Now is when we delve deeper into critical digital literacy and all that it has to offer and discuss what I feel is the two most important aspects of critical digital literacy, meaning-making and code-breaking.
When I first heard the term "code-breaking," I immediately thought of many 0s and 1s like image off to the left. However, after reading and learning about what "breaking the code" actually means, I realize it is far more intricate and important than what I initially thought. Code-breaking is the process of breaking down all different aspects of the digital world into concepts we can understand. If you take away nothing else about critical digital literacy, take away this; every single aspect of the digital world has many different working parts all at once, and if anyone wants to be digitally literate, they must realize that this is the case and learn to look at all these aspects individually and uniquely. "Meaning-making" is the way by which people break down and understand these different elements of the digital world.
To me, these two terms go hand-in-hand. One cannot code-break without understanding to some extent what it is they are breaking down, and one cannot make meaning without being able to break the code.I used what is known to many as a 'creative make' in the form of a Bitmoji. Learning to navigate this site and create my own Bitmoji was incredibly exciting and fun. My own personal knowledge of code-breaking came into play when I was creating this Bitmoji because I now understood to look at everything (colours, what I was wearing, text, etc.)both on the website and on the Bitmoji itself. I believe that having the knowledge of code-breaking and meaning-making really helped me create a more accurate Bitmoji to myself because instead of just looking at the surface and seeing one big picture, I was able to break it down into several different components and create a Bitmoji that better represents not just my looks, but my personality as well. I encourage all of you to go make your own Bitmoji. Not only is it fun, but it allows you to better understand what we are talking about here today.
I do not know if you know this about me, but I love to break down and analyze movies. Specifically, I like to examine them for in their different components (directing, acting, writing, cinematography, and anything else you can think of) and judge them based on those elements individually and then as a whole. Many of my friends say this makes me too picky when it comes to watching movies. However, after I read an article about code-breaking and meaning-making, I realized that when I watch movies, code-breaking is precisely what I do. Because I have been aware of it for the past two weeks, I have taken that analytical side of myself and applied it to many websites and YouTube videos I have been to and watched. Learning that every element of digital texts is filled with codes to break is essential to understanding the digital world.
In the I video shared in my last blog post, Doug Belshaw speaks of how to look at digital literacies. And I think he touches on something significant. He mentions that elegant consumption is how we used to absorb media both in and out of the digital world. But now that we have so much access to make our own content, that has shifted from elegant consumption, to what he likes to call the 'Remix.' This remix is split into eight subcategories that make up how we can remix content to make it our own. I bring this up because I think is a great way to understand code breaking. We look at the digital literacies, and then we remix it to make it our own. And we do not just remix it the same way each time, we utilize various different aspects of our personality, ability, and imagination to make it as unique as possible. This is how I understand code-breaking. Everyone is going to see something slightly different in what they look at. And I feel as though that comes down to these eight components in the remix. Even if it is subconscious when breaking the code we take into account our cognitive ability, constructive ability, communicative ability, civic ability, critical ability, creative ability, confidence level, and cultural background, all coming together to make one understanding of a digital text. Using code-breaking methods and utilizing both old and new knowledge of meaning-making, I created this mind map on a Microsoft Word document of Doug Belshaw's idea of where digital literacy is headed.
For those of you that do not know what Flipgrid is, there is another program that I feel utilizes this aspect in just as simple a way: Microsoft PowerPoint. Microsoft PowerPoint is a slide-creating program that easily allows you to incorporate text, video, audio, colours, transitions, and almost anything else into a slide presentation. It is a wonderful way to introduce people to the world of code-breaking because it carries the creator through making the slides step-by-step to create a visually interesting slideshow.
I have learned a lot in the past two weeks about critical digital literacy, specifically in regards to breaking aspects of digital texts down into unique aspects. I hope this provided you all with some insight into the importance of breaking the code and meaning-making when interacting with any digital texts or for that matter, anything in the digital world.
Thanks for joining me in this deep dive into the understanding of critical digital literacy and how important it is to understand digital texts.
I'm curious though, is there anything you have done in the digital world that you now realize is meaning-making and code-breaking?
Why do you think it is so important for us to know about code-breaking and be able to code break effectively?
As teachers, do you think you will bring a lot of elements of the digital world into your classroom?
Even though this sounds like a lot, there is even more to learn about critical digital literacy, so I hope you will join me in a few weeks for our next, even deeper dive into this wonderful digital world. Until next time, have fun, and you will hear from me really soon.
P.S. If you would like more reading on this in relation to how we should be teaching our students, click here
References
The essential elements of digital literacies: Doug Belshaw at TEDxWarwick [Video file]. (2012, March 22). Retrieved October 3, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78&feature=youtu.be
I love the questions you pose to the reader, it really brings into focus what we as future teachers should focus on in the classroom. How do you use this Remix in your daily life as a digital citizen? What is an example of a time when you used both code-breaking and meaning-making in your daily life? What were some of the methods that you used in the classroom growing up and would any of those methods or activities still be valid if you were teaching a class right now?
ReplyDeleteI think that in today's day and age almost everybody uses at least some aspect of the Remix in their daily lives, even if they are unaware of it. So for me, I think I use it in regards to basically every aspect of the digital world I utilize. Regarding using code-breaking and meaning-making, I feel as though this too occurs every day. But a prime example I can think of is when I had my placement in a Grade 8 class last year, I was presented with Google classroom, which was something I had never used before. The teacher was incredibly busy with the class at the time so I took it upon myself to learn how to navigate through Google Classroom to help the students whenever they asked. When I was growing up, Google Classroom (or anything of the sort) was not something that existed. But an aspect of the class that did exist (and my class was actually one of the first in Ontario to get) was a SmartBoard. When I was in Grade 4 we got a SmartBoard in our class and it was brand new technology that even the teacher was attempting to navigate as she taught us. Nowadays the SmartBoard has all but overtaken the use of a chalkboard and I think it will not be leaving any time soon. So I think that SmartBoards would still be valid if I were teaching my own class.
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