Digital Literacies

Most mornings you will find me jogging along happily on a treadmill at the University sports centre. I love it. The scene: rows of treadmills, bikes, cross-trainers and rowing machines arranged in lines facing six tv screens. I will be on one item (starting with a warm up on the bike and then the mad behaviour on the treadmill); I will be wired into my ipod, wearing a heart rate monitor and staring at the tv screens, but probably thinking about work. I watch all the screens, reading across them all rather than getting involved in just one. The whole thing is quite surreal and scuppers the notion that technology breeds couch potatoes. But that is another blog post entirely.

(pic from here Thanks.)

On Monday morning (my day off) several things got me thinking – first of all that the latest Beyonce video seems to be pornographic and also seems to celebrate male violence against women; I find it embarrassing to be in a place where there is porn (in my opinion) being screened.

Secondly it is so weird how many people who are on Facebook say that they hate it. The Jeremy Kyle show, as usual had anti-social people yelling at each other about their dysfunctional relationships. One young woman at some point started describing how her estranged boyfriend had been ‘mouthing off’ about her on Facebook. She also told how she had ’slagged him off’ on there and that she had ‘dissed’ him and lied about him and boasted about having a great number of sexual partners. She dumped him publicly on Facebook. At the end of all this she said ‘I hate Facebook. It’s crap. Only bad things come of it.’ It is interesting how people criticise the medium as opposed to their own behaviour.

Then on another channel at the same time this was all ‘kicking off’ on Jeremy Kyle, there was a tv advertisement for something called ‘Cell Phone Spy’. Yes seriously. You can use it to spy on what people are texting. I thought this would be illegal but apparently not. This is advertised on MTV. I found it online, but the site looks dodgy so you may prefer not click on the link – and I am not sure how long the link will be live anyway.

In my google search though, a huge list of results linking to sites advertising similar products showed how you could spy on ‘cheating spouses’, or become a ‘mobile spy.’ To me it seems the software is moving faster than legislation can keep up. Very sinister indeed. Maybe I am starting to realise why some people are so nervous of new technologies.

Yesterday my daughter sent me a link to a video on YouTube. I thought it was brilliant and decided to send it to my husband the next day. But he beat me to it and sent me the link this morning. And so did a colleague. It was this:

It really made me laugh and is of course up my street as it showed how people learn to use new technologies – even older people who feel nervous – by just twiddling about with stuff and experimenting. (Actually the guy in this does a bit too much twiddling imo). I remember I accidentally filmed myself when I got a video camera about 12 years ago … it was recording and I did not realise. Can be quite comedic. But anyhow putting this kind of thing on YouTube etc gives us rare insights into how people learn at home . there is a lot of this stuff online – but not always as funny as this (remember the one when the guy slings the Wii controller into the telly?)

But I do also love how these things go viral so quickly – and this couple is very sweet. I think they warmed the hearts of people all over the world and that is a very new thing brought to us courtesy of web 2.0 technologies. Who said social networking was a bad thing? This couple is totally heart warming!

At the same time as Rosa sent me the link to this, she also sent me a link to a meme that really made e laugh. It began with this rather innocuous image here:

It has been spoofed by lots of people here and it has really made me laugh. This is what I think of as a true meme. I have more stuff on memes in this blog – type ‘meme’ in the search box on the right and see more examples.

I love the way technology insinuates itself into so many areas of our lives. It helps to make everything join up together – making all these connections between people, things, activities , interests.
One example is the website walk, jog, run. My neighbour told me about it. You can use it to plot your running routes so others can follow. But you can read other people’s routes and follow them. You can use the site to hook up with other runners and find out about local events. I did this run designed by someone else. It was quite exciting as I hoped to see the designer of the run – I may have done as I saw a few people jogging along. It makes the whole affair companionable. I like the way I can use this software in such a local way. It is yet another example of how we use the WORLDWIDE web to usually do stuff in our neighbourhood (preferring LOCAL to GLOBAL).. (I have written more about this kind of stuff here ).
Perhaps better still are sites like this one which connects with wearable computers you run with – equipped for example with a GPS and heartrate monitor and so on. It taps into all the obsessions of so many runners (cyclists etc) and allows them to display everything on Facebook – for example. here is another example, where someone can log a run and show all the details of their run, their heartrate and speed etc.

