1. kirklunsford

    How Discourse and Creativity Express Meaning

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    Moving from literacy and ‘new literacies’ to Discourse.


    In chapter one of New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning Ed by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel. I learned about literacy as a historical concept and a social practice. I also learned about new literacies as ‘paradigmatic’ and ‘ontological’ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 27). In chapter two I began to learn more about literacy as a social practice through Discourses and encoded texts.

    “Hence, literacies are ‘socially recognized ways in which people generate, communicate, and negotiate meanings, as members of Discourses, through the medium of encoded texts.” 

    (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 50).

    As a social practice one can think of literacy as observable ‘things’ humans do with their bodies and minds to create meaning. Lankshear and Knobel cite the work of Scribner and Cole to describe these practices as “consisting of three components: technology, knowledge, and skills. (ibid,: 236)” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 36). Being engaged in literacy also requires context to create meaning and purpose for the social practice to be ‘recognized.’ Meanings are negotiated by these practices and behaviors through encoded texts (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 36,37). What is most interesting about how literacy is defined in this sense is the idea of negotiated meaning and configurations in which literacies take shape. Lankshear and Knobel elaborate on this by providing examples. One’s interpretation of a recipe may differ from another, or one’s perspective on a Bible passage may differ from another’s based on meaning that is derived from being socialized into various sects of Christianity. (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 38).

    Meaning is derived from texts as ‘articulation’ and ‘interpretation’ according to Gee cited in Lankshear and Knobel (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 41). Where as, articulation is the work itself ̶ a DS106 assignment from the ‘assignment bank’ for example. The interpretation may be derived from an audience by consuming the work. The various ways in which the work is interpreted is negotiated by the audience based on their personal socialization and Discourses which they belong to.


    Discourse and Creativity


    It is the various Discourses and ‘coordination’ that I found great value in the relationship to ‘the importance of creative arts education’ and creativity in general. Lankshear and Knobel refer to the works of Gee and describe coordinations as a way humans recognize themselves and others in distinctive ways. It’s a way of ‘thinking and feeling.’ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 44) These coordinations thus inform the Discourses humans participate in. Whether it be a class, religious gathering, club, sport, multi-player online game, or any sort of Discourse, the individuals contribute their own culture and coordinations. The Discourses are the things that bring meaning to the world (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 45). 

    When I think of creativity, I think of the many different and unique ways humans express meaning to the world. To quote the definition of creativity as Sir Ken Robinson defines it in the context of value in education,

    “In fact, creativity ̶ which I define as the process of having original ideas that have value ̶ more often than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things.”


    To Ken Robinson, these meanings are expressed through ‘interactions of different disciplines’ such as math, science, literature, art, dance, music, etc. These are just some of the Discourses students may be involved with in school. One might deduce, if the Discourses are limited students have less chance to be creative and express meaning in their own unique way, which of course is vital to creating a sense of value and meaning in the world.

    As a citizen and a teacher in an American society that is struggling to keep up with the rest of the world through measure of education and standardized testing, I hope we can find new ways to create meaning through the many various sociocultural practices and Discourses we as citizens participate in. In other words, why would a country rich in culture seek value in a limited and unimaginative measure such as standardized testing? So much that we would limit our Discourses and disciplines, and reduce our ability to be creative, and perhaps be less equipped to participate effectively in ‘new literacies.’

    "It's like education is an industrial process that can be improved just by having better data, and somewhere in the back of the mind of some policy makers is this idea that if we fine-tune it well enough, if we just get it right, it will all hum along perfectly into the future. It won't, and it never did."

    Robinson, K. (2013, April). How to escape education's death valley.

