Student Number: 42323848
Course: EDUC1707
Assessment: 1-Literacy Profile
Literacy Profile.
The first thing I did when I received this assignment was to go online and search, what is a literacy profile? I have never seen one before. I started to wander, what could I put in my literacy profile? What would I add? Then it hit me, I was being literate in the 21st century just by searching and using the technologies I had. Really being literate in this century doesn’t require us to be able to even write what would be considered an ‘English sentence’.
(Being literate in the 21st century doesn't require a pen,
Being able to be literate in all these different technologies is an important part of being social in the generation in which we live. It even requires that we be able to use multiple technologies at once. I found this out recently, when I spent 3 months working in The United States in the state of Indiana. With a 14-hour time difference to Brisbane, Brookston wasn’t an easy place to live and still keep in regular contact with family and friends. However, I did have access to technologies, such as; the Internet, mobile communication and ‘snail mail’. The Internet provided many platforms for which I could communicate with family and friends that usually I may not have been able to keep in touch with. Facebook was one that I used in particular as well as Skype, and both of these allowed real-time communication, with quality and affordability. I was able to communicate via a status, chat with friends, comment on photos and more! I was 'produsing'. As I was working over there, I would have limited time off which would interfere with the time I was able to spend talking to people back home. So another platform that worked well was the camp I was working for had a website in which they published pictures to of the days activities, this allowed family and friends (my Mum in particular) to ensure I was doing fine (and still alive as Mum would say). All of these combined allowed me to be classed as a ‘produser’.
(Picture from mud hike at camp, from the camp website,
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2082560821336&set=t.1179092787&type=1)
Though I was living overseas, I was still able to engage in many day to day literacy practices. Most of which I would have used if I was still in Australia. Not a day goes by without checking Facebook, my email, even online material for my job. The biggest advancement, however, is how mobile this all can be. My phone doesn’t leave my side all day and even at night it’s on my bedside table next to me charging. I can do everything I need from my iPhone and all with the convenience of being wireless. It only requires a connection to 3G (or and older system if I have enough patience) and it’s like being connected to a hardwired Internet connection with access to the whole world. Using these now seamlessly integrated technologies in my life has given me ease and allowed me to use my time much more productively; for work, university and just simply socializing. Even just 3 years ago I couldn’t take a photo, upload it and ‘tag’ my friends in just a few minutes. These are my simple but yet so important and seemingly ‘normal’ literacy practices I engage with everyday.
(The universally recognised 'Facebook' icon, http://www.freakyperfect.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/05/facebookIcon.png)
Another interesting part of living in America was the different words we used, different way we used words and how differently we would spell them. One of my tasks was to write letters how to the parents of the campers that lived in my cabin. That was fine until I had to spell a word like ‘Mom’ and I used a ‘u’ or I would spell ‘Nature Centre’ and have the ‘er/re’ around the wrong way, then have to re-write the whole page.
The level of literacy amongst campers also surprised me a lot. I had 9-11 year olds and some tasks we did, it would require them to read a simple sentence of 6-12 words. Most of them struggled with this. It allowed me to reflect back to my own level of literacy at that age. I remember I was able to spell and read quite complex sentences. I wasn’t the most sociable student but I definitely had a handle on the content I was learning in the classroom that particular year and this allowed me to have building blocks and further excel through reading more and more difficult novels. I remember impressing my 6th grade teacher when I finished John Marsden’s “Tomorrow, When the War Began”, in a single week! She told me she even had trouble with it and processing how heavy of a novel it was to read. Maybe the level or focus of reading isn’t as strong as it used to be as teachers try to prepare for NAPLAN rather than actual practicalities of life.
I also remember having flash cards for spelling. They were grouped into levels and as you got better you would progress the levels. I feel like spelling was another strength that I had and this was linked quite closely to the level of reading ability I had at that time. Another method of spelling I had just come back to me was the; Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check. Then write the meaning and use it in a sentence for homework. I’m not sure I ever really liked that way and I don’t think I would use it teaching, for some reason I would never do those set tasks. I would rather a challenge of how quickly I could read a book (I was always honest and genuine) or the challenge of a teacher trying to get me to spell a difficult word. If I couldn’t spell that word, THEN I would go look it up and spell it properly several times, otherwise I just felt as if my time was being wasted. Instead, I was allowed to read texts of power and issues such as social justice, this all allowed me to be open to a world of 'critical literacies'. It was critical that I was engaged at such a young age and exposed to ‘critical literacies’ and that teachers were able to mobilise this need for critical analysis into something that could be used to my benefit within the classroom. I feel, by the level I reached quickly, teachers were able to satisfy this and hence the reason I can comprehend and analyse text even today to a higher distinction than others.
(Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check; from homework book,
Everything I have ever written and have marked, or read has helped shaped the conventions on how I write on a daily basis, even this I have just written. My literacy profile is wide, broad and dynamic and no doubt will be fluid for the rest of my life when I use the skills given to me by the teachers that engaged me with literacies. It is an important skill to be able to analyse and deconstruct text to be able to use it in every possible way. Whilst the 21st century becomes more technologically advanced with methods of being literate, I think it is also important to be able to carefully read fine print, understand technical jargon and comprehend all the important bits in a mass of text. The world has changed, gone forever are the days of messengers on horseback with the king’s wax seal on his letters, now are the days of digital signatures and emails with microsecond send times. This is what dictates our curriculum and the way we teach.
(Privacy and security and a lot further improved in the 21st century,
A movie to ponder, it gets you thinking and really reflects on the time that has past. How far will we go in our lifetimes?
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9ZRDRPqoXo )
References:
Barton, D. (2000). Situated Literacies; Reading and writing in context: Routledge.
Comber, B. (2001). Critical Literacy: power and pleasure with language and literacy in the early years. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 24(3), 168-181
Hague, C. (2009). Digital participation, digital literacy, and school subjects. Retrieved August 21,2011, from www.futurelab.org.au
Nutt, A. (2008). The Differences Between American, British, and Australian English. Retrieved August 20, 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Differences-Between-American,-British,-and-Australian-English&id=1729247
Vasquez, V. (2001). 'Negotiating critical literacies with young children', in B. Camber, B. & A. Simpson (Eds.) Negotiating Critical Literacies in Classrooms, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Malwah, New Jersey.
21st Century Literacy (2008). Retrieved August 21, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9ZRDRPqoXo
