Everyday Literacies

I currently rely heavily on digital technology as a course designer and student. In the past as a course designer I would find myself developing courseware and then printing it out for proofreading and editing purposes. Now days I find it so much easier to run it through online proofreading programmes designed specifically to pick up known errors.  Additionally when developing courseware online I never have to worry about formatting, spelling, and vocabulary errors as I can just delete, retype and reformat instantly.

As a student I rely on digital technology for every aspect of my studies. When I was studying towards my undergraduate I remember obtaining hardcopies of research papers and physically highlighting areas of interest and accruing a mound of paper which was very hard to organise. I absolutely love the opportunity as a student now to be able to classify and organise information using digital technology. Hartnett et al(2015) calls it e-learning. E-learning has been infused into educational culture that positively allows a students to use e-learning capabilities to augment their learning whilst creating unique digitial posrtfolios that illustrate their depth of learning.  

I also run an informal playgroup and virtually all my information, tasks and crafts are easily accessible online and from other mums groups. It is amazing how ideas for some crafts have their origins in a random playgroup in America, and thanks to the power of connection of the internet, we have the ability to use those very ideas in a random playgroup in New Zealand.

Interestingly, my daughter’s kindergarten has recently changed over to an online version of those hardcover portfolios. Whilst they still keep the hardcopy (every child has their own portfolio) and update it with stories, their new online programme is absolutely amazing, parents can write and share their thoughts and comments on stories that the teachers post. There is an element of privacy as well as only stories shared with a child is seen by the parents unless it is a community post. It is colourful and most importantly it is interactive. Gee (1996) speaks of this sociocultural new literacy, that sharing if meaning is a new literacy. Sharing of meaning in information is apparent when parents for example are able to meaningfully share stories and commonalities of their kids on an online based learning platform, it is called storypark.

I have a ten month old baby too and I really hope I won’t be judged for this but I let him explore and play with an ipad. It is amazing to see his development and interaction with apps that are appropriate for his age. He has actually learned cause and effect from pressing buttons and acknowledging that there is an outcome from the button being pressed. The app that he uses is a little mobile phone and when he presses buttons they take him to the next screen where a song plays according to the number he presses. My four year old knows how to navigate her way around the ipad as well. It is unbelievable how advanced they are.

As for non digital technology, I would go as far as to say that I have almost forgotten what my handwriting looks like. Lists for groceries are made on my mobile, social media like whatsapp and emails have taken over.

I am a proponent of online technology because nothing can get lost in a drawer! Surprisingly though I don’t have facebook but my reasons are not based on the convenience of facebook but because I prefer more private platforms of personal information sharing.

Hartnett, M., Davis, N. E., & Fields, A. (2015). Editorial: Back to the future—predicting possibilities in open, flexible, and distance learning. Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning, 19(2), [1–7].