Digital Literacy is learned not Constructed
How Should Adolescents Critically Use Digital Media?
We have all seen the meme, “the success kid” at one point or another during our internet exploration.
However, we probably never stopped to consider the path this picture took to become such an iconic image in our internet culture. In the Ted Talk, “The Essential Elements of digital literacies” Doug Belshaw explains the history of “the success kid” meme. The image started out on Flicker, then became a picture people edited for laughs, then transitioned to a meme, and finally ended up on a billboard for advertisement. Belshaw goes on to describe that this iconic meme is a great example of the digital literacy skills needed in the 21st century.
Belshaw claims that the “eight essential elements of digital literacies are the cognitive, constructive, the communicative, civic, the critical, the creative, the cultural, the confident, and at the heart of that, the remix.”
Thus, arguing that the creation of memes are young people’s way of constructing, communicating, evaluating critically, creating, participating culturally, and remix their understanding of the image to develop their identity.
Therefore, I surmise, that to have critical digital literacy skills a person must be able to understand of the source of the information, the culture the information comes from, be able to participate effectively with the platform, and also understand the logistics behind the computer and/or site by delving into the user’s interests and personal exploration.
As our society moves toward a more computer based society, digital literacy skills are of the upmost important. Although, as a whole, we cannot seem to come to a single conclusion as to what those specific skills are. Doug Belshaw, in his Ted Talk, makes a compelling point.
He says, “The way to develop digital literacies is to focus on people’s interests and to try and get them to get this intrinsic motivation to develop the skills for themselves.”
Interestingly enough, most people who are engrossed in computers have learned their skills elsewhere than from a classroom. As Julie Warner argues in chapter 8 of her book, “Adolescents’ New Literacies with and through Mobile Phones,” adolescents have developed their own means of communicating that schools and curriculum cannot begin to touch on. She inserts that many of the popular culture references and memes are events and information that would have occurred anyways; they are just happening on social media now. Warner explains about a young man she studied,
“Indeed, when I asked John about the image, he said, ‘It’s just funny.’ He did not sense that he message was particularly offensive, but seemed instead to focus on the incongruity between the SpongeBob cartoon and the particular cultural critique with which the image was paired” (Warner, 2016).
Hence like this young man, despite schools attempts to warn students of the permanency of their post, students still post inappropriate and offensive things. So, to encourage students to understand the repercussions and ramifications of their actions on the internet, like Doug Belshaw stated, educators need to motivate students to follow digital literacy skills that interest them, to sharpen those skills, and hopefully branch out to the other skills.
Additionally, teaching computer teach skills could help students learn about the interworking of the computer and potentially become producers rather than just consumers.
As Julie Warner stated, “Becoming a producer is a vital 21st century skill… the only in-road to a truly critical digital literacy” (Warner, 2016).
Thus, as educators, teaching digital literacy is not just about teaching how a mouse works, typing skills, or using trustworthy sites, but rather a compilation of all of these skills, and developing a deeper comprehension of the effects the internet has on themselves, on others, and on the world.
Similarly as David Foster Wallace said in his commencement speech, “This is Water” education is about learning how to think and therefore,
Thinking “means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience” (Foster Wallace)
Thus, we as educators must remember that while it is important to teach students about “the five dimensions of critical digital literacy: decoding, meaning making, analyzing, persona and using” (Teacher Thought, 2018),
it is just as important for our students to build knowledge from their interests and learn from experience because, as always, experience is, essentially, the best teacher!
Course Readings:
Warner, Julie. Critical Digital Literacies (2016). Adolescents’ New Literacies with and through Mobile Phones. p 143–159.
J. (2013, May 19). This Is Water — Full version-David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI
Outside Readings:
Teach Thought Staff. (2018). 5 Dimensions of Critical Digital Literacy: A Framework. teachthought. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/5-dimensions-of-critical-digital-literacy/
Belshaw, Doug. [TED x Talks]. (2012, March 3). “The essential elements of digital literacies: Doug Belshaw at TEDxWarwick” Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78
