Tag: richreflection

NOTE: This post can also be read here at the book’s wiki, although that may be an edited version. Reflections from my classmates can be found at Nousion Readings.

The following are my  Rich Reflections of Doug Belshaw’s book, The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies for ED F654.

Chapter 6 – Curiosity created the LOLcat

In this chapter Belshaw explores memes and how they are comprised of many elements of digital literacy. I found this interesting when LOLcat was introduced in a previous chapter. I hadn’t really thought much about memes, other than their reflection of our culture.

The idea that they are a remix is intriguing. In fact, remixing in general is interesting because as previously presented, there is very little (or no) original thought–it’s all a remix. That said, I think you create something original through the remix.  Belshaw says, “The notion of an ‘original creative act’ is an interesting one–especially when we consider that in this case the ‘original work’ was actually it. It turtles all the way down.”  I don’t understand the turtles expression, but perhaps that is cultural.

By unpacking memes, Belshaw illustrated how many of his essential elements of digital literacy were involved. This chapter makes me want to try my own hand at creating a meme. Patricia Bruder shares some interesting ideas for classroom use of memes at Ermahgerd– Memes in the Classroom?

I created this meme.

Chapter 7 – Remix: the heart of digital literacies

I’m glad that I actually caught on to the importance of remixing in the previous chapter. I appreciated Belshaw’s discussion of copyright and attribution. The difference between the analogue world and the digital realm is one I have struggled with in the past and the chapter helped me feel more confident about what is and isn’t okay to do.

I agree when Belshaw states, “The central difference between the digital and analogue worlds that I have experienced ruing my lifetime has to do with reverence. There appears to be a finality about analogue communication and media that does not translate to the digital world.”

I also found his conclusion exciting that learning driven by interest as being one of the best ways to learn in the digital environment, as well as that the work can be a remix instead of created by the individual from start to finish.

That said, I was puzzled by his ending bullet point, “Copyright and attribution are related by importantly different.” I don’t know what means, unless by is supposed to be but.

Although I’ve only read the synopsis, lawyer Lawrence Lessig has written some books on the topic of creative property in the digital world, one which is Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in a Hybrid Economy.  It appears that he explores the differences between analogue and digital culture, and posits that copyright laws stifle creativity. Recognizing the two are different seems to be in sync with Belshaw’s discussion.

Chapter 8 – Coding and the web

After getting the reader on board with web literacy vs. digital literacy, he discusses coding. I’ve heard of learning to ‘code’ many times but never bothered to discern what was being referenced–was it html, css, visual basic, mySql? Belshaw’s definition is, “Coding means the ability to read and write a machine language… Coding means the ability to think computationally.” This is non-specific, probably intentionally, because it seems that any of the languages I mentioned or a multitude of others would be ‘coding.’ I think I do understand what he means to think computationally.

Years ago I was a student in a course with our instructor where we learned some basic mySql. I discovered that although I usually came up with the correct result, my approach was often the long way round because my computational thinking was not well developed. Similarly, I struggled to learn Fortran back in 1975, translating flow charts into keypunch cards. Initially, I wondered why we need to know coding, but I concur that it can be helpful in the digital realm. Reading Dave McFarland’s blog post,  The Real Reason Why Everyone Should Learn to Code, and Kyle Pearce’s article at DIY Genius,  Why You Should Learn to Code (And How to actually Do It!) give further credence to learning to code. That said, interest in learning code as well as seeing the benefit of learning code (not everyone will find a use for it) are probably the greatest encouragements to learn coding.

I enjoyed reading Belshaw’s struggles to explain how he learns best. I also struggle with finding out which resources and learning activities work best for me. I also agree that the web has shown that a person doesn’t have to learn everything about a subject. I’d take that even further and say one probably can’t learn everything there is to know about a subject, because there is always more.

Belshaw says, “Just as one has to learn how to ‘do school’, so we need to learn how to learn online before we can actually do so.” I have found the transition difficult personally and am still trying to find my own keys to success in online classes.

Chapter 9 – Conclusion

Doug Belshaw’s final chapter was a brief summation of his book and refreshingly included a request for readers to comment, contribute, remix, practice their own digital literacy skills. Though my reflections may have sounded somewhat critical as I read his book, I found it very worthwhile reading. I plan to follow up on several of the links within the text to experiment with the ideas presented. I appreciate his highlighted quote, “This book is yours to read, but also to rip and remix.” I haven’t read that before in a book.