I think it is amazing that some people hate that we are constantly being monitored n the street by cameras, yet others (or maybe the same people) , show the most intimate (I think) details about how their body works, (and more) to all their friends (and more) online. This is not just about tracking our performance, but inviting others to do so as well. Some would say this was showing off, some would say it is about sharing.

More info here. Note the 340++ reviews

Going down to London by train the other day, and then returning today, I saw a few people reading Kindles as they travelled. My Mum bought one for my Dad as part of his Christmas present – and apparently he is really pleased. I was quite surprised that Mum bought one for Dad, as I thought they might both think that it is better to hold a ‘real’ book. But he is prepared to give it a go and is looking forward to the new experience. Apparently this new technology is really taking off now – but will the book ever be usurped?

I wonder if Kindles will really take off – it is a couple of years since I saw them on the American Amazon.com and we had to wait awhile before they became available in the UK (as usual). Apparently a few schools are buying them now – thinking they may motivate reluctant readers. There is a lot of sentimentality about books however – and people say they like to hold them, annotate them, turn the pages – and even that shelves full of books make a place look homely etc. They are not ‘neutral objects’ and we sometimes imbue them with feelings that maybe are associated with when or where we read the book. The Kindle will be an object that mediates many books – however I have to admit that my laptop – maybe a mere mediator – has accumulated associations for me – so that it feels like it is mine; it is customised with my preferred settings and software etc etc. So too, other technology things – they acquire a history, a provenance, that makes them important to us beyond their material value. Will this happen to the Kindles (or their successsors)?

At the moment we still think of authors as writing BOOKS. You author a book and the idea of the electronic artefact is that it is an adaptation. This contrasts with musicians – who decide they will make a new record, or new album. Thus we anticiapte that music is mediated through technology, that it can be listened to via electronic formats. The idea is that musicians produce music intended to be mainly heard as a recording; the electronic aspect is not a translation of what was originally intended, it is primary. But novels are written, intended to be printed on paper pages, bound in sequence.

I think that it will not be until authors write with the intention that the electronic format is primary, rather than secondary, that they will really be accepted. So maybe authors will take more advantage of the electronic affordances – moving images maybe; words that sparkle; or where sound plays a more important role. Otherwise the electronic format will always be seen as a substitute.

We all now know that poor old Gordon got caught unawares talking about a prospective voter in unflattering terms. After a walkie talkie stroll a couple of weeks ago, he had to try and be diplomatic with a woman who had (at best) some seriously strange views and weird questions to ask. At worst, she was a bigot – and maybe many of us would agree.

I think it is very normal to do what Gordon did; grin and bear it, be polite to her face, and slag her off afterward. This according to most linguistic ethnographers is normal; Ron Carter found that the most common topic of everyday talk is about other people. Also sociologist Erving Gofmann would say that Gordon just wanted to save the woman’s face and not attack her in public; so was polite to HER, but then slagged her off after. I know we all pretend we don’t do this; but you and I know, that this is what we all do.
The advent of new technologies meant that Gordon got caught being normal. He thought he was talking in private, but his comments were broadcast publicly because he left his microphone switched on. So he attempted to talk privately; journalists overheard, and then publicized it across worldwide media. Gordon was revealed saying something in private, and the reaction given was outrage. He was slated in the press for this incident days and weeks after. I anticipate it will be re-called repeatedly in years to come. Poor Gordon.

Technology broadcast the words of Paul Chambers also, in ways he had not anticipated. Tweeting in exasperation about the closure of Robin Hood airport, he joked to his friends (he thought) that he would blow up the place:

“Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You’ve got a week… otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!”

