Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Weekly Reading #6

Quote
“I can recall my first IM experience.  I felt anxious and rushed, unable to keep up with the lightening fast keyboard skills of my sister-in-law. The fast paced dialogue would flash upon the screen instantly.  I would compose one answer mentally and then the next question would be staring at me waiting for a reply” (Carey).


I chose this quote because I remember my first experience with IM and chat rooms. I didn't understand all the abbreviations and lingo of my chatting companion. I was overwhelmed and frustrated because it seemed like everything was abbreviated and I didn't have a dictionary. This was also the time when Google wasn't big and I never thought to research the text; however, I’m not sure that the key would be able to be found. 

Resource
I chose the following picture because this is what I felt like when I was first trying to learn how to Instant Message. This is also how a lot of older people, who are not familiar with the new technology of today, feel when the younger generation write or talk. For example, I know younger people who often say "ROFL" when they think something is funny (ROFL mean "rolling on the floor laughing"). However, they don't pronounce each letter, they say it like it is pronounced "roffle".


Art done by Chris Madden; Found through Google Search on Jeanne Meister's post on the New Learning Playbook blog.

Questions
How can instant messaging support reading and writing in school?

It prepares students for a wide-range of reading and writing purposes in the world, such as professional, community, and household purposes. In order for students to be fully literate, they need to be proficient in communication and information technologies (ICT). “Instant Messaging motivates young people to engage in: decoding, encoding, interpretation, analysis, multi modalities (for example: visual and audio), intertextual reading and writing (across texts, genres, and modes), lateral reading (skimming), collaborative discourse, and multitasking” (Carey).

2.       How did you attitudes and beliefs about the value of instant message change as a result of reading the research on instant messaging as a literacy practice?

I never thought about Instant Messaging as a way to motivate students to do the list previously mentioned. What they do through Instant Messaging is a large portion of what they are taught to do in English and mathematics courses. I didn’t think Instant Messaging could be so complex in its structure and learning capabilities.



Carey, J. (n.d.). Instant Messaging: A Literacy Event. Retrieved June 25, 2013, from Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6DFAmexYq7vYWdXV2RacF9EVXc/edit

5 comments:

  1. I shared your same frustration at the use of abbreviations I did not know. I always focused on being grammatically correct and it took me a long time to get use to this "new" form of writing. It is like a new language in itself. I think that illustrates the point of having to teach students to be mindful of their audience and genre. It is like we use two different languages and we have to know which language to use for which purpose.

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  2. I chose the same quote...I can relate to it. I still remember my first IM experience. It was something new and exciting. I liked it because I was a shy teenager and this was an easy way to communicate. I was also overwhelmed by all of the abbreviations; it was a different kind of language.

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  3. Your cartoon made me think back. My last tv job included me being the producer of a show. A young reporter was texting me from a story. He sent me nvm. I had no idea what he meant. Nevermind apparently. In that case, I needed schooled on IM lingo. Of course, he also told me to "Google" something to find information about his assignment as opposed to him finding it and reporting it as assigned. That didn't go over as smoothly as nvm.

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  4. I like your cartoon, it makes a good point, sometimes it is hard to keep up with the jargon. I think being in a classroom all the time is the only reason I know any of the common tech- speak today.

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  5. I like that IM and texting are allow kids to be creative in terms of coining new words or phrases.

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