core 2

I have often wondered if I was taught at a much younger age how to use digital devices such as a computer, would I have learned how to use it easier and would I be more efficient at it now. This goes for any one as well. As I look at older generations of people that I know such as my grandparents, I notice something. Very rarely do they know fully how to use a computer. My grandparents can send emails and search for things on google.com but even these aspects of digital literacy can sometimes seem to throw them a curveball. I always found it interesting as well looking at the generations in my family and noticing their digital abilities. My great grandparents for example, I do not think ever in their lives even turned a computer on. My grandparents very recently learned some of the basics to working a computer, as mentioned above, they can send emails and turn the monitor on. Down the line to my parent now, they pretty much have a grasp on many of the things about a computer that they need to know in order to operate the business that they own. They know how to work Microsoft Excel because they need to make spreadsheets for different things every day for the business. They know how to send emails, search for things, and my father is actually pretty decent at taking care of viruses. Reason being is he had to learn how to do this because his business revolves around the computer sometimes. Now, to my generation which consists of my brother and I. We know more than our parents do but not much more. I know the things like Excel and Powerpoint just because I learned them in school. But I believe this generation proves the topic that I am writing about. If you look at my generation, why is that many people my age are incredibly digitally literate, while many of us are not even close to that level of digital literacy. The answer is in our childhoods. Growing up, if a child is taught how to work a simple computer, or even an electronic toy that is made to resemble a computer or even something like a toy cash register or calculator where numbers have to be input, then that child will most likely not only have a grasp on the concept of working a digital device, but also it is scientifically proven that during the early stages of our childhood, our brain can learn new things and concepts such as new languages and become literate quicker (digitally as well) than if you were to teach a fully grown person. Barbara R. Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne L. Flannigan wrote in their article entitled,”Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century”, that “Digital and visual literacies are the next wave of communication specialization. Most people will have technologies at their fingertips not only to communicate but to create, to manipulate, to design, to self-actualize. Children learn these skills as part of their lives, like language, which they learn without realizing they are learning it. Adults who did not grow up with technology continue to adapt from iteration to iteration. The senior population approaches the new literacy like a foreign language that is complex and perhaps of questionable use.” This can also create a problem when it comes to younger generations of children learning new material in the classroom in the future due to the fact that the younger generations always seem to be more advanced than much older generations. Barbara and Suzanne again go on to say that, “Our research suggests that the lack of education related to literacy is problematic, and the situation is exacerbated in the field of education. A common scenario today is a classroom filled with digitally literate students being led by linear-thinking, technologically stymied instructors. Although funds may be plentiful to purchase new equipment, wire classrooms, and order current software, few educational organizations have developed comprehensive technology plans that specify technical learning objectives or ensure successful integration of technology to enhance students’ digital and visual literacy. We have found a common void in professional development for faculty—training needed to gain the requisite computer skills to integrate technology into the curriculum effectively. Too often success occurs in pockets within the institution, where individually motivated faculty embrace advances in technology, mastering—on their own time—the skills needed to merge the digital world with academia.” This is a problem now and could possibly grow into a bigger one in the future. This brings me back to the topic of my paper. If all children were taught at a younger age both at school and at home how to work the different aspects of digital technology by their teachers and their parents then two things would happen. First, obviously the children would learn the the functions of the digital devices they are learning about, and second, the people, (parents and teachers), who are teaching them would learn as well how to work these devices just as well. That way there wouldn’t be this great divide between both students and teachers, and also young people and their peers who weren’t taught as well to use the digital devices. I fit in the second category. I never really grew up with a lot of instruction on how to work computers and such, but then again i never really had the desire to learn about them as much as some as my friends. Maybe if I had grown up and witnessed from someone else, such as an older brother or someone, the possibilities when using a computer and also the importance they would play in my life as I grew older, then maybe I would have had the desire to learn about them more. Self teaching is a great way to learn how to operate something and really just learn something in general but i think that actually teaching a child digital literacy at a young age would prove to be much more effective in helping that child become more digitally literate as they grew older.

