Digital Literacy: Does this mean we're teaching TikTok now? (Blog Post 1)
websites like GimKit and KnoWord (try them on your own, if you dare). In fact, I did not realize how much digital literacy had permeated my daily life until my father called me on my lunch break as I attempted to write this post. My digitally illiterate father needed me to check our phone provider's website after he received a letter in the mail saying upgrades to the network meant his flip phone needed to be replaced. Needless to say, it is critical now more than ever to have digital literacy in composing writing socially and as a means to interact with the increasingly digital running of society. So, how can we prepare our students to enter a world where they'll have to personally and professionally demonstrate digital literacy?
In my own interactions with digital media, I typically stick to monthly posts but in examining the skills of my own experiences in digital literacy, I am hoping to better understand how to support my students. Henry Jenkins outlined a variety of new literacy skills participatory culture builds due to its' communal nature encouraging participation from more than one individual at a time. I've included an example of one of my monthly posts to demonstrate the skill of appropriation, borrowing and remixing media content in new forms. In each of my posts, I select a song that I believe captures the month; for this post from June I chose Me Fui de Vacaciones (I Went on Vacation) by Bad Bunny because it was the start of summer vacation and the song has a summer energy with a steel drum solo. I also intentionally choose emojis for the caption with the season and images in mind (the blue kite matches my blue shirt) and order the images with an audience in mind. In this way, I am borrowing from some other artists and emojis and ordering my own pictures intentionally with the community of participants involved. Another skill I often use online is the skill of judgement to discern what information is credible and trustworthy with what I am reading. The ability for judgement in my own participation online and in that of others is important in using online platforms as a way to promote social action, as it is critical to understand what is true online when getting information. In today's world of AI images and videos, there are many tests to what is true and untrue online; yet, even beyond videos there are many times when watching videos on YouTube or reading news articles online when I notice signs that an author is intentionally presenting information and may be biased. This skill is one that I think is very useful in interacting online, and one that students also need to be supported in to safely take part in participatory cultures.
The goal for building participatory cultures in classrooms in to create a space where students are not producing for the teacher, but decentralizing the work for students to represent their own images through multimodal counterstorytelling. Students in the youth participatory action research (YPAR) of DeJayne and Curmi-Hall's research showed they were particularly skilled at the participatory culture skill of negotiation, which allows one to recognize they are entering different communities and perspectives and interact with those perspectives respectfully. Unfortunately, in many ways this ability to recognize the different perspectives often meant students did not always use their voice, as "they did not discuss systemic inequities evenly across school classes." (DeJaynes and Curmi-Hall, 6) While this often meant students did not speak evenly in classes where they were recognizing classes, the opportunity provided by multimodal storytelling gave those students the ability to communicate their opinions.
However, I do see a potential pitfall for students to lose interest in BookTok if it becomes overly appropriated by educators in the ELA classroom. Jerasa and Boffone point out that TikTok gained
popularity with teenagers in many ways in rebellion to the polished way that their parents and teachers used the internet. If teachers require students to have polished BookToks as assignments or teachers themselves create BookTok accounts that are ingenuine to post in the community in ways that do not actually interest the teacher, I could see students' love for BookTok being damaged and the bridge between BookTok and traditional ELA classes being seriously damaged. I also see there being a potential danger in teachers getting overly interested in BookTok in the ELA classroom, as it could potentially turn away students who are not on BookTok and feel left out from conversations between the teacher and students who are on BookTok.
popularity with teenagers in many ways in rebellion to the polished way that their parents and teachers used the internet. If teachers require students to have polished BookToks as assignments or teachers themselves create BookTok accounts that are ingenuine to post in the community in ways that do not actually interest the teacher, I could see students' love for BookTok being damaged and the bridge between BookTok and traditional ELA classes being seriously damaged. I also see there being a potential danger in teachers getting overly interested in BookTok in the ELA classroom, as it could potentially turn away students who are not on BookTok and feel left out from conversations between the teacher and students who are on BookTok.
So, while we're not teaching TikTok, we are embracing the need for digital literacy and understanding that our students come into our classrooms with many skills in digital literacy that we can build on top of every day.
