Digital Practices: Past, Present, Future

In order to understand more about digital literacy practices in student life, I talked Lily Redstone about her practices online, how they were shaped, and how she saw digital technologies changing. Lily is a senior at the College of Charleston majoring in English with a concentration in writing, rhetoric, and publication. Rather than living in Charleston and taking classes with an in-person component, Lily opted to attend school completely virtual this semester and live across the country in Los Angeles.

While interviewing Lily, I wanted to cover three major components of her digital literacy: how her digital literacy practices evolved, how her digital literacy practices changed (or didn’t change) because of COVID-19, and what she thinks the future will look like after things return to the “new normal.” I found these perspectives important because they cover a student’s past– how they came to make the decisions they do, present– what decisions are currently being made, and future– how do they perceive the future and why. I shaped the transcript this way in order to both contextualize and explain student digital practices.

I have inserted an edited transcript of our interview below which was edited for both clarity and length.

Learning and Using Digital Practices

Technology in the classroom has become such a big part of education so I wanted to explore how students that grew up in a tech-savvy world view and use technology. I wanted to understand Lily’s perspective on what she uses technology for and if she thinks it is a good thing.

Lily’s story of high school highlights an important aspect when it comes to digital practices in students—digital practices aren’t random. Lily’s story serves as an example of the trial and error many students go through as they discover what digital literacy practices work best for them. This, perhaps, is bounded within certain restrictions, as College of Charleston forces students to become familiar with interfaces like OAKs or myCharleston, but students still make decisions within that. Students still can choose to the extent they use OAKs as a resource and can choose to view assignments differently dependent on their preference. Despite the bounded space, students make conscious decisions on how they use digital platforms and tools.

While Lily enjoys technology for note taking and most schoolwork, she still debates the value of technology in classes and prefers face to face interaction with professors. To hear the pros and cons of technologies and why students use technology the way they do is an essential part of understanding digital literacy practices in universities today.

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Reagan: What is a significant moment in your digital history when it comes to digital practices in school?

Lily: So for the first year, maybe two years of high school, I didn’t have a laptop. And I felt like the gap in my physical notetaking, and then writing my papers online was really difficult for me to organize. Because if I take notes on paper, which I like doing, it’s extremely unorganized. It’s like stream of consciousness, like, and my handwriting is ugly. And I start with like bullet points, and then I’ll do like stars. And then I’ll do like a paragraph– and it looks like a disaster.

So when I got a laptop, finally, I feel like there was a big switch, because we also all use Google Docs and Google Drive, all throughout school. And so, I became super comfortable with that online. And then once I got a laptop, I took all my notes on my Google Docs. And then I did the same thing in college, not all, but most.

And then in college, I took all of them online. And it helps my organization so much, just makes it easier for me to like, search and date everything properly, and quote, my professors are quoted text, and I’ll put it in my notes, and then I’ll go back to that later and put it in the paper. I just felt like the, like, versioning of things—of like cutting and pasting really helped me organize my ideas in any class.

Yeah, that was like a big learning curve. I think just learning how to get comfortable with Google Docs. Since all these kids that I went to high school with had grown up with laptops or Chromebooks from the school and already knew how to use Google Docs

Reagan: Explain the different digital programs you’ve had to use so far in college.

Lily: I don’t think I could list all of them. OAKs, obviously, the library website, I was using that today. I use Google Drive, and like, all of the Google platforms like I use Google Sheets, Docs, drive, and slides, like very often. I love Google Sheets. That’s just like the spreadsheet platform…And oh, VoiceThread, VoiceThread is a weird one I started using like, junior year.

That is the one thing about online school slaps, I would watch all my lectures for my old University in Sydney on one and a half speed. And I would just grind through it. It’s probably not great for paying attention, to be honest. But it does go faster.

Reagan: Out of all of those, which one have you found the most helpful or been your favorite.

Lily: Google baby. I love Google. Just because it also saves immediately, and I’ve had a few tragic incidences with papers, I think, in high school on Word that scarred me for life. And then I never used Word again. Because I was like, I spent two hours writing an essay, and then it’s gone. So I can’t do that.

And also, they do have like an offline editing thing that you can turn on, which I’ve used a few times, like in the airport or on an airplane, if I’m editing a paper, but it’s not as reliable as word offline in that way. But if I know I’m going to be in a place without internet and I want to work on something, I just copy and paste it to a note on my computer and then I’ll work on the airplane and then I’ll paste it later.

