Texts as a Social Practice

"The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives" 

These are issues that people have dealt with since the invention of text. Even before texts information was passed down by word of mouth. Stories were memorized and passed down generation to generation. Unfortunately, what resulted was much like a game of telephone, slightly changing facts and story lines. When people started writing things down this dramatically effected the consistency of the stories. Two problem still remained.  One, knowing the validity of the information the texts contained, and two having the literacy to understand the information.

Today, information is surrounding us in multiple formats. In my spare time I still cling to the enjoyment of a paper bound book switching between informational books on science and philosophy and fantasy books on the other end of the spectrum. Now I find digital text slipping into my life more and more. Email, Facebook, TV, smart phones, I am constantly bombarded with information.  But the same questions remain, how do I verify the information, and how do I make sense of it in regards to how it effects me. 

In order to make sense of this we need to be functionally literate (Lankshear, 1985, p.15). As an active citizen we need to understand these texts in the context of our lives, and filter the information that we are being overwhelmed with into what is most useful. When it comes to any type of media I am an extreme skeptic. I question everything from advertisements, to news, to anything I read online. Primary sources like the journals in the university library are great, but most information we receive are not primary.  As a skeptic I still try and keep an open mind, but I do my research and dig for as much information as possible. The more sources I can find that validate other information the more solid it becomes. However, I never take anything as complete fact. As Socrates says "I am wisest because I know I know nothing".

This withstanding I can not use it as an excuse not to try and learn anything. Instead I strive for content that is  descriptive, analytic, and critically evaluative (Lankshear & Knobel, 2001-2003, p205-206) Content that is descriptive tells me that they have taken the time to go over the topic thoroughly. It is not just some thrown together fluff piece, instead it is put together with much consideration. Ken Burns' and his documentaries come to mind when I think of something descriptive and rich with details. 

Analytic is what gives backing to the descriptive side of the text. Details are only good if they can be backed up through primary sources and/or scientific exploration.  Dan Brown's novels, although not completely factual, were very successful because of all the research he had done to make his story seem plausible. 

The critical-evaluation is very important when considering sources, because it gives other outside perspectives that may catch something you might have missed. Two heads are better than one and a collaboration of experts can make sure that everything is tested and covered. A great example of the critical-evaluative process can be found at Connxions (cnx.org). Connexions is an online, open-source super textbook. It uses XML that connects textbooks, and also allows people to share and add content.  It is evaluated by a social software that allows different groups (or lenses) to peer review all of its content. This I believe will be the the future of information as we know it.

References

Lankshear, C. (1985) Ideas of functional leteracy. In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel, Literacies: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives (p.15) New York, NY: Peter Lang

Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2001-2003). The "new literacy studies" and the study of "new" literacies. In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel, Literacies: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives (p205-206) New York, NY: Peter Lang

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_baraniuk_on_open_source_learning.html