    Looking forward to the next chapter “‘New’ literacies: technologies and values,” I hope to gain a better understanding of these ‘new literacy values’ and in contrast, compare them to the current values of the educational system in America. Are we at odds with ourselves? Does lack of value in ‘new literacies’ in the educational system lead to less relevant education? Does this ‘boredom’ lead to dropouts? How can we keep up?
  2. lisadise

    Did you press the button? – Digital Story Critique Week 2

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    The first story I’m critiquing is called: Reddit The Button – Digital Story by YouTube user Cyberculture stories. I found this video while searching for digital storytelling on YouTube. This video appealed to me because I was a subscriber to /r/thebutton for it’s duration.  I will be critiquing this story using the following criteria from […]
  3. amalthea13

    Social Media & New Literacies

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    Chapter 2 Reflection New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning by Colin Lankshear & Michele Knobel   Have you ever spent a little more time than you intended on social media? Maybe it was Facebook, and after you fell down a rabbit hole of photos on your friend's friend's profile page you suddenly looked up and nearly an hour had passed. Why do we "watch" people on social media?   On StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson recently had an interview with Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter,
  4. amalthea13

    Social Media & New Literacies

    by
    Chapter 2 Reflection New Literacies: Everyday Practices and Social Learning by Colin Lankshear & Michele Knobel   Have you ever spent a little more time than you intended on social media? Maybe it was Facebook, and after you fell down a rabbit hole of photos on your friend's friend's profile page you suddenly looked up and nearly an hour had passed. Why do we "watch" people on social media?   On StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson recently had an interview with Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter,
  5. kirklunsford

    Critiquing A Reflection On Learning

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    How A Slight Change In Mindset Accelerated My Learning Forever:
    A personal sports story and a practical life tip. 


    How A Slight Change In Mindset Accelerated My Learning Forever

    Assessment criteria: As part of authoring critiques of digital storytelling in INTE 5340 three criterions are selected from Jason Ohler’s assessment traits.


    Media Application (Score 1-10: 9 Points)

    Media supports the story. Media use is effective and does not overpower writing or story core.

    Comments:
    The pictures of kitesurfing were well placed. The map of The Red Sea was needed to remind the audience of the remoteness of area where the story takes place. The thumbnail sketches demonstrate how the actions were performed and were very needed to illustrate the story. I only wish that there was a video embedded at the end of the story to demonstrate learning kitesurfing. However would that take away from the story? Would the audience skip all of the writing and illustrations and go straight for the video?

    Story Flow (Score 1-10: 10 Points)

    Information was presented concisely and in organized fashion. No detours or tangents.

    Comments:
    Because the author was describing, in some detail, physical acts in sequence, it was very important that the understanding of the story be apparent in the flow. At first glance, I usually shy away from stories that include step by step instruction (unless I’m reading a tutorial) but this story was captivating because of the overall meaning and flow.

    Reflection (Score 1-10: 10 Points)

    The story offers unique perspectives based on reflection of events that happened in the story. The audience is inspired to reflect on their own practices.

    Comments:
    This story was very inspiring to me. As I learn about new technologies and ‘new literacies,’ it is very easy to fall into a ‘timid’ mindset. Where the author exhibited confidence and commitment, his performance and enjoyment in learning was most abundant. This mindset may be applied to learning almost anything.

    Total Score 29/30


    Other characteristics this assessment fails to capture.

    This assessment fails to mention the story did not show any real evidence of the beginners truly not trying hard enough to be successful, or not fully committing to the act at hand. The story also fails to show with sound evidence that ‘trying hard’ on the first attempt while learning something new leads to better outcomes. There is something to be said about experimentation especially when learning something new. It’s possible experimentation, instead of ‘trying hard,’ can come off as being timid or shy.

    How could this digital story be improved?

