2. What Does it Mean to be Technologically Literate? Moore notes being technologically literate is more than just knowing how to use a given technology We must… Identify the technologies relevant to the task at hand Understand how those technologies work Understand how to use those technologies One must also consider, not just likes and dislikes of a certain technology, but the affordances and constraints that technology presents
4. Identify the Relevant Technologies Moore also suggests technological literacy is dependent on “mastering the relationship between oneself, information, and one’s environment”. I visit a lot of websites in a day. I can identify Google Reader as the best technology to help me master the relationship between me and the information I am receiving.
5. Understand How the Technology Works To use Google Reader, you sign in with a Gmail account. Then, you click “Add Subscription” type in the URL to the site you wish to subscribe to, and then select add. The website will then show up in your feed on the right side of the screen. You can then view, like, share and more.
6. Understand How to Use the Technology As I said before, I visit a lot of websites in a day. Google Reader stops me from having to visit those websites. In fact, it has enabled me to visit more sites daily without worrying about my favorites folder overflowing. Also, I am able to quickly scroll past articles or posts I am uninterested in without wasting my time going to the website. This is most evident in CNN.com, a site I didn’t frequent before I used Google Reader, and now read a lot more headlines than full articles.
7. Google Reader Information comes to me, I don’t go to info I can quickly scroll past posts I am uninterested in without wasting time on that website Don’t have to waste time on sites that haven’t been updated Can share and comment directly on Reader Greater chance for information overload—many sites on my Google Reader feed are ones I would not have spent time viewing individually Affordances Constraints
9. Am I Technologically Literate? Before this module began, I would have considered myself technologically literate. This was, however, without knowledge of Moore’s definition or the continuum on the syllabus. At the time, I knew what technologies I liked and didn’t like, but not what affordances and constraints were a part of those technologies. Although I could say what I liked and did not like about various forms of technology, I was probably closer to passive adoption and uncritical restraint than true technological literacy.
10. Am I Technologically Literate? Yes! Now, I know that to truly be literate in a technology I must identify what tasks the technology is useful for, how the technology itself works, and how I can use the technology. I must also be able to identify affordances and constraints inherent in the technology, rather than if I like or dislike it.
11. Works Cited Moore, D.R. (2009). Technology literacy: the extension of cognition.
