My Self-Assessment on being Technologically Literate

By Jamie Mahoney

Spring, 2011

Becoming technology literate involves actively being aware of technology, knowing

how we may use it, knowing how it works and knowing how it changes us.”

David Richard Moore

What does it mean to be Technologically Literate?

“Technology literacy is more than being aware of technology and it is even more than knowing how to

use a set of technologies. Technology literacy is a recognition that the tools we find and create in our

environment are extensions of ourselves.”

David Richard Moore

1. Am I able to identify technologies relevant to a task?

In answering this question I would have to say that I am able to recognize technologies relevant to a task. Before this module I had never blogged or tweeted before. I knew technologies such as Google docs existed, but had never used it and software such as Jing and Wordle were nonexistent terms in my mental lexicon. I now know not only what they are, but understand their significance as forums for writers of all different genres. For example, last night the mastermind of September 11th, Osama Bin Laden, was killed by U.S military! Through technologies such as Twitter, the news made its way around the world in a matter of seconds! So many people were privy to such information, for whom without these types of technologies would have had to get this info another way! In aiding the spread of such monumental news, I would say that Twitter was a technology that was relevant in completing such a task!

Do I make the grade on being Technologically literate?

I believe that I now understand new technology interfaces. In other words, I know how certain computer components exchange data with other components. An example of this can be seen in my blogs where I created hyperlinks and tags. I know that by using hyperlinks and tags others have access to my thoughts and ideas, as I have to theirs (hence the exchange of data), which is a key component to the success of any writing forum or discourse community such as tumblr.

2. Do I understand how to use the technology and how to navigate its interface?

According to Moore, “Understanding how technology works requires . . . One’s ability to modify the technology to respond to unusual or problematic

situations or to apply it to new situations and circumstances.”

I feel like I have not had enough time to analyse the new technologies of this module fully, however, I do believe that I have learned a lot about how to apply the technologies I have learned about to new situations and circumstances. Examples of this are my new understanding of what Google Docs, Twitter, Tumblr, Jing, Wordle, SurveyMonkey, and Slideshare are and what types of affordances and hindrances each of them have. Each of these technologies are new to me and yet, I can now recognize how, where, and for what purpose to use them. (For example, I used Jing for all of my screen captured photos for this presentation!)

3. Do I understand the inner-working or structure of the technology?

Affordances of Google Docs:

• Being able to work simultaneously with others on a paper and doing so from anywhere.

• Having the peace of mind of knowing that everything that is written is automatically saved. There is no need for previous technologies, such as zip drives, and no fear of a computer crash, because your docs are automatically saved and can be accessed by any computer.

Hindrances of Google Docs:• When more than one person

is typing, there are a lot of grammatical errors.

• It may have been the connection at school, but the system seemed very slow and Google docs could not keep up with my typing. This was frustrating because I felt it actually made the process of writing more difficult. I often became confused and would forget my train of thought as I was constantly editing mistakes made by Google docs inability to keep up.

Affordances/Hindrances of Technology

While I am not promoting myself as a technical guru, I can say that as a critical user of so many new technologies I am able to see some of both the affordances and hindrances each of the new technologies brings. Examples of Google Docs, Twitter, Tumblr & Jing can be seen below:

I will begin with Google Docs

Affordances of Twitter• It is free• Allows you the latest updates in

the news and popular culture (such as the killing of Bin Laden!)

• It allows access to celebrities that we would otherwise not have (if of course you are interested in them)

• You choose who you follow• You can make your account public

or private• The searching options are user

friendly, i.e. Name of person or content of tweet

• Another networking website where one can keep in touch with friends

Hindrances of Twitter• It can be hard to determine if

you are following the person you think you are following. In other words, there are people posing to be someone they are not.

• You cannot choose who follows you on twitter

• Its a forum for corporate promotion so you may get tweets you don’t care about and from people you don’t want.

• Only 140 characters available in a tweet

Affordances/Hindrances of

Affordances of Tumblr:• It is free• It is an open forum for writers

to express themselves via pictures, quotes, and texts

• It allows people to follow and repost people’s blogs if they choose

• Your identity is unknown • Easy to insert hyperlinks and

tags which makes searching for certain blogs easier (see above image)

Hindrances of Tumblr:• At first it is a little difficult

to use• Authors are unknown• Certain authors find re-

blogging annoying

Affordances/HindrancesTumblr

Affordances of Jing• It is free (unless you want pro

version and only for a certain period of time)

• Allows you to easily take a screen shot (all pictures in this presentation are from Jing!!)

• Allows you to make short movies

• Allows you the ability to share instantly your picture or movie with anyone on the web via blog, email, twitter, etc.

Hindrances of Jing• It is only free for a certain

period of time• If you do not have an internal

microphone or outside devise for recording you cannot use the movie option

• I noticed when I have multiple things open, i.e. PowerPoint, Word, other internet sites, I can’t paste my photos.

Affordances/Hindrances Jing

Well...I used to be anxious about learning new technologies. This module has made me realize that technology isn’t something to be afraid of, rather something to be embraced. The most important thing about that realization is not only do I know what types of technologies are available, but what their affordances and hindrances are, how they can be used to perform a task, and to a certain degree understand the structure of the technologies themselves.

I further understand that while technology is in fact a tool, for me personally, technology is also a text. According to Nardy & O’Day (1999), technology can be looked at as “Text --as a form of communication, a carrier of meaning that may be reinterpreted as the technology passes through different social situations” (5). In other words, the text I knew, in the form of the standard essay, is no longer stigmatized with that label. With all of the new technologies I have been introduced to I am now at the helm in how, and in what context, I use them. As a writing arts major, having access and knowledge of such instruments will aid me in my future endeavours.

While I am still learning about the said technologies mentioned in this assessment, as well as new ones to come, I do not look at technology in the same light anymore. I am still a little anxious about the process of learning new technologies but understand the importance technology has on the extension of cognition! To be technologically literate without this revelation would be impossible.

So what does all of this mean? Am I technologically Literate?

Moore, D. R. (2010). Technology literacy: the extension of cognition. Springer Science+Business Media. doi: 10.1007/s10798-010-9113-9

Nardi, B. A. & O’Day, V. L. (1999). Information Ecologies: Using technologies with Heart.

References