I also appreciated his beginning sentence, “In many ways, the conclusion to this book isn’t mine to write.” This ambiguous idea of digital literacy will certainly morph over time. He did very well identifying and discussing elements to examine more closely and explore.

NOTE: This post can also be read here at the book’s wiki, although that may be an edited version. Reflections from my classmates can be found at Nousion Readings.

The following are my  Rich Reflections of Doug Belshaw’s book, The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies for ED F654.

We weren’t asked to reflect on the preface, but I was intrigued with the Open Beta self-publishing method Belshaw described. The concept of purchasing an almost blank book and reading it as it develops is a new one to me. It presents an opportunity to know the author in a different way.

Chapter 1 – Introduction

The author, Doug Belshaw, introduces not only what is to be found in each chapter but begins with a caution: “I’m going to begin with a bit of a warning.”  Who would not want to continue reading with that beginning sentence? Most educationese that I read does not begin with an arresting sentence nor does it give the reader the immediate reassurance that the document will be readable without a dictionary constantly at your side.

Belshaw states that, “Whatever you’re looking to do, my aim is for this book to leave you asking the right questions.”  I immediately wonder whether I’ll figure out what those are.

He says Chapter 3 is an odd beast. Will I be able to decipher his points or get lost in his discussion of ambiguity?

After going through so many sources for our Dig Cit assignment, I’m interested to see what his eight elements of digital literacies will be.  Mike Ribble of digitalcitizenship.net as well as other sites had defined nine elements of digital citizenship, of which digital literacy is one. I have included an eye-catching graphic from Fractus Learning. No wonder our course topic is so huge–each element is comprised of so many more!

I am interested to see that chapter 2 will posits that we don’t really understand traditional literacy. In an earlier blog post of mine, I approached the problem of defining ‘digital literacy’ as first figuring out what ‘literacy’ means. Perhaps I had a flash of being on the right track.

Chapter 2 – What’s the problem?

Belshaw begins with the problem of trying to define digital literacy. This leads him to explore the word ‘literacy.’ However, when he says “it is fair to consider ‘literacy’ as a kind of  conceptual shorthand, “ I have no idea what he is saying. Then I tried to break down what ‘conceptual’ and what ‘shorthand’ each mean and am still stuck. I can concur with his idea that literacy considerations may be based somewhat on age expectations. Expectations are found to be determined by society.

As I read, I began to count myself as one of the less literate, because I had to look up elided.  I think that was part of my literacy test. When he began to talk about different types of literacy (visual, health, information, gardening, digital) I see it all comes down to communication. The type of literacy will vary over time but it comes down to using whatever tool is necessary for communication and processing those thoughts.  These ideas put me in mind of Berger and Luckmann’s book, The Social Construction of Reality where one’s perceptions and thus reality, are shaped by social contexts and norms.

I agree with Belshaw’s Toffler quote, “Tomorrow’s illiterate will not be the man who can’t read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn.” Future common modes of communication  (whatever they may be) must be mastered.

Belshaw’s use of the term ‘zeugma’ seemed almost amusing because it has its own ambiguous meanings. No additional clarity shared for me there.

At the end, Belshaw has four summary bullet points. His second was “Literacy always  involves technology.” I didn’t think he made that point. I thought the point that he made was that literacy always involved some sort of tool.

Chapter 3 – Everything is ambiguous

Unfortunately, I did not have the option of skipping this chapter as the author kept encouraging his readers to do.

I was not surprised to read, “The continuum I have referenced above was a key part of my doctoral thesis.” It certainly read like something a researcher had written to express what most of us intuitively know; the creation of new terms, breaking down each topic into smaller and smaller bits was another clue. Such is the way of education where we scrutinize the minutia of anything or everything. I’m not saying what he had to say wasn’t valid, but when a writer begins creating his own terminology to delve deeper and deeper, I suspect a thesis is involved. It is just contrary to the streamlined writing that I teach, so I struggle with it.

Yes, I suppose everything is ambiguous, but we all just have to make our best effort to find an appropriate communication channel and consider our reader’s background, communication skills, culture, experience, and context when possible. Each person has their individual interpretation, so some degree of ambiguity is inevitable. Feedback can help determine whether the desired communication occurred.

