My view on digital literacy

“Simply put, we can’t keep preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist. We can’t keep ignoring the formidable cognitive skills they’re developing on their own. And above all, we must stop disparaging digital prowess just because some of us over 40 don’t happen to possess it. An institutional grudge match with the young can sabotage an entire culture.”

                This quote explains my feelings exactly. I do not want to learn about something that has been used in earlier years and is not being used anymore. I want to learn how to work with different forms of technology that are being used now and potentially in the future. Some teachers don’t believe in working with computers or enhancing computer skills. I believe computer skills are going to be needed in over 50% of jobs in the future. Schools should want to give their students the best opportunity possible to be prepared for the future. Before they can do that they must look to see what skills are needed in the world today to make a prediction on what will be needed in the future. Some institutions want to teach the same things that were taught years and years ago. That is a problem because it only prepares students for the past. It should be a requirement if you teach certain classes you must have some sort of experience with technology. Everything is evolving in today’s world as we know it and students can’t afford to be stuck in the past. In the future, in order to be successful you will have to use technology in one way or another. Not only will it enhance ones learning abilities but it will also improve your everyday lives. We can’t change the fact that the world is evolving but we can take it upon ourselves to evolve with it. We can’t change the way the world works but we can change the way we live in it.

Literacy Timeline

Literacy Timeline
 

At the age of 2 I picked up a basketball before I picked up a book. To some people this was considered a good thing but to others this was terrible. By the age of 3 my mom taught me how to read. She believed that if I was smart enough to dribble a ball, I was smart enough to read. While learning to balance both sports and smarts my brother showed me how to become dedicated to sports around age 5. I had become very focused on sports and getting better. My sister then stepped in around age 6 and showed me that I could use the same dedication for school. Shortly after that I developed a love for sports books and magazines. This encouraged me to read more and around the age of 8 I started to take reading seriously. I took it so serious that I subscribed to SLAM and Sports Illustrated magazines. Around the age of 13 I started to lose the love of reading due to lack of interest. When I got to high school the readings for class were no longer interesting to me anymore so I did not want to read at all. About a year later I saw the importance of reading and knew that it would do nothing but help me. I developed a love for reading and writing poetry at the age of 15. This helped me enhance my reading and helped me learn to enjoy it also. It made me read for a purpose again and now my love for reading is continuously growing.

 

 

"Superman and Me!"

The literacy narrative that I read was “Superman and me” by Sherman Alexi. This passage really showed me that being a good reader or writer is not just given to you. If you want to become a great writer or reader you have to be self-motivated. Something inside of you must push you to find out what your best ways to read and write are and how you can improve them. Sherman Alexi was very determined. He had it hard growing up as an Indian. Most people expected Indians to fail but he refused to quit. He feels that writers should not give up because it is possible to become a great writer. He also came back to encourage younger kids to never give up and that anything is possible. This story meant something to me because I never really liked to read until I found out that I could read about things that are interesting to me. By reading things that interested me it helped me improve as a reader which is similar to Sherman Alexi.

Why is writing important

I am aiming towards the goal of being a physical therapist and it took me a while to think of how I could use writing and communication in this field. Communication is necessary for pretty much everything you do involving more than one person. In the field of physical therapy you must not only communicate with your clients but you must also communicate with your co-workers and staff so everyone can be on the same page. You must let your clients know what you are doing to help them regain movement in a certain body part and also let them know how they can help themselves also. Writing is not used very much in the field of a physical therapist but it is used in some cases. It is used when the doctor takes it upon himself to do extra research to learn about certain areas of the body. I was told that research is a big part of being a physical therapist because there is always something new to learn about the human body. When doing research you usually write down the new things that you saw or learned. Although both are needed there is more communicating involved in physical therapy than writing.