Reagan: You mentioned that you use multiple platforms for one assignment. Do you think it’s helpful to do this?

Lily: I think probably as few as possible is my preference. I always am using Google Docs, so it’s usually at least one other, like whether it’s Zoom, or a movie platform like Amazon Prime or Kanopy, or whatever.

But I do like, for all of my scheduling to be on Oaks, like I only look at my OAKs schedule, and my physical planner, I don’t do any kind of like Google Calendar, Gmail invite whatever, none of that. I try to keep it, yeah, just as few platforms as possible.

I don’t feel like my professors ever ask anything too crazy. There is one professor, my film professors, she switches from VoiceThread, to Flipgrid, to discussion posts. Like you don’t, you don’t know which one is going to be ever and that’s kind of, like jarring. Because, first of all, if I’m gonna make a Flipgrid, I need to like, not look disgusting, so I need to be ready for that. And then VoiceThread I always record it like 15 times. And then discussion post is probably just the most time consuming because I have to actually sound eloquent.

But yeah, I think the switching up of the schedule, more so than the platform is confusing. Like it was consistently the two platforms VoiceThread and Flipgrid, I would do both, and that would be no problem. But it’s more the changing of the two.

Reagan: What do you do when you’re asked to use a form of technology or digital platform you haven’t used before?

Lily: I mean, yeah, I’m gonna click on the assignment. If it’s a confusing platform, or if it was made a long time ago, sometimes I’ll Google how to do stuff on it. Like, I get stuck, I’ll be like, how do you log into Kanopy using your school? But I don’t think that happens too often. I think the first new one I used this year was Flipgrid. I’ve never used that before.

Reagan: Yeah, we’re so technology driven. And I grew up so much in it that it’s kind of, you know, every platform kind of shares off of each other.

Lily: Yeah, and I think there’s a general like, design to modern technology, like, the user interface should be pretty easy to understand. And if it’s not, it’s a bad platform. And I mean like VoiceThread is really unorganized. If you accidentally click out of the assignment, it goes to all your assignments you’ve ever made on VoiceThread. That’s confusing. But I’ve never had like a serious problem.

 

Changing Digital Practices Due to COVID-19

Even if students today have grown up around technology, reliance on digital practices has grown because of COVID-19. Personally, I have always valued the in-person relationships and discussions we have in class, and I wanted to understand another student’s perspective on how school practices have changed this year.

Lily’s discussion suggests that the new online system is similar foreign universities that include less school days per week. She thinks it is beneficial because it gives students time to work and have fun alongside school. This indicates that we might learn from the new changes we were originally forced to accept.

Despite the new freedom, Lily also proposes there is a large social downfall of online classes. She discusses the value of a small college like College of Charleston is that students and faculty can work together closely. Virtual classes make it so those valuable connections are much harder to make. This is something I have seen in my own class experience as I am unable to befriend people in my classes to discuss work, and I am unable to connect with my professors on such a personal level.

This discussion with Lily highlights the interesting give-and-take of online school that might be beneficial in some respects, but hurtful in others.

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Reagan: How do you feel about the new emphasis on digital programs? Do you think it has been helpful, not helpful?

Lily: This is interesting…I go back and forth…At first, I considered dropping out of college this year…but basically the only thing that stopped me from not dropping out, was that I was this close to the finish line…that was definitely because it is online.

Because I really prefer relationships with professors and other students, like, especially in the English department, you know, it’s small, and I know basically, everybody in WRP. And I think part of the value of going to a school the size of College of Charleston, is being in the classroom with a small class size and getting to know your professors, and especially senior year when you’re writing your Bachelor’s essay, I feel like it matters to like, see other students and other professors in person.

I do think the positive way that it’s affected my life is I think, now, instead of having class four or five days a week, which is kind of ridiculous to me, like, that doesn’t make sense. For our age, I think, like, I feel like the American system of university is kind of confusing, and that it takes like a high school schedule, and just like makes it college classes.

Whereas in Australia when I was there for like, a month and a half, I had class Monday through Wednesday, and then that was it… And I feel like that was so much better, and they were longer periods, but it seems like such a better use of your time, especially when you’re this old if you want like a job or to have a social life or to travel on the weekends or whatever.