core 2

I have often wondered if I was taught at a much younger age how to use digital devices such as a computer, would I have learned how to use it easier and would I be more efficient at it now. This goes for any one as well. As I look at older generations of people that I know such as my grandparents, I notice something. Very rarely do they know fully how to use a computer. My grandparents can send emails and search for things on google.com but even these aspects of digital literacy can sometimes seem to throw them a curveball. I always found it interesting as well looking at the generations in my family and noticing their digital abilities. My great grandparents for example, I do not think ever in their lives even turned a computer on. My grandparents very recently learned some of the basics to working a computer, as mentioned above, they can send emails and turn the monitor on. Down the line to my parent now, they pretty much have a grasp on many of the things about a computer that they need to know in order to operate the business that they own. They know how to work Microsoft Excel because they need to make spreadsheets for different things every day for the business. They know how to send emails, search for things, and my father is actually pretty decent at taking care of viruses. Reason being is he had to learn how to do this because his business revolves around the computer sometimes. Now, to my generation which consists of my brother and I. We know more than our parents do but not much more. I know the things like Excel and Powerpoint just because I learned them in school. But I believe this generation proves the topic that I am writing about. If you look at my generation, why is that many people my age are incredibly digitally literate, while many of us are not even close to that level of digital literacy. The answer is in our childhoods. Growing up, if a child is taught how to work a simple computer, or even an electronic toy that is made to resemble a computer or even something like a toy cash register or calculator where numbers have to be input, then that child will most likely not only have a grasp on the concept of working a digital device, but also it is scientifically proven that during the early stages of our childhood, our brain can learn new things and concepts such as new languages and become literate quicker (digitally as well) than if you were to teach a fully grown person. Barbara R. Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne L. Flannigan wrote in their article entitled,”Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century”, that “Digital and visual literacies are the next wave of communication specialization. Most people will have technologies at their fingertips not only to communicate but to create, to manipulate, to design, to self-actualize. Children learn these skills as part of their lives, like language, which they learn without realizing they are learning it. Adults who did not grow up with technology continue to adapt from iteration to iteration. The senior population approaches the new literacy like a foreign language that is complex and perhaps of questionable use.” This can also create a problem when it comes to younger generations of children learning new material in the classroom in the future due to the fact that the younger generations always seem to be more advanced than much older generations. Barbara and Suzanne again go on to say that, “Our research suggests that the lack of education related to literacy is problematic, and the situation is exacerbated in the field of education. A common scenario today is a classroom filled with digitally literate students being led by linear-thinking, technologically stymied instructors. Although funds may be plentiful to purchase new equipment, wire classrooms, and order current software, few educational organizations have developed comprehensive technology plans that specify technical learning objectives or ensure successful integration of technology to enhance students’ digital and visual literacy. We have found a common void in professional development for faculty—training needed to gain the requisite computer skills to integrate technology into the curriculum effectively. Too often success occurs in pockets within the institution, where individually motivated faculty embrace advances in technology, mastering—on their own time—the skills needed to merge the digital world with academia.” This is a problem now and could possibly grow into a bigger one in the future. This brings me back to the topic of my paper. If all children were taught at a younger age both at school and at home how to work the different aspects of digital technology by their teachers and their parents then two things would happen. First, obviously the children would learn the the functions of the digital devices they are learning about, and second, the people, (parents and teachers), who are teaching them would learn as well how to work these devices just as well. That way there wouldn’t be this great divide between both students and teachers, and also young people and their peers who weren’t taught as well to use the digital devices. I fit in the second category. I never really grew up with a lot of instruction on how to work computers and such, but then again i never really had the desire to learn about them as much as some as my friends. Maybe if I had grown up and witnessed from someone else, such as an older brother or someone, the possibilities when using a computer and also the importance they would play in my life as I grew older, then maybe I would have had the desire to learn about them more. Self teaching is a great way to learn how to operate something and really just learn something in general but i think that actually teaching a child digital literacy at a young age would prove to be much more effective in helping that child become more digitally literate as they grew older.