Poor old Paul; his tweet got read by a wider audience than he imagined, and he was contacted by the police … then done for time wasting.

How many of us tweet away; rabbit on on Facebook; blather on our blogs; (etc) without ever dreaming that more than our envisaged readership is reading?

We often forget how technology can make what we think of as a private space, a public one. By the same token, we sometimes confuse a public space with a private one.
We have to learn to be careful with new technologies. (Even when we remember their power most of the time …. sometimes we forget).

Here’s some nice technology for teachers:

I came across an interesting post yesterday about ‘the digital skills’ teachers should have.

It is a really useful list to think about – in terms of the kinds of direction we need to move in. However I worry about setting up the uses of new technologies as being part of the never ending ‘must do’ list to make teachers feel even more stressed than they already do. The list is very long and very comprehensive. I am sure many teachers would read it and agree they should know all those things – but then feel dismayed.

I think it’s great if teachers can produce their own digital resources and help kids to do so; wonderful is the teacher who can make, edit and upload audio files; or do the same with video. But these are things to learn along the way of doing projects – on a need to know basis. We need to concentrate on teaching and learning and then thinking about the technologies that may or may not enhance this. Technology – apart from in the case of ICT teachers – should not be the subject content – but the way of doing things.

Web 2.0 is great – we can share resources and expertise online; we do not even always have to have the expertise in our school or department – we can always ask for help in online spaces. We do not all have to individually be able to do everything. And we don’t have to do be able to embrace every technological possibility.

This is not a technophobe post; far from it. I live my life with my face in the Internet! But I am aware of how teachers need to feel confident in their own classrooms. An important thing for trainee teachers, is to help them feel confident with new technologies, to see their relevance in teaching and learning, to see a reason for moving technology from their social world into their professional world.

For me the important digital skills for teachers, is the ability to evaluate new technologies when they come out and when we are choosing which to use; the ability to work out copyright law and work within it; the ability to locate resources and the support needed to get going with them. Guy and I are hoping this book might help.

Sorry, but I worry about the sanity of our lovely teachers.

Anyhow here is a variation on the all our base meme.

Hm. Do you need your reality augmenting? You might not think you do, but maybe the product creates a need. (I know I need my ipod)

TT brought my attention to this site just before Christmas. We duly printed off a piece of paper with an image of wind turbines,switched on our webcam and …. WHOA!!!!! We saw a 3D version of the picture. If you don’t believe me I reckon you should give it a go.

Wikipedia explains here, beginning with an explanation like this:
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality.

Benji Lanyado chats here on video about a possible way of using he same kind of technology. The application he demonstrates shows how you can overlay the reality you are currently in, with information from your iphone. The technology is still in its infancy and look forward to see what will happen with it since it really does blend the virtual with the real in a way I have not witnessed before; as Lanyado points out this type of technology could easily be taken over by advertisers to push particular info at you, but nevertheless it could also be a real help when you are in a new place with not much time to find your way around. The problem is, as with all these things, it looks quite complicated to use at the moment and is only accessible to a few. It seems to me that while research abounds in its celebration of what we can all do, I just think that the divide between those who can do this stuff and those (for whatever reason) who can’t, is going to increase. My guess is that there will in a decade’s time be a whole bunch of people who opt out of what they will see as incessant, insistent change, and those who keep up with it. It is very hard to know what to run with and what not to, and so I think a lot of people will opt out since they will not be able to, or will not want to, keep on dealing with change.