Works Cited
DeJaynes, Tiffany, and Christopher Curmi‐Hall. “Transforming School hallways through critical inquiry: Multimodal literacies for Civic Engagement.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 63, no. 3, 25 June 2019, pp. 299–309, https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.991.
Jenkins, Henry, et al. “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century.” Building the Field of Digital Media and Learning, 2006, pp. 3–4.
Jerasa, Sarah, and Trevor Boffone. “BookTok 101: Tiktok, digital literacies, and out‐of‐school reading practices.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 65, no. 3, 8 Oct. 2021, pp. 219–226, https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1199.
First of all, I really enjoyed reading your post, and I was immediately grabbed from the story about your dad and his flip phone. It honestly says a lot about how digital literacy is less about “being online” and more about access and navigating everyday life. I also liked how you pointed out that you really only post once a month because I do the same thing, especially when it comes to me going on vacations or going to concerts. I feel like it shows that digital composition doesn’t have to mean constant posting. Even those occasional posts involve a lot of intention with music, emojis, and deciding which order your images should go in, which connects really well to Jenkins’ idea of appropriation. Your point about judgment also feels especially relevant right now with AI images, videos, and biased information floating around everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI also thought your take on BookTok was really strong. The Twilight reference was a very relatable example of how online spaces can genuinely pull people back into reading, even years later. At the same time, I appreciate how you’re honest about the potential downsides, especially how BookTok could lose its appeal if teachers try too hard to bring it into the classroom. The connection between valuing students’ out-of-school literacies and not taking over those spaces is extremely thoughtful and realistic, and it's something that I, as of right now, struggle to find balance with, when I think of my future classroom.
I'm glad you brought up BookTok losing authenticity and in turn, the student's interests if teachers infiltrate that space. It is a very delicate balance that takes a lot of relationship building and care to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteI co-run our social media accounts with students and I remember when we first launched the accounts, I had to put in hard work to prove to them I was worthy of working with them to create content to post that was engaging for our student audience. I feel like I am learning a whole new language and cultural norms when working to create a more mundane post, like a last minute reminder pushed out by administration that they want posted on the account immediately. I will often make a millennial mistake, and they are QUICK to call me out on it.
Little by little, by allowing the students to take majority of control of the accounts and by doing a lot of learning on my end on how to operate within their social norms, I have been able to acquire enough "clout" to be trusted enough by them to post without their feedback. They have invited me in to their circle and see me as a "peer" within that space (with the appropriate boundaries, of course).
I've also had to consume copious amounts of brainrot to get to this point. It's really started to grow on me.
While I want to leverage them within my classroom space, I've got to learn more about certain platforms and how to use them. I've probably made 2 Tik Toks with my children during the pandemic and that's it. It took me by surprise to learn what BookTok was and how impactful it is for readers, especially young readers. I like how you brought up the statement about it being critical to understand what is true online. All too often I am trying to get my students and own children to look at online media through a critical lens and to have discernment about the information that is posted before you repost things as truth, or use the information for class work. For a person like myself I believe it's very important for me to leverage these tools in class as a way to better engage my students and to meet them where they are at. Using these platforms or creating online spaces specifically as a classroom tool so that I can be a curator instead of a barrier to certain discussions about difficult material.
ReplyDeleteHi Kimberly! I appreciated your perspective on the risks of overusing spaces like BookTok. I think this is a very exciting online space that promotes literacy, but you make a good point that this is a space made primarily for and by teenagers as an expression of rebellion from traditional (as you say, "polished") literary spaces. Your point also speaks to the importance of balancing using those spaces to promote student literacy while not taking it over and denying students their autonomy. I think it's a good idea to introduce students to spaces like BookTok, but overall how students interact with digital learning should be on their terms (guided by the teacher of course). I also loved your point about students not producing work for the teacher, but rather for the sake of their own learning and interests. I think teachers should act more as "guides on the sides" and allow students to produce knowledge in their own voice through mediums of their choosing. I share many educator's concerns about digital learning, but I am also excited about the potentials for bolstering student voices and identities.
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