A10.1: Reproduction Literacy

Ashley Pence

October 25, 2007

How often is it that we see things that have been reproduced to make them better, funnier or just better all together?  I like to think of things such as pop art.  This type of art takes a pre-existing piece of work that could include music, media, text and other things such as that and compiles them all to reproduce a new work of art.  This type of literacy skill also helps us in writing in the sense that we can take preexisting words, reorganize them and create new sentence meanings.  The artist Drako Maver (fictional character) is another example of how reproduction literacy works.  This character takes audio or visual pieces , edits them and manipulates them in order to create new art works. (2004)(www.kapelica.org/maver/main.htm)

Alkali and Hamburger also describe in their article about experiments in digital literacy the type of person it takes to be effective at this specific type of literacy.  They feel that it takes someone who have good synthetical, and multidimensional thinking that helps them in discovering new combinations for arranging information in new and meaningful ways. (2004)  I’ll admit that I have tried to create things like this before, but never to such a level as the “artist” Drako Maver has.  My skills are limited and I have never experimented any further than creating collages with pictures on my computer. 

The article that I read about digitally, highly connected children has a quote from author John Kao that sums up how reproduction literacy is viewed, “taking a topic, a question, an idea, disseminate it, break it, manipulate it, and reassemble it creating something new.” 

When I first began this search I thought about what I knew about reproduction literacy and I thought back to my Art History class that I had a few years ago.  We looked at several Andy Warhol productions.  I immediately thought of his Marilyn Monroe reproductions.  By taking one photo and reproducing it multiple times then putting it all together he produced a great piece of art which I’m sure would sell for millions.  Here is a link to a few of Andy Warhol’s pieces of art.  http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/IPHS/Projects/pop.up/art.htm

How does reproduction literacy effect education today?  I found it very interesting that in another one of Alkali’s articles he mentioned the huge effect that reproducing another’s work, mainly research, is a pretty big problem these days.  He mentioned one site that actually has ready-made academic work available for the taking.  I find it very hard in the school systems today to appropriately and legally use reproduction literacy skills as a way of effective learning.  It’s obvious that there are cases where students “reproduce” something and claim it as their’s, but until we can find a better way to teach these types of skills in a way that makes it legitimate, it will be a lost cause.

Eshet-Alkai, Y., & Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2004, August). Experiments in digital literacy. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(4), 421-429.

Eshet-Alkai, Y. (2004).  Digital literacy: A conceptual framework for survival skills in the digital era.  JI. of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(1), 93-106. 

Aphek, E.  (2005) Digital, “highly connected” children: Implications for education.  Retrieved October 19, 2007 from www.phil-inst.hu/mobil/2005/Aphek.pdf

A10.3: Revised Project Prospectus

Project Prospectus Revised

Research Question:

How does family culture play a role in the development of literacy?

Foundation Questions:

1.  What are literacy events/practices?

2.  How have views on literacy changed through family generations?

3.  Does socio-econimic status play a role in the family’s view on literacy?

Tentative Point:  What point do you plan to make (recognizing that as you complete your research this may change significantly)?

The point that I intend to get across with my research project is that family culture plays a major role in the development of literacy.  There are differing opinions among every family and depending on what those opinions or views are can help or hinder the develoopment of a persons literacy skills.

Discussion:

My first foundation question came about after talking with my teacher and discussing ways in which we practice literacy on a daily basis.  This could be anything from writing a note to reading a newspaper and even more related to digital literacy, emailing or reading on the internet.  I didn’t realize how much I actually practice literacy on a daily basis and how much others do as well and probably don’t realize it.  The thing that I have learned is that many families put an emphasis on things such as reading and writing in the home while other families place emphasis on other aspects that do not contribute to literacy as much.  The reasons for where a family place emphasis vary, but I would like to focus my research on the changes through the generations and socio-economic status of the family.

I came up with my second question based on my own family experience.  I did a small interview with my grandparents and realized that times have definitely changed and the way families view literacy have changed with that.  Based on their experiences they did not need literacy skills as much as we do today.  The need for literacy was small compared to the need for manual labor when they were a child.  So with the change in generation, so did the change in the views on literacy.  Adding to that is the fact that every parent wants better for their child than what they had.  My grandparents did not graduate high school, they wanted my mom to have better so she graduated from high school and went on to vocational school to become a secratary.  My parents wanted better for me and my sisters so we graduated high school and continued onto college where my oldest sister obtained a bachelor’s degree in business mathematics and is employed by Toyota Motor Plant.  My other sister graduated with a degree in environmental science and is now obtaining her masters is education to become a science teacher.  Then there is me who will be graduating in the spring and continue on to obtain my masters in Communication Disorders.  This just shows the progression through the generations on the levels of education each generation obtained.

My third question takes a look at socio-economic status and the role it plays on the family’s view of literacy.  Based on what I have seen throughout my years as a student I can see a difference in how the home life of someone can effect their educational success.  When someone has trouble providing enough food for their child it is not likely that they will have the money to buy books or even the time to spend reading to their child simply because they are doing everything they can to ensure that their child is healthy.  It’s hard to think about fitting in story time with your child when you have the burden of work and where the money will come from for next weeks bills.  On the same note I would like to take a look at the use of libraries among families that are less fortunate.  This is a great resource and costs no money and should be used to the fullest extent.

Resources:

Blake, B.E., & Blake, R. W. (2002).  Literacy and Reading (p.18). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

Guzzetti, B.J. (Ed.). (2002).  Literacy in America (Vol. 1).  Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

Commons, M. L., Galaz-Fontes, J. F., & Morse, S. J. (2006). Leadership, cross-cultural contact, socio-economic status and formal operational reasoning about moral dilemmas among Mexican non-literate adults and high school students. Journal of Moral Education, 35(2), 247-267. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from the ERIC database.

Cooter, K.S. (2006). When mama can’t read: Counteracting intergenerational literacy.  Reading Teacher, 59(7), 698-702.  Retrieved September 20, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

Puckett, A. (1992). Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting; Literacy, the division of labor and identity in a rural appalachian community.  Anthropological Quarterly, 65(3). Retrieved September 20, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.