Week 2 - Blog Posting #3 - Media Literacy

"In the 20th century, literacy meant the ability to read, write and present cogent arguments on paper. In the 21st century, literacy is going to extend well beyond that and into what could be termed, a language of screens." (Barish, 2002)

If somebody asked me to describe how media has affected literacy, … the first thought that comes to mind is, … who uses paper anymore?  Really?  As teachers, we still have to give assignments on paper inside the classroom, but as students in an online environment, we don’t have to touch our thoughts on paper unless we want to.  Now we type in Microsoft word where our words are displayed across the page displayed on an image of a piece of paper that we cut and past into a blog or load to a internet platform … not the same thing.   

If we are working collaboratively in groups, with such tools as google docs, we can even type on our screen and click save so that our thoughts are immediately shared with others who can access that information from anywhere they can get onto the internet. 

So what, then, is the effect media has on literacy?  Many people are striving to define media literacy.  Some terms being thrown around are: play, performance, simulation, appropriation, multitasking, distributed cognition, collective intelligence, judgment, transmedia navigation, networking, negotiation, art, speaking, presenting, formatting and storytelling, to name a few … whew what a mouthful. 

 Gee (2004) calls these new informal learning cultures "affinity spaces". If we are able to embrace the learning curve, these environments "bring differences in age, class, race, gender, and educational levels. People have varying skills and interests and an participate in different ways. We teach each other, and are motivated to build on our skills and knowledge."  So learn, and add knowledge to what you know.  If we share what we know with others it will help us all create a more meaningful world of collaborative communication.