Photo by: Enokson on Flickr
While searching for a particular picture I saw recently on Facebook, I came across this image. To me this picture represents the evolution of communication. This is a merging of ‘traditional’ language and the digital language currently used when communicating on social media sites and text messages. Emoticons have become an extension of our alphabet, why not use them to grab the attention of our students.
My name is Janet AuCoin LeBlanc and I teach Primary in a small rural school in Nova Scotia. I am currently on maternity leave and will be taking my fourth and fifth courses in the MET program. Reading, writing and speaking have always been of interest to me as they are key elements in the elementary curriculum. The growth and development of my 2 year old and 3 month old boys has made reading, writing and speaking even more of a focus for me. I often wonder how text technologies will impact their social and developmental skills. I recently viewed a picture in which multiple students are walking down a sidewalk, all going the same direction, and ALL of them texting as they walked. As an introvert, this is the type of social situation I hope to steer my boys away from. I want and need them to be able to thrive in face-to-face social interactions. I love digital technology and feel that social media can certainly expand the range of social experiences we can have. However, I am also a firm believer in the development of the basics – non-digital reading, writing, math, verbal and physical communication skills. I am looking forward to learning ways in which technology can be used to enhance and support the development of these basic skills.
I also look forward to working with you all this term, and hope to learn new ways to help my boys grow!
Cheers,
Janet
Janet,
I really enjoyed your picture and how it visualized the changes we are seeing in our definitions of literacy and text. A question I often wonder about … if we were to put up a sign in our classroom such as this, would we then need to accept student work that utilized unconventional / technological spellings such as <3 ??
Very good question! Personally I would say no in my own classroom, but that ultimately the decision would have to be up to the Department of Education. I would say no for my students in lower elementary as there are more than enough symbols from a-z and 1-100 for them to learn without having emoticons thrown in there.