For a majority of us, we have been learning to read and write better since elementary school. Our literacy practices have been refined as we grow up, and for a good reason: reading and writing are important to function in the world. Sure, it is not “impossible” to live one’s life without these skills. But without them, all of our lives would be so drastically different we would be different people. But, what if I said that many college students were still learning to read and write, only in a completely different way? Well, just like when it enters anything else, when technology jumps into the fray, everything changes.
First, I think it is important to know what literacy in general is. Kristen Perry has created a definition based on what literacy theorists believe; that literacy, “…is what people do with reading, writing, and texts in real world contexts and why they do it”. Perry finds that literacy is more than this, however; she says that our literacy is shaped by social relationships. Digital literacy, then, is how we read and write, only online. It still retains the ability to be shaped by our values. While this may sound easy to adjust to, I can assure you it is not. The internet is completely different to traditional pen and paper in how we write, read, search for information, and interact with others. Where traditional paper writers value one that can write in detail, with a plethora of information that creates both credibility and conversation, digital writing is short, fast-paced and always being churned out. Thus, it is no wonder that many college students find the transition from hardback to screen jarring at first. And as if a normal college students jump to online wasn’t awkward enough, the current generation of college students have to deal with another problem: a global pandemic. So, while most of us were probably transitioning to college learning just fine, the wrench of all-online classes and online “zoom” meetings was thrown into our lives.
So, I took in interest into how a fellow College of Charleston student was finding the transition. I spoke with fellow CofC student Hannah Donkle, who is an education major with a focus on English. I discovered that she had rarely used technology for anything other than social media and texting her friends before she transitioned into college life, so she found it difficult at first to transition to using online tools like OAKS, google docs/word, and live video messaging tools like zoom and discord.
Eventually, she did find herself transitioning to doing a lot on her computer, but she says she is still learning everyday. Since she wants to become a teacher, it was probably important for her to get technology ingrained in her academic life. On top of COVID-19 essentially changing how schools currently operate, I was interested in how she adapted, and what she thinks of digital literacy being incorporated earlier into schools, and earlier into students lives.
So, we set up an interview where we could ask each other questions. What I found was that, at first, she struggled to adapt. Eventually, though, she got comfortable with the tools that were used by both schools and her peers, and became an avid user of technology, especially with the transition to fully online classes and synchronous online classrooms. She is still learning, however, and improves everyday. As an education major, she also discusses how she believes that teaching digital literacy earlier on in children’s lives is super important and the impact it could have on her way of teaching.
Below, you can see the transcript of the discussion we had about her digital literacy.
Interview with Hannah
- How much did you use technology before college, both in your personal and academic life? Did you even use it for school?
- I used technology more in my personal life than in my academic life. My school was a traditional blackboard and worksheets, so the only technology I used was my cellphone outside of school which I used to text friends and check/update my social media.
- How would you describe the level of digital literacy you developed in college?
- I would call myself a novice at digital literacy. I did not develop my digital literacy skills until college and I am learning each day as I go. It was not until last year that I started transitioning to writing all of my notes on google docs and using technology to advance my learning in my own classes.
- Do you value your digital literacy?
- Yes. Digital literacy is important to me because it has opened up opportunities for me and has allowed me to succeed in college so far.
- Did this level improve at all during COVID, or it did it hamper you as you had to learn new tools such as zoom?
- Yes and no. Zoom was easy for me to pick up on, but the transition to fully online due to COVID has been extremely overwhelming.
- How do you feel about zoom? Do you think it is beneficial to us or is something that we should find an alternative to?
- I prefer Google meets. Mostly because I do not think Zoom is accessible. I have noticed you cannot add subtitles on Zoom like you can with Google Meets, which puts students that benefit from subtitles at a disadvantage.
- Are you comfortable with your digital literacy? You said before in a discussion post that you were introduced to many different learning patterns that assist computer learning.
- I am comfortable with certain platforms like google docs, slides, etc. I am learning each day especially with being an education major, so am oftentimes in the unknown realm of my digital literacy.
- You also mentioned a major in education. Which medium would you prefer to use for teaching? That is, would you prefer a more traditional hands-on, physical type of teaching or a more computer-oriented style? Does technology have a place in the classroom?
- I plan on stressing the usage of technology in my classroom. I think that using google classroom and centering the assignments in a virtual setting allows students to take control of their own learning and build connections. So yes, technology does have a place in my classroom
- How do you think COVID will affect the digital literacy of the next generation? Will it have a positive or negative one?
- It will be both positive and negative. I know this is not the answer you wanted, but it is positive because it allows for the next generation to learn and connect in many different and new ways, but it is also negative because it may overwhelm them and cause them to pushback on their usage of technology.