    The author describes how he applies his approach to learning something new. He mentions how a majority of people demonstrate lack of commitment or ‘half-assing it.’ Or the beginners feel shy so they don’t demonstrate confidence. I think this could be substantiated a little more. Perhaps some people are, in general, shy or introverted and their outward expression of an activity may always come off as shy? Maybe next time the author teaches something new he can use surveys to capture the true personality, mindset, and character of the people being observed?
  6. thanh76

    Reading Response- Chapter 2

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     For this week’s reading of Lankshear & Knobel I found myself intrigued, confused, and inspired because a commercial that is oddly enough for whisky. During my reading, I kept thinking back at chapter one and the history behind literacy and what did literacy mean. However, in chapter 2 the literature defines “literacy” as “not some singular phenomenon but, rather, to understand literacies as multiple”. This idea of understanding literacies as multiple began my interest to understand how many
  7. thanh76

    Reading Response- Chapter 2

    by
     For this week’s reading of Lankshear & Knobel I found myself intrigued, confused, and inspired because a commercial that is oddly enough for whisky. During my reading, I kept thinking back at chapter one and the history behind literacy and what did literacy mean. However, in chapter 2 the literature defines “literacy” as “not some singular phenomenon but, rather, to understand literacies as multiple”. This idea of understanding literacies as multiple began my interest to understand how many
  8. leetran91

    Reading Response- Chapter 2

    by
    For this week’s reading of Lankshear & Knobel I found myself intrigued, confused, and inspired because a commercial that is oddly enough for whisky. During my reading, I kept thinking back at chapter one and the history behind literacy and what did literacy mean. However, in chapter 2 the literature defines “literacy” as “not some singular phenomenon but, rather, to understand literacies as multiple”. This idea of understanding literacies as multiple began my interest to understand how many
  9. thanh76

    DS 106 AB: Audio: Reverse Audio Quiz!

    by
      I had a lot of fun playing around and choosing an audio assignment from the ds106 assignment bank. I finally settled on an Reverse Audio Quiz. I have reversed a song and have given you 3 hints. It is now your job to guess what the song is!   - It was released in 1989 - It reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990 - The artist was a beatboxing Alien in Men in Black!   Good luck all and be sure to comment at the bottom on what you think the song is! :)   *Unfortunately, I am unable to
  10. leetran91

    DS 106 AB: Audio: Reverse Audio Quiz!

    by
      I had a lot of fun playing around and choosing an audio assignment from the ds106 assignment bank. I finally settled on an Reverse Audio Quiz. I have reversed a song and have given you 3 hints. It is now your job to guess what the song is!   - It was released in 1989 - It reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990 - The artist was a beatboxing Alien in Men in Black!   Good luck all and be sure to comment at the bottom on what you think the song is! :)   *Unfortunately, I am unable to
  11. leetran91

    DS 106 AB: Audio: Reverse Audio Quiz!

    by
    I had a lot of fun playing around and choosing an audio assignment from the ds106 assignment bank. I finally settled on an Reverse Audio Quiz. I have reversed a song and have given you 3 hints. It is now your job to guess what the song is! - It was released in 1989 - It reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990 - The artist was a beatboxing Alien in Men in Black! Good luck all and be sure to comment at the bottom on what you think the song is! :) *Unfortunately, I am unable to embed the
  12. thanh76

    The Daily Create- See Beyond the Buildings

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    This is my third daily create, so far these daily creates have been fun and interesting. Plus side is that these definitely do not take that long. I enjoyed this one because I think the nature scene is beautiful and thats where I usually find myself when I am out. Usually by a lake of some sort just relaxing! :)  
  13. thanh76

    The Daily Create- See Beyond the Buildings

    by
    This is my third daily create, so far these daily creates have been fun and interesting. Plus side is that these definitely do not take that long. I enjoyed this one because I think the nature scene is beautiful and thats where I usually find myself when I am out. Usually by a lake of some sort just relaxing! :)  
  14. lisadise

    911, What’s your emergency? – Audio Assignment

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    For this week’s ds106 audio assignment I chose to do the 911 What’s your emergency  assignment. I am keeping this assignment in line with my focal theme of the experiences of a new mother.  Sometimes I wished there was an emergency hotline to call for those first few weeks of being a new parent. My sound […]
  15. emilysmayy

    Learning to Critique: Assessment of Digital Storytelling Series – Part 4

    by

    For guidelines on the critique process, please refer to my 1st post in the series.   Overview: For my second critique this week, I’ve chosen a reflective video story titled, “Nowhere Anyhow” by Darcy Alexandra. This short is about a waitress, an adopted daughter, a coffee shop in the winter, and her father. I found this story on a site… Read more →

    The post Learning to Critique: Assessment of Digital Storytelling Series – Part 4 appeared first on Emily S. May.

