Literacy Skills and Practices - Essay Example

This paper focuses on my literary practices, how they came by and the technological and social perspectives. When I was around three and years old, my parents used to read to me. This way I was able to memorize some of the stories they read to me. Computers and television played a significant role in teaching me how to read and write through educational programs. This helped to shape me as a writer and lay a firm literacy foundation. I got my first computer when I was in fifth grade. Initially, I used it to play music and online games but later I used it to communicate via email and social media.

Word processors came in handy when designing text documents. Since then, the computer has been part and passel of my reading and writing process. The new technologies have transformed my literacy practices, both intentionally and unintentionally. They have built my foundational literacy skills such as phonics, comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, writing, and phonemic awareness. Initially, the definition of literacy was based in the print world, which was a world of print media, a two-dimensional world of images and print.

This definition does not accommodate the new ways of literacy practices like information search across multiple media, the participating visual conferences and virtual environments, emails, creating personal blogs, wikis or websites. As a reader, I am not confined to comprehending and decoding the print word. I am able to author texts, critique and respond to texts, read and understand information from numerous perspectives. No set of rules or regulations are set to guide my online participation and monitor what I pay attention to.

As a reader, I am expected to understand complex designs which include pop-ups, images, hyperlinks, and icons. My teachers have guided and modelled me literally, enabling me to critically synthesize and analyze ideas; interpret messages; identify audience and purpose and be involved in reflective activities. Technology has provided many opportunities for us as learners to collaborate with one another; hence literacy is not only about writing but also a combination of ideas with other people. As a student, I have been able to link with other students across the globe.

This includes various people from different cultural backgrounds and nationalities. This activity has always been preceded by thorough research on how different cultures respond and react to different information. As students, we have literally engaged in practices away from our classrooms. Some students run and own blogs and, therefore, communicate regularly with other peers. By reading different educative blogs and articles, I have managed to harness vast knowledge on a wide variety of issues.

Currently, learners are called upon as confident and discerning users of search engines and websites, social networking participants, complex information maze scrutinizers, critical and strategic explorers.