Blog 3

“Contemporary literacy learners-across positions of age, gender, race, class, and language heritage- find themselves having to piece together reading and writing experience from more and more spheres, creating new and hybrid forms of literacy where once there might have been fewer and more circumscribed forms.”

It’s interesting to think about literacy building up on itself and creating new forms. In my family I think about building up literacy in the ways that I teach my parents how to use their Iphones and computers. Both my parents who are college graduates obviously are very literate but have a hard time grasping technology literacies. It is the same for my Nana who recently got her first computer. She’s very smart and loves to read, but this different type of literacy is extremely hard for her to learn. Having never used a technology like that, I could understand how difficult it would be. I think it’s different for our generation though; we are able to learn and adapt so easily it’s kind of insane. I feel like I adapt to computer programs and social media sites at least once every semester, and it’s not a problem. I actually just switched over from a PC to a Mac, which is like a whole different language.

As we grow up, we learned older types of literacies and then began to pile newer forms on top of the older ones, so we’re constantly been adapting due the technological advances that have happened in our lifetimes. My relatives learned the older literacies, can’t really grasp the same technological literacies as easily. It’s painful to watch my Mom try to type things on her phone or the computer. Whereas we learned the QWERTY keyboard in computer classes in elementary school, our parents did not. I also think that AIM made my typing skills a lot better than they were—another mode of literacy that my parents did not partake in. Each of these technologies were accessible because my school provided them, but my parents would have to actually sign up for a computer skills class, something they are encouraging my Nana to do right now.

I’m also taking a Shakespeare class this semester, and reading his plays takes me so much longer than it should. It is definitely hard to mix old and new literacies but I think that skill is going to be a big part of future literacy. Being able to adapt quickly as well as blend different types of literacies together will be crucial.