Literacy Debate Follow-Up Post

What counts as literacy?

            After reading “Literacy Debate- Online, R U Really Reading?” by Motoko Rich I began to really think about what it truly means to read in the so-called “Digital Age.” I believe that literacy can come in the form of both online text and paper text or another words what one reads online and what one reads in a book. Similar to the opinions of Nadia, Zachary, and Hunter I consider that the Internet will continue to create a new kind of reading, writing and discovery method for finding out information.  Regardless of how or what one is reading/writing, individuals are exposing themselves to words on a page and a storyline. The format of the two options are definitely different seeing as reading in a book the words go from left to right and on the internet it can be more scattered, however, the individual is still practicing the literacy skills needed to acquire information by exposing themselves to text and information to expand their learning, thinking, imagination, etc. Literacy via the Internet can benefit all kinds of children and can cater to all different kind of learners. For example, Linda Jackson’s research study showed that low-income students who were given Internet access improved their standardized reading test scores. In addition, the environment of reading online whether at home or in school can provide more comfort to people with learning disabilities like Hunter. Whether one is reading an ebook online, writing a blog, reading current-event articles, or simply scanning sources of interest, literacy is being practiced even if it is not in the most traditional sense (Rich, 2008.)

How does literacy change in response to the new media landscape?

            Throughout the years, literacy has begun to re-define itself in an effort to keep up with the dynamic media world we live in today. Deborah Konyk, Nadia’s mother, grew up in a world where reading only came in one form- via a book.  However, due to all the advancements we have made in technology, the new media landscape revolves around the use of the Internet.  Because of this ever-popular and ever-growing Internet, literacy evolved from reading and writing on paper and books and expanded to also include typing as a form of writing and reading online. In addition, because of the new forms literacy has begun to take on, the ways in which we assess our students must as well. Although the USA isn’t quite ready for a change in assessment, other countries have begun to implement testing a child on his/her Internet proficiency (Rich, 2008). I believe that within the next few years our country will begin to assess students on their proficiency via the Internet (at least in terms of literacy) as well because of the popularity in literacy online.  As long as the current media landscape grows and advances, literacy will always be changing in an effort to stimulate the minds of individuals by giving them connections to draw upon and link together.

What value should we ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online?

When thinking about the value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to evolve online (Jenkins, 2009) I agree with Motoko Rich 2008) when he exclaimed that “The question of how to value different kinds of reading is complicated because people read for many reasons.”  It is because of this that I feel as if the amount of value ascribed to new forms of communication and literacy should depend on the specific form itself. For example, Nadia reads stories online that are nearly 45 pages long. Because of the spelling and grammatical errors that the reading contains the value I would place on this kind of interest geared reading is significantly low. However, this type of reading clearly sparks and strengthens her imagination and creativity as it enables her to add characters and come up with alternate twists throughout the story, which shows me there is still value to be had in terms of Nadia’s benefit. When comparing the Internet to a book, I agree with Zachary when he exclaimed, “The web is more about a conversation- books are more one-way” (Rich, 2008.)  In terms of communication, the internet gives people from all over the world a chance to give their opinion while reading other opinions through tasks like blogging and commenting underneath articles- some scholarly some not.  People on an individual level need to weigh how much value they are going to put on a particular source(s). I personally think that there is definitely some value to be taken out of the communication that continues to evolve online as well as some value that should always be ascribed to literacy in its traditional form. 

Rich, M. (2008, July 27). Literacy debate: Online, r u really reading? . The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1379784618-Lf7u/8E lKFkO2X0GO1B7Q