A presentation by PhD. Reijo Kupiainen in My Media Playground seminar 15th February 2013 in Tampere Finland

1. Digital literacies and the myth of digital
natives
Reijo Kupiainen

2. A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXV-yaFmQNk)

3. ”Digital natives” are said to…
1. constitute a homogeneous generation
that speaks a different ”technological”
language
2. have different learning styles
3. demand a new way of teaching and
learning

4. “…with peer production we
will harness human skill,
ingenuity and intelligence
more efficiently and
effectively than anything we
have witnessed before”
Source: Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams (2006), Wikinomics

5. ‘Ladder of opportunities’
type of opportunities taken up by 9-10 yrs old
Visited chat room; Used file-sharing sites; Created a
<20% character, pet or avatar; Spent time in a virtual world; Written
a blog or online diary
Percentage of Played games with other people online; Downloaded music or films;
children on 35% Shared photos, videos or music with others; Used a webcam; Posted
the levels a message on a website
40% Visited social networking profile; Used instant messaging; Sent/received
emails; Read, watched the news online
50% Watched video clips
100% Used the internet for school work;
Played games on your own or against the computer

6. ”Culture is more
participatory now than it
was under old regimes of
media power in many
places. Yet we are long
way away from anything
approaching full
participation."
Source: Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford & Joshua Green (2013). Spreadable Media.
Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture

7. “Literacies are bound up
with social, institutional and
cultural relationships, and
can only be understood
when they are situated
within their social, cultural
and historical contexts.”
Source: Colin Lankshear & Michele Knobel (2006). New Literacies:
Everyday Practices and Classroom Learning

8. Girl, age 14
“Usually I draw Italy
in a way that it shouts
‘pasta’ but now for
some reason I draw it
to shout ‘swede
pureé.
This one friend of
mine drew Latvia that
has this ‘kolkol’-aura
when normally it is
that ‘sob,’ scared and
shivering, because it
has had traumas
from Russia.... We
really had fun.”

9. ”Everyday creativity refers to a process which brings together
at least one active human mind, and the material or digital
world, in the activity of making something. The activity has not
been done in this way by this person (or these people) before.
The process may arouse various emotions, such as excitement
and frustration, but most especially a feeling of joy. When
witnessing and appreciating the output, people may sense the
presence of the maker, and recognize those feelings.”
Source: David Gauntlett (2011). Making is connecting. The social meaning of creativity

10. Some principles of digital literacy
• Joyful and embodied use of material stuff
• Spreadability: technical and cultural
potential to share content for one’s
own purposes
• Responsibility in digital environments

11. Thanks!
reijo.kupiainen@aalto.fi