And I feel like with school being online, it’s more similar to the European style. But I basically do class Monday through Wednesday on the computer. Thursday, I have a few meetings and then basically Thursday afternoon, through Sunday, I have personal time, work time, whatever…I also live in LA, obviously, so it gives me the freedom to live somewhere that isn’t Charleston.

Reagan: So have your digital practices change after most of your coursework moved online?

Lily: I mean, it’s definitely changed. I find it a little difficult to take notes on Google Docs while also watching the Zoom. Just because instead of watching someone in person and taking notes, I’m trying to look at back and forth between the two.

Other than that, I don’t feel like it’s anything crazy. I just think the classes that meet online only, like that don’t even have a zoom component, feel a little detached. Like my film class—we never talk to each other about the movies, which is a little weird, because I think that’s my favorite part about the English course or film course. So I think that’s the part I miss the most is like the in person discussions.

Reagan: Have you like you’re planning more because everything is online to like, make sure that you’re getting all of your assignments done?

Lily: I honestly probably am also more productive. Because I sit down, and I do the full readings, like this in-depth note taking for a class. I honestly think it’s because I’m more excited to talk to people about the reading. Whereas at school, I’m doing like social stuff going class, but I have all the in between stuff.

Right now, social interaction is so limited that I feel like Zoom time is even like a large part of socialization in my day. If it’s like a class or meeting for me like basically, Monday through Wednesday I don’t hang out with friends, I just do class. And so I think my scheduling has probably gotten a little bit better. Like the way I use my time is just more efficient. I get up at 7AM I started schoolwork at 8AM I do work from eight to one and then I eat lunch and then from two to six basically I also do work.

And it’s pretty good. I honestly don’t hate it. I do just miss like changing physical location, even if I could just if I could just be like a library surrounded by people that would be nice.

 

Digital Practices in the Job Force

Another big part of digital technology is how it will look in the future, and because Lily wants to pursue a job in journalism and is graduating next year, I wanted to know her thoughts on digital practices within the job force and how she might expect them to change because of COVID.

Lily’s response suggests a division between work that is better in collaboration versus work that is better in solitude. Moving work online has given people to reflect what they like about socialization—I know I have come to value the collaboration I have with other students in the English department more now that I no longer am able to make these connections. Discussing what the changes mean for future workplaces shows students actively thinking about digital practices and how they continue to evolve and change.

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Reagan: Do you think the new use of technology in school has been helpful in students’ lives in terms of job readiness?

Lily: It’s odd, because so much has changed, like, businesses, that foundation of what a job is, has changed. But I feel like it’s helpful. To an extent. I have been impressed with how well my CofC professors have handled scheduling. Like, I feel like they’re very clear about their schedule, and they don’t switch it up on me often, which I really appreciate. Because I hate last minute deadlines or changes the syllabus. Or, oh, just kidding, I can’t come to class today. Like that drives me crazy. If I have biked all the way to class, then I want you to be there. So, I think part of it has been good.

Reagan: Yeah, I interviewed a publisher over the summer. And she said that she thinks that after this, like publishing, we’ll never go back to being five days in an office. It just kind of sucks. Because I mean, part of being in office is bouncing ideas around, like having that like work community. Like I don’t want to sit in my office all day, and like, you know, just be by myself trying to figure things out. You want to be around people.

Lily: I agree. And I’ve heard a lot of business to say that it’s, I mean, it’s definitely odd. I think it would be beneficial in some way if people realize, like, “Oh my God, part of this, we can do on our own time.” Like, you can answer emails, plan advertisements, whatever, by yourself. But I do hope that still going to an office is a thing.

I wonder if it’ll just be more like, work share kind of things like, you know, like, we work on the wing or whatever. I mean, having fewer days a week, like I think probably more offices will adopt like a Monday through Thursday thing, because so many people don’t need to work Monday through Friday, like what are you doing truly for a million hours a day.

I think the work that you create is ultimately better if you’re talking to other people about it. Like, I would never hand in, like an essay to a professor I cared about without having like, a few friends, or my mom or my sister read it first, because I like other people’s opinions. And I feel like most people feel that way about their work.

Overall, discussing digital practices with students gives an insight as to what students value in technology, and also shows that students, even though we value digital technology, also continue to appreciate and prefer in person interactions.