A8.3: Response to Eshet-Alkali & Amichai-Hamburger

Linsey Cushing

October 11, 2007

Eshet-Alkali, Y., & Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2004, August). Experiments in digital

literacy. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(4), 421-429.

 

This is the second time I’ve read this article, but after experiencing digital literacy for the past eight weeks, I have a different outlook on it. Because we were assigned this article during our first week in the class, I had no clue what digital literacy was. In fact, I remember doing a prompt on literacy in general and not really knowing what that meant. Now that I have read numerous articles, written multiple responses, and discussed this information with my classmates, I feel like I have a better grasp on digital literacy.

In the article, an experiment is conducted to determine who has better digital literacy skills: high school students, college students, or adults with a college education. The hypothesis is based on the idea that the younger generations have better computer skills and therefore are more digitally literate. The experiment covered five areas of digital literacy: photo-visual literacy, reproduction literacy, information literacy, branching literacy, and socio-emotional literacy. The participants were required to complete a task in each category. The results showed that the adults scored highest in reproduction literacy and information literacy. Therefore, adults are actually stronger than younger generations in some types of digital literacy.

I now see that the purpose of this article is to point out that there is a lot more to digital literacy than simply being able to work a computer. I can personally testify that even when I’ve figured out how to work something like a blog, wiki, RSS, or social bookmarking, that does not mean that I can successfully produce information on it. You have to have both the procedural knowledge and the cognitive ability to possess digital literacy. Once you find information on the Web, you have to have the skills to analyze it and determine whether the information is valid or a hoax before you use that information. Overall, after re-reading this study, I realize that you truly do need to be strong in all five of these areas to be completely digitally literate. If you are lacking in one, your overall performance will be hindered.

A5.2: 7 Things You Should Know About Virtual Worlds

Linsey Cushing
September 18, 2007

7 things you should know about virtual worlds (2006, June). Retrieved September 17, 2007, from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7015.pdf

TAP:
This article discusses basic information about virtual worlds. It is geared toward anyone interested in virtual worlds but has an educational aspect to it. The purpose of the article is to inform readers about virtual worlds.

Claim:
Virtual worlds offer users a place to exist in a world that is created by the group of users. Virtual worlds can be used for entertainment purposes or educational purposes depending on the setup. Virtual worlds are being coordinated into collegiate curriculum and offer many benefits through constructivist learning.

Evidence:
Virtual worlds are online environments where users are represented by avatars that they personally create. These avatars are able to interact with other avatars (who are controlled by other people, not the computer) in environments as directed by the users. The avatars can communicate with one another, making virtual worlds an area to create a sense of community and belonging. Many people use virtual worlds as a gaming area, creating rules and restrictions for users. On the other hand, universities are beginning to incorporate virtual worlds into their curriculum as monitored environments for student learning. For example, the article describes a virtual world in which a medical student has to work with patients (actual medical students) in different clinical settings. The environment is monitored by the professor, who gives suggestions to the students when needed. Other examples included a virtual archaeological site and disaster training environments. Instructors can either require students to meet in their virtual world at a certain time or they can allow students to log on whenever they have time and interact with one another. Virtual worlds promote constructivist learning because they require the student to figure situations out on their own without setting strict guidelines. The teacher can sit back and watch learning take place between students without them even realizing it. Overall, virtual worlds blur the line between real and computerized environments while allowing students to learn on their own and become part of a community.

Connections:
When I first started reading the article, all I could think about was a game called The Sims that I used to play. This game must have been the precursor to virtual worlds because you took on a persona/avatar and lived a life in a virtual world. I can see where virtual worlds are a hit with gamers because they are able to connect with real people. However, I also recall reading an article about a woman whose husband played Second Life, the game mentioned in the article, and was “cheating” on his wife with another woman, devoting every waking hour to the game. So I guess there are good and bad aspects to virtual worlds. People should not be consumed by them and sacrifice face-to-face interaction for avatar interaction because however social you are in a virtual world, you still need to have physical friends. On a more positive note, I think that educationally, virtual worlds offer a lot. They allow students to interact with “fake” people before they actually have to interact with patients, which allows for mistakes and learning from these mistakes. I hope that Marshall will consider adding virtual worlds to several of their programs because I think they would be very beneficial to students while also being fun at the same time. This information relates to what I’ve read about virtual meetings because it is essentially a virtual meeting but people are represented as avatars and the environment is different. It is also a unique aspect of the Read/Write Web. Finally, this information could be very beneficial in my future as a speech-language pathologist. Virtual worlds would be great to work on before I actually started therapy as a beginning clinician. If I stay around a university program after I become a speech-language pathologist, I am sure that I will see virtual worlds again.