Darian Reed is a student at the College of Charleston studying English with a focus in Writing, Rhetoric, and Publication, as well as a minor in Studio Art.
We conducted our interview over e-mail, as Reed was struggling with some of her camera/microphone equipment. It is interesting that an interview meant to delve into concepts concerning technology was thwarted by the technology itself, but we made it work! Due to the lack of face-to-face discussion, the dialogue itself was limited. I intended to gauge her relationship with technology as she grew up alongside the rapidly developing digital world, and how it has affected her digital literacies and social skills.
One thing that stood out to me was Darian’s experiences with self-taught literacy. I think academic settings have the inherent tendency to label certain things as “academic”, and then only focus on teaching students about those things. For instance, Darian spent some time telling me about how her school taught literacies like standardized testing and how to write essays using technology, but left simple “non-academic” literacies like how to use e-mail or navigate social websites online up to her to learn on her own time. It certainly made me wonder: how do we determine which literacies are “academic” enough to be afforded attention in schools? How could we move towards ensuring that students get a proper education on all aspects of important digital literacies? Even though e-mail is seen as something “simple” and “trivial”, it’s also a basic skill that almost everyone needs to know how to use – and it isn’t actually as simple as one might think. You have to know how to formulate e-mails differently to achieve different goals; you wouldn’t e-mail your professor the same way you’d e-mail your best friend. Essentially, I noticed throughout my interview with Darian that the literacies we were taught growing up seemed to be chosen by a rather arbitrary method.
My generation of late-millennials/early-Gen Z has a unique and strange relationship with technology. Many of us grew up using technology in a way that no other generation before us has. I believe that our engagement with technology from a young age has heavily impacted both our literacy skills and our social skills, for better and for worse. Technology was being developed rapidly and erratically when our generation was growing up. Every year, it seemed we had new forms of technology in the classroom to help us learn — it is interesting that Darian believes that had an inherent impact on the speeds at which students learned how to use new technologies, since not everyone had access to them at the same time on top of how not all literacies were afforded the same amount of attention in schools.
If you can remember, what is the earliest memory you have of interacting with technology in a purposeful way?
Reed: The first memory I have of interacting with technology purposefully was in kindergarten when we would have an allotted computer time. We would use this program called Starfall to practice tongue twisters and other ELA activities. We would also occasionally use the computer as well to work on math skills. I remember it was exciting to do since there were only a couple of computers in the classroom, so we had to take turns using them.
What was the earliest instance of digital literacy intentionally being taught in school that you can remember? What was it? (i.e., a typing class, etc.)
Reed: A time that I specifically remember being taught digital literacy in school was in the third grade for my GT (gifted and talented) class. We would do an annual project in that class for the Disney Planet challenge, and a major part of the challenge was the research for the project. So my teacher had us focus on learning about Microsoft PowerPoint and research databases and how to incorporate them into a multifaceted project. I know that at this point we had a general understanding of Microsoft Word, but I can’t remember when we learned that program.
If you could make a suggestion about or change the way schools approach teaching digital literacies, what would it be? Would you have any?
Reed: If I could make any suggestions about how schools approach digital literacy, I would want it to be something that all students are taught around the same time. I would notice in middle school and high school that students who were taught about the various programs later in elementary school than me were often the same students who struggled to use them in high grades. If students were all taught digital literacies on a more even playing field, then I think it would be easier to incorporate more complex technology later on since all of the students would have the same general understanding and experience.
Were most of your digital literacies self-taught, or were your school(s) able to keep up with the rapid development of technology fast enough to provide resources to teach you?
Reed: From what I remember, I think it was a bit of both. On one hand, my elementary schools gradually added more and more computers and technology to their repertoire and the students would work with technology at least once a week. We mainly focused on how to use technology for projects, essays, and standardized testing while I was in school. Some things that I know were more self-taught were things like emails and passwords, and how to make accounts for different websites; one of the first ones I remember was Webkinz.
How do your digital literacies differ between academic and non-academic settings? If there is a difference, is it a conscious difference or is it something you don’t generally notice?
Reed: My digital literacy in academic settings tend to be more based around the programs heavily used by the school like OAKS and Voicethread. I also tend to use Microsoft and Google Drive programs a lot more for my classes than I do in my free time. I often use social media more when I’m outside of an academic setting whether it is to stay updated on the news or on the lives of people I used to go to high school with. Something else I do outside of an academic setting is use the publishing software for the online magazine Her Campus since I’m one of the writers for our school. I think they sometimes blend together for me mentally since my tabs are all on the same window. But once I’m finished with my school work for the day there is a more conscious difference since I close all of the unnecessary tabs.
Can you share a time in your life in which your digital literacy gave you an advantage over your peers? Or a time when it was a hindrance?
Reed: As I touched on with my GT story, digital literacy was taught to the gifted and talented kids a year or two before the rest of their peers. So this would become an issue in middle school and high school when all students were expected to understand research databases like EBSCO Host. We would often have to get a refresher on the program since many students weren’t provided with the same amount of experience with it, so it just didn’t have as much time to stick for others. I guess you could see it as a bit of a hindrance for the students who were more digitally literate, as they were not being challenged in the same manner as their peers.
Have you ever chosen technology over “the real world”? If so, in what way? Is this a common occurrence? (i.e., staying home to browse social media instead of going to class or hanging out with a friend, etc.)
Reed: I think sometimes I do, especially if I’m invited to an event that I’m uncomfortable with. It is more of a mental break for me to sit at home and watch YouTube videos or scroll mindlessly through TikTok. So if I have had an extra long week with classes, then I will stay home and give my brain a rest rather than hanging out with friends.
Note: While some people may consider technology a hindrance to social practices, Darian gave me a great example here of how it can be a helpful therapeutic tool. Giving yourself time alone to decompress is a definite positive to having so much information at your fingertips in the form of a phone or computer.
How have you seen digital technology impacting the social development of fellow undergraduates?
Reed: Digital technology seems to help my fellow undergraduates in numerous ways. One of the biggest helps I’ve noticed just academically is with the use of GroupMe since it allows classmates to ask for help from each other more easily than through email. I also think technology has allowed the wider spread of social events and clubs for my peers since we no longer rely on a bulletin board to spread the word.