Literacy. Literacy, stemming from the word literate as defined by Merriam-Webster, is having knowledge or competence. Growing up in an ever-evolving technology based society, many assume that anyone who grew up or was born around the time having a computer in the home was a common thing, is digitally literate. Based on an assumption, the blanket terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant” were coined. Stated best by Evelyn Glennie, “Society cannot continue to disable themselves through their need to categorize people or make assumptions as to another individual 's abilities”. The instinctive assumption that this young generation is automatically predisposed to the digital “super-powers” that include being able to dissect any technological
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Within this implication, it is most often forgotten that although some of our use of digital technology specifically directed toward social media is for recreational purposes, the use of digital technology e.g. smartphones, computers, tablets etc., have advanced the way we approach “problems” that affect us as a society. Complicating this idea, Nicholas Carr, a published technology author, released an article in 2008, entitled Is Google Making Us Stupid, in which he argued that the use of the internet has altered the way our mind thinks, the way we communicate, and even the way we read. He even goes on to claim that this dependence on technology affects society in such a way that we are no longer able to focus while reading printed text, let alone online articles with distracting factors such as hyperlinks and flashy pop-up ads. Trying to find some common grounds with his reader, Carr embeds his own personal experience with the web by stating “My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy… Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle” (2008). Contrary to what Carr implies, lack of focus on a specific task is common in several other areas in life. Not approving of a lack of focus in important aspects of life such as driving and things of that nature, but as a generation and as humans we were taught to be multitaskers. Getting things done efficiently and effectively is something we were taught to do at a young age. As children, many
Within this implication, it is most often forgotten that although some of our use of digital technology specifically directed toward social media is for recreational purposes, the use of digital technology e.g. smartphones, computers, tablets etc., have advanced the way we approach “problems” that affect us as a society. Complicating this idea, Nicholas Carr, a published technology author, released an article in 2008, entitled Is Google Making Us Stupid, in which he argued that the use of the internet has altered the way our mind thinks, the way we communicate, and even the way we read. He even goes on to claim that this dependence on technology affects society in such a way that we are no longer able to focus while reading printed text, let alone online articles with distracting factors such as hyperlinks and flashy pop-up ads. Trying to find some common grounds with his reader, Carr embeds his own personal experience with the web by stating “My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy… Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle” (2008). Contrary to what Carr implies, lack of focus on a specific task is common in several other areas in life. Not approving of a lack of focus in important aspects of life such as driving and things of that nature, but as a generation and as humans we were taught to be multitaskers. Getting things done efficiently and effectively is something we were taught to do at a young age. As children, many