and Google docs. So, currently, I'm focused on learning more about incorporating those, along with other up-and-coming technologies that will attract students to learn.