My reflection so far has assumed that ambiguity is something to be avoided. However, in 1984 Eisenberg wrote “Ambiguity as Strategy in Organizational Communication.” Ambiguity may be quite effective, especially when you want your audience to be open to receive what is said.

Again, I’m not sure the text of the chapter matches Belshaw’s summary points (it’s a bit ambiguous).

Chapter 4 – Why existing models of digital literacy don’t work

I was interested to read what existing models are and how they are flawed, according to Belshaw:

• Linear progression in formal education, regardless of appropriateness for individual
• Teaching skills without a context. Students must be able to transfer and apply them.
• Tendency to create blocks of learning on a linear pathway for students.
• Equating literacy with a ‘skill’ to be learned instead of recognizing that there are many different literacies.

I agree with his first point. There are many paths to attaining digital skills. How many of us can even recall exactly when or how we learned how to use email? Do email skills have to be a prerequisite for all other online activity? Not necessarily. So I think yes, if we think of a toolbag of digital skills, the order that they are assembled is not critical in many instances. You don’t have to be a typist to use a word processor, although it is certainly more efficient. I encourage my Excel students to learn the number keypad by touch, but they will seek that tool when they feel the need to do so.

I agree that students need to be able to transfer and apply skills. Part of learning a programming language is to accomplish an outcome.

Regarding blocks of linear pathways, Belshaw states that “… letting the learner roam, whilst providing just-in-time support, can lead to a much richer and more enjoyable experience. They can see how it all fits together, even if they haven’t got all of the detail and nuance just yet.” I agree with this only to a point. As a student, I find it very frustrating to get only vague responses from an instructor when I am stuck because I try to exhaust available resources before requesting help.

Belshaw’s example of encoded images was a good visual example of having an idea of where learning is heading as opposed to the outcome being a total mystery. I find students are more motivated if they know where their learning leads. I like goal motivation.

Belshaw’s TED talk discussed memes and how they can spread ideas quickly in a remixed version. In Belshaw’s TED Talk, he emphasizes remixing as being right at the heart of digital literacies. In that video, he said,

” So this is the world in which we live. This is the world where ideas spread very quickly and can be remixed. It’s a world where the knowledge, skills, and ideas that we’ve got can’t be learned just once for all time because digital literacies practices are constantly in flux. It’s a lifelong project that all of us need to be involved in.

So, in conclusion, I think we need to move beyond mere elegant consumption. We need to try and encourage people to remix stuff, especially young people because digital literacy practices change over time. Let’s focus on people’s interests to develop their own intrinsic motivation and let’s start with some kind of progressive framework something like the 8 essential elements of digital literacies.” 

Stephen Downes also touts memes as a tool to amplify an idea in his presentation about LOLcat, http://www.downes.ca/presentation/233

Chapter 5 – The essential elements of digital literacies

Belshaw gives an overview of each of the elements he considers most essential, based on his research and that of others. I thought it interesting and appropriate that the elements are not weighted the same, nor are they often entirely separate from each other. His use of the word ‘privileged’ gave me pause, as I had not heard it used with the meaning given, but I suspect that is a cultural difference. Again that is interesting because culture overlays all of the other elements.

I think it is very true that, “The Cultural element of digital literacies is best acquired by being immersed in a range of digital environments.” In the next paragraph he states, “If educational institutions are to prepare young people for the wider world,they need to be showing them how to navigate across various digital contexts and cultures.”

In Belshaw’s discussion of the Cognitive element he states, ” As with all of these essential elements of digital literacies, they’re best developed through immersion.” I think that is key to the elements–they cannot be focused on completely individually, but all overlap and are enmeshed with each other. An important point was that a variety of authors and approaches should be made available to learners. I find that in my spreadsheets class where the primary focus is Excel. Students are sometimes surprised when we switch to Google spreadsheets or other online spreadsheet sources. I feel they need to feel confident in using whatever tool is available.

At Connected Principals, Lyn Hilt discusses “What is Digital Literacy?” and shares two graphics of the eight essential elements and discusses how hard it is to pin down a definition.  I agree with Hilt’s statement, “Digital literacy doesn’t include a sequential set of skills. There’s a lot more “messing around” involved, and it’s subjective and highly contextual.” 

 

 

 

Here is Dr. Belshaw’s slidedeck, which  includes some good visuals in his exploration of digital literacies: