Am I Trans-illiterate??
After conducting some light research and engaging in a lively conversation with my cohort members, I finally feel like I have a decent understanding of Transliteracy. The general consensus seems to be that Transliteracy is the ability to understand information that may be communicated across a range of modes or platforms. For example, some people may have very strong speaking or listening skills, but may struggle with reading. Or a more common example that many teachers may be familiar with, is how many students are more proficient at typing then they are at writing by hand. While they both require the author to speak and understand the English language, the way they are interacting with the content has varied. This is, I believe, the core of Transliteracy. Being transliterate requires that a person be proficient across multiple modes of communication. This includes, but is not limited to communicating through words (spoken, written, even signed) as well as through technology such as tv, radio, film and of course, the internet. So what is the role Transliteracy in education? If my understanding of transliteracy is correct, then it has a pivotal role to play in the modern classroom. According to work done by Marshall Mcluhan, media has greatly impacted the way we think and interact. The invention of the telephone made it possible for people to communicate almost instantly across long distances. However, the invention of the phone did more than just allow long distance communication, it actually changed the way we greet other humans, changed the way we ended conversations, gave way to new euphemisms and expressions. These are what Mcluhan refers to as “Unforeseen consequences”. These Unforeseen consequences have certainly made their way into the the classroom. Many teachers are undoubtedly familiar with students’ growing obsession with technology. Physically speaking, they are curious and engaged by the tangible devices such as smart phones, tablets and even smart watches. Virtually speaking, students are even more interested with the “places” these devices “take them”. Their technology allows them to communicate with an even larger audience from even greater distances, across different platforms. We may have had pen pals back in elementary, but now your average student essentially owns their own virtual bill board where they can broadcast any message they want. This also means, on the reciprocal end, that the very same children can witness the “billboards” of every other online user. As you can imagine, this too has “Unforeseen Consequences” . Like what?? The shift towards transliteracy has lead to children becoming more comfortable with multimedia from a young age. Most children can no longer be sufficiently satisfied by one or two modes of communication. Imagine a modern child sitting by a radio, and merely listening to a teleplay. I doubt many of my students would settle for such a thing. Today’s youth demand more. They want to SEE and to HEAR and to READ and to TOUCH and INTERACT with their content. And why shouldn't they? Why should we deprive our students of these modalities? The only challenge is properly preparing students to navigate a transliterate world.
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