  16. lishna68

    Outlaw In Hollywood

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              Every so often itunes surprises me with a forgotten song of my past. Such was the case this week. A song from the indie rock group Concrete Blonde struck my eardrums and threw me back to my college radi...
  17. ekeating

    Chapter 2 Response

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    I chose to focus on two questions this week in responding to chapter two.  I feel my responses tie in together so I am combining the response.


    What are your main insights and ideas from the given L&K chapter?

    How does this reading challenge/expand/contradict your definition of (digital) storytelling?


    I was frustrated when I got to the end of this chapter because I feel like a lot of what they wrote in chapter 2 could have been simplified into a few pages.  Parts of what they wrote were too complicated and hard to follow; I am a big believer in simplicity and less is more.  However, I found the section on encoded texts very interesting and thought provoking.  On page 45, Lankshear and Knobel write a discussion question about encoded texts and it got me thinking.  Encoded texts are digital stories.  They are texts that can ‘travel’ and be interacted with and never ‘frozen.’  They could take the shape of any story or photograph someone shares with another person.


    According to Lankshear and Knobel, literacies are “socially recognized ways in which people generate, communicate, and negotiate meanings, as members of Discourse, through the medium of encoded texts” (p. 50).  When I first read part of this definition at the beginning of chapter 2, I was confused, but by the end, I understand what it means.  To me, this definition of literacies expands upon and confirms my definition of digital storytelling.  Early last week I had to ask people and Google what a digital story was exactly.  Now I realize there is no exact, perfect answer.  A digital story is any form of the definition of literacies above, it’s communicating and interacting through a variety of means and people are free to negotiate and interpret the meaning how they see fit.  Literacy does not have to be just learning to read and write as I previously thought. 


    Before chapter 2, I didn’t think of Facebook or blog posting as digital stories, I thought digital storytelling had to be more formal, like Ted Talks or a news story.  I now realize that the whole feed on Facebook or blog role can be considered a digital story, they tell about an individual overtime.  What Jim Gee describes as Discourse, to me, can also be considered interpretation and how different people make meaning.  So I look at Facebook as informal and casual, while someone else might look at Facebook as a digital story of a person’s life, more serious.  I could be way off here, but like I said, I found some of this chapter to be hard to follow so please correct me if I am wrong!      



    (Side note: I also felt like Lankshear and Knobel gave learning how to use Facebook too much credit in terms of becoming literate with the website.  What they were saying in that section was a stretch for me; however, I was part of the first group to join Facebook my freshman year of college in 2003/4 so perhaps because I have been using Facebook ‘the longest’ it comes easier to me.)

  18. emilysmayy

    Response to Lankshear and Knoble’s New Literacies: Chapter Two

    by

    In my last post, we discussed the evolution of the term literacy as told by Colin Lankshear and Michele Konbel highlighting the notion of two important terms now use to define our “new literacies:” paradigmatic and ontological. In other words, as I understand it, the ability to make sense of and participate in various online interactions (the paradigm) by way… Read more →

    The post Response to Lankshear and Knoble’s New Literacies: Chapter Two appeared first on Emily S. May.

  19. burgoynem

    TDC: Oh, to be a kid again!

    by
    My response to yesterday's Daily Create:I loved my childhood. I was very fortunate to have had the upbringing that I had. Really, it wasn't anything spectacular and there certainly were no silver spoons to eat with but it didn't matter. What was import...

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