Don’t you just love new toys?? I got a polaroid Pogo from Amazon – ordered yesterday and received it today. It is just so cool – and only 23.00 squid. Marvellous. I always loved polaroid cameras and this is probably the next best thing … maybe even better as you can choose which photos to keep as digital and which to print. As before, the papers you use have to special ones impregnated with chemicals. This means that you need use no ink cartridges. It takes just 15 mins to charge up and then it’s portable. Obviously I love gadgets and this is no exception although I cannot actually think why I will want to print off 3 x 2 inch paper copies of my shots, but I am sure that in time I will think of a thousand uses (or one would be good). Dunno how I missed these when they first came out … but I am glad I did as they were £100.00 when they were first out last December. So I have obviously saved myself LOADSAMONEY. This is mine:

And this is it in action:

Seriously you should get one. (NB It does not come with the music. You have to supply this yourself- mine is Feist).

I do have sympathy for the views shown in this kind of article: The Ten Things I hate about PowerPoint. The Ten then things formula is pretty common across blogs. Like this. Or this. Also common are the critiques of teachers/presenters (etc) who are just trying to get through the working day. (I have much less sympathy with this.)

I do agree though that PowerPoint is overused and I think it has started to influence not just how we present things to people in terms of structure – but also how we conceptualise our ideas. It affects and structures our relationship with audiences. The bullet point was something I very rarely used to use. Yet these days I am forever listing things off to classes of students or at conferences. I think in lists. I think PowerPoint also keeps your audience at a distance. Keeps them as an audience. While you are messing about with clicking and laying with your fancy transitions and wotnot, you are not really talking to the people properly. If you depend on the technology to wow the folks, the chances are they will not be wowed. Not anymore. We are getting used to the flashy gizmos and sound files. It has got to the point that we filter a lot of these things out if it is not relevant; if it s overdone; if it is not accompanied with interesting ideas. Audiences are more demanding these days – and don’t really wan to be an audience. They would prefer to participate! (As Guy and I mention in our book – a lot of uses of technology in Education are about providing polished performances of old practices. Nowt wrong with being polished, mind you.)

Totally agree that you can come up with snazzy stuff and ways of keeping things interesting. But I think we need to start thinking about the possibility of presenting without PowerPoint from time to time. See what happens when you do stuff differently – although please – don’t let this be a move back to reading a lecture from a little notebook.

Anyhow, I prefer KeyNote. Check out the animations!!

In Leeds visiting Sam today the shops were already crammed with Christmas stuff .. the book shops selling the usual Christmas books – a strange genre of books – aimed at people who don’t like reading. These unwanted gifts will presumably have all made their way into charity shops across the country by June. (So if you do actually WANT one, I would wait till then). I think I will look out for Gok’s book as I am a bit of a sucker for this kind of stuff but don’t want to pay proper money for it.

Aaanyway, just thinking about this idea of selling things to people who don’t really want them … this is what the new SimplicITy pcs seem to be about. The Guardian gives it a bit of a thumbs down really, thinking the market it is directed at won’t look at it, and those who like IT won’t be interested either (like those Christmas books.)

This is technology for technophobes .. for those who now feel they have missed the boat. It’s for the people who saw technology coming, said “No thanks” and then looked again and realised they were on a little island all alone while everyone else’s faces were lit by the light of a screen.

Marketed specifically to ‘older people’ the software is set out in a simple way with the desktop offering clear choices without any of the ususal secret language of computers. The BBC has a nice video of a woman, aged 80, talking positively about it here:

BBC Video

Interesting for me is that she is attracted to the SOCIAL affordances first and foremost …the ability to keep in better contact with her brother in Canada; to be able to participate in social happenings online with her two American friends- as well as to look at fashion online – to give her an idea of what to look for before going shopping. She has an idea about how the Internet can enrich her life and affect her relationships with others.The Internet has matured and is a different beast to the one she first rejected years ago and I think it is great that this software is able to give her a direct route into what she wants from the net.

I think it is sad that some people (as with this lovely person) feel they have been a bit bad somehow in not participating earlier. I hope we do not move to a position where we see those who are not ‘in with ‘ technology as deficit, in the same way as some use terms like ‘illiterate’ about others. What I like about this software is it is helping people to join in in they choose – unlike those rubbish christmas gift books which are something very weird indeed.