Experimentation is the Way to Go

Digital literacies have to be taught first by the initial teachers who are experts in digital literacies. Those pioneers are our guides to learning how to use different forums for digital expression. How to guides is the main way that we create an understanding of the functions of the social media/online medium site. We watch our friends use different sites and we pick the social site that supports the ways in which we express ourselves. These are different from paper literacies because they can function with pictures and videos. They can be interactive and link to different videos, sites, powerpoints and images that move and embody a thought. Similarly, they function as being the basis of understanding and exploration. They encourage experimentation and have rules and negotiations of responses posed with questions. The author and the reader are allowed to ponder questions and make their own connections. But with online digital literacy comes a great deal of reach. You are able to reach further and harder into the ether of the audiences that are connected to what you are connected to. What changes is learning how to relate to all audiences at large and also how to get the attention of people amongst all the shouting voices around you. Making yourself stand out is important. The process of becoming digitally literate is knowing how to use these online sources and sites to your advantage. What makes you literate is learning how to use them to be heard. What sponsors me is the movement towards having to be competent enough to use them to be found and heard so that I can compete against all the other candidates for jobs and so that I am relatable to the kids that I will be teaching once I am cleared to teach in the classroom.