Technoliteracy Autobiography Amy L. Housley Gaffney

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Technoliteracy AutobiographyAmy L. Housley
Gaffney
Teaching/ Learning
Using
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Introduction
In thinking about writing an autobiography of my
technoliteracy, I was struck by two things one,
that using new technologies takes time and when
faced with deadlines, I shouldn't try out new
toys at the last minute, and two, that I can view
all of my literacies in a circle between
teaching/learning and using.Beside the
consideration of the most effective format in
which to present this autobiography (not through
a technology I'm still learning!), my
realizations gave me a framework in which to
think about my relationship with different
technologies.
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With any technology I use (from pencil to Web
2.0), I have to begin by learning the technology.
After some initial learning, I have to continue
using the technology both to improve my
abilities, but also to make the most of the
technology. Once I have used a technology, I
often end up teaching other people how to use it.
Sometimes that amount of time between me learning
a technology and needing to teach it to someone
else is frighteningly short, but the technologies
with which I am the literate are the ones I have,
in some way, taught to others.For the sake of
presentation, I am going to talk about different
technologies as though they are completely
separate tools, although in reality, many are
closely related. Each literacy highlights my
learning, using, and teaching processes.
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Computer Software
I have experience with a variety of software
packages, probably too many to name. One of my
earliest experiences with software was with
Microsoft Word, which I began using to write
school papers as early as sixth grade. I'm
pleased to say that both my typing skills, and my
abilities to use the variety of functions within
Word, have greatly improved (as has my ability to
correct Word's Grammar Check). I use Word
regularly, although I occasionally switch to
programs such as TextEdit. My "teaching" of Word
has mostly been to help people figure out how to
use the different features, such as tracking
changes.
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The type of software that has required the most
learning was Adobe PageMaker and the Adobe
Creative Suite. I used various programs made by
Adobe in student publications as an undergraduate
and still occasionally play around with
Photoshop. In student publications, I had many
opportunities to train people in how to use the
software to prepare the weekly student newspaper
or edit photos for publication. Around the same
time I began working in student publications, I
learned how to create webpages first in Netscape
Composer, followed by Adobe GoLive. Because we
used these programs as part of student
publications, I needed to teach other people how
to use them as well. In the past year, I have
also learned how to use Dreamweaver and related
programs through the ITAP program (provided by
DELTA at NC State).
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Learning Management Systems
The earliest "learning management system" that I
saw was my first semester as an undergraduate at
Bethany College, and it wasn't even a real
system. One of my professors used his personal
web space provided through the college to post
course materials. In the subsequent years, the
college used Blackboard and I learned my way
around the system as a student.
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When I began teaching as a master's student at
Kent State University, the university used WebCT
Campus Edition and I used the system as both a
student and instructor. The university upgraded
to WebCT Vista around the time I became the
assistant for the basic communication course, and
I had the task of creating space within Vista for
the 20-odd sections taught each semester. I
learned the ins-and-outs of being an
administrator, course designer, and instructors
in Vista, and how to deal with both students and
instructors who are also adapting to changes with
the technology. At NC State, I have continued to
use WebCT Vista as a student and instructor
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Communication Technologies
I remember my first cell phone. It was bulky,
unstylish, and to be used only for emergencies.
In college, I began paying for my own (sleeker)
cell phone, but used it only slightly more often,
for my college was in a great black hole of
coverage that wasn't lifted until after I
graduated. Since then, I feel lost if I go
anywhere without my phone and am frustrated when
there's no signal. I'm dependent enough on my
cell phone to not have a "land line" - something
that 10 years ago would have been inconceivable.
Email and instant messaging have provided primary
means of contact for the last nine years or so,
particularly when living away from close family
and friends.
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I don't really recall anyone teaching me how to
use any of these technologies and they're not
technologies that I regularly have to teach
others. Today there is the general assumption
that people know how to work a phone or send an
email. I have had to do some teaching in this
area, however, such as giving my grandmother
step-by-step directions of how to reload prepaid
minutes onto her cell phone (a task I had taught
myself only moments before). In a less direct
manner, as a communication instructor, I do (and
will) teach students how to effectively
communicate using such tools. Each semester I
give students advice about how to communicate
over email and when I teach interpersonal
communication, there will be information
particularly pertinent to new technologies.