"Research by social psychologists shows that people who grow up in different cultures do not just think about different things, they actually think differently. The environment and culture in which people are raised affects and even determines many of their thought processes" -Marc Prensky, 2001

Saturday, April 5, 2008

How blogs reflect the importance of cultural literacy


Blogs definitely reflect the importance of cultural literacy, especially since we are living in such a technical world that is ruled by computers and the internet. You can't even buy a phone without being asked if you want to have internet access on it! Our world is becoming so global and small with all the advanced technologies and communications, that our children are learning how to do things on the computer at such a young age. In a technology class I had last semester, we learned how we can use various technologies in the classroom. I was absolutely blown away at the number of ways that teachers are implementing technology and various websites into their classrooms.

Blogs are a new way for people to pretty much keep an online journal. There are several blog services such as livejournal, xanga, and obviously blogger. Some teachers use blogs as a way to communicate with their students or even the parents. I believe it is important for students to learn about blogging, because it something that is becoming important in our culture. It is something that students should know how to use and even know how to create. By creating a blog, they are becoming culturally literate, because it is a new way of communicating with people. They are also not just communicating with their community, but even the whole world (unless privacy settings are set).

A blog is a direct reflection of what cultural literacy is, because if you think about it, how many people write with pencil and paper anymore? Very few people do, and the vast majority use computers as a way of communicating with the rest of the world.

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