"If people are not taught the language of images and sound, shouldn’t they be considered as illiterate as if they left college without being able to read and write?"
“We must accept the fact that learning how to communicate with graphics, with music, with cinema, is just as important as communicating with words. Understanding these rules is as important as learning how to make a sentence work. ”
These two quotes are about the perspectives on digital literacy. In today’s table discussions, we group talked about its definition and exchanged opinions on it. We thought that it was partially true in current trends, but it all depends on the extent to which he/ she relies on digital world in his/her everyday life, such as whether digital world is related to his/her job, or how often he/ she has to use digital world. Yes, I agree that it would be much better and convenient if one masters the skill in well communicating with images and sound, for social networking or in working settings. To those seniors or old generations, however, who don’t have to frequently use digital technology for communication, the traditional way to communicate with others might also be valid and useful. In this case, digital literacy is not as important as “learning how to make a sentence work”.
It also reminds me of a funny comparison between my retired parents and 11-year old cousin. Just in grade 5, my cousin has interacted with digital world for more than two years, it seems he is learning the digital technology by himself through playing online games and improving digital communication skills by using various online chatting tools. By contrast, my parents are just at entry level on computer, they are even learning how to download and save files to their computer, let alone using images and sound for online communication. I cannot help questioning, “does it mean my 11-year old cousin has a better digital literacy than my parents? ”; “So what?” If we strictly follow the definition, the answer might be “yes”. But, so what? Is it necessary for my parents to improve their digital literacy to catch up with the current trend? Not necessarily. In my parents’ case, they got used to traditional ways and don’t have to use digital tools to make friends, to work or construct the sense of community. All they need online is talking with me and receiving the files/photos I send to them. That’s it! They told me they don’t have to spend time on figuring out various digital tools to improve computer or digital skills, because there is no need for them. I think my parents’ case is not a unique one, but represents many cases of the old generations.
Although we can do tons of things by using digital technologies, many of us still rely on traditional ways under many circumstances. It does not mean that we deny the digital world, but prefer a mixed way of combining the new technology and the traditional ways in order to work better. I noticed that in my twelve courses, more than half of the professors printed out our final papers, marking them and commenting on the hardcopies. I also found that many of my classmates in different classes, including me, usually printed out reading materials and highlighted the important contents. It seems that working with hardcopies is handy, easier for us to work and think. We can read it on the bus, or wait for others, don’t have to concern about the battery issue. Of course, different people have different habits. For some, they might prefer doing everything through computer and digital technology. Thus, I personally think the marriage of the digital technology and personal habits would work best for me and those like me.
Resource: Daly J. (2004). Life on the screen: Visual literacy in education. http://www.edutopia.org/life-screen
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