“Enter
a reflective journal entry post on your blog. Pick a topic or
issue from the readings that struck you as interesting, important, confusing,
etc. and reflect on it in by responding to the following prompts:
- What is/are the tools and techniques (or new skills) being put into practice?
- What is/are the key issue(s) outlined in or underlying the text (think in terms of Green’s model: operational, cultural and critical)?
- What are your feelings and opinions on the reading?
- Be sure to reference the reading including author and page number.”
From the required readings this week. The topic that was interesting to me was Mobile Place: The Rise of the Telecocoon. “A
telecocoon is a zone of intimacy in which people can continuously maintain
their relationship with other who they have encountered without being
restricted by geography and time” (Ito, Okabe, & Matsuda, 2005, p. 167) . The topic covered some of the major
advancements in technology that contributed to teleconcooning such has the
traditional telephone, automobiles, and car radios to now mobile phones and
Global Positioning Systems (GPS). As mobile
technology continues to advance the new tools (advances in mobile technology)
and techniques/skills (users using the technology) are further advancing the
act of teleconcooning. Other new
advances, are the practices of using group Short Message Service (SMS), setting
up virtual meetings environments, and coordinating
group gatherings utilizing social networking sites to name a few.
In using Green’s 3D model the Operational or common literacy practices - the challenge is having
the ability to keep up with the current technology and its uses. That comes with closing the digital divide
gaps and having access to the latest technology. The Cultural
or specific literacy practice would be the availability of current
technology. In the United States, we have
access and availability to the latest mobile technology. Have you ever wonder why there is such a
demand for your older mobile phone? “According
to (Goldman, 2011) , “the CEO of
Gazelle, states there is a high demand for old mobile phones – usually in
developing countries where there’s not a lot of supply.” The Critical or critiquing literacy
practices is taking advantage of these technologies in the reform of literacy
practices using this new media.
The topic gave a good summarization of how the term
telecocoon related to the evolution of technology and it gave good examples and
explanations. It seemed to focus more on
the mobile phone aspect as it relates to telecocoon in which I think I
understand because of the available of mobile phones. “Mobile phone use has skyrocketed from 5
million subscribers in the United States (11 million worldwide) in 1990 to 225
million (2.7 billion worldwide) in 2007” (Varnelis, 2008, p. 23) .
I do have one more final thought on this topic. I can recognize the benefits of telecocoon
but in my opinion, prolong use of this technique can desensitize our human socializing
skills. What are your thoughts?
Reference:
Goldman, D. (2011). Your Dead iPhone is a Gold Mine
- Literally. Retrieved from CNN:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/13/technology/iphone_trade_in/
Ito, M., Okabe, D., & Matsuda, M. (2005). Personal,
Portable, Pedestrian. Retrieved from
http://dev.mobilities.ca/rs/filestore/6/0/1_0544a75d9f7c647/601_c3da6c695756a6d.pdf#page=180
Varnelis, K. (2008). Networked Publics. Cambridge: MIT
Press.
Your topic on 'telecocoon' is very insightful. When I see this word I literally think of a "telephone" "cocoon" and people sitting in their own little bubbles on their smart phones not interacting with anyone or anything. I think it will definitely "desensitize our human socializing skills." The sad news is that I think the era of 'telecocooning' is already upon us. While playing outside with students at school today, there was a boy who would refuse to participate in order to sit and play on his Nintendo DS. We would coax him and bribe him and anything we could possibly think of and he wouldn't budge. My heart breaks for him. He is a student with a developmental disability so he is already deficient in areas of recreation/socialization and physical development/gross motor skills. Sitting on his butt, in the corner, isn't helping any of those deficiencies. Sometimes, we can get him out there for five or ten minutes, and when we do he is soooo horribly uncoordinated at the games but his classmates are amazing. His 'telecocoon' is always pulling him back in. His gaming system is on his mind 24/7. My heart breaks for this new generation...
ReplyDeleteGreat insight Derek. Varnelis was very prescient in writing about this issue in 2008. We could argue that the telecocoon is on greater display today with smartphones. I have noticed that people's socializing skills have deteriorated somewhat. If you go to your local coffee shop it won't take long to notice a conversation interrupted by someone texting or checking their phones. I admit, I am guilty of this, but I try to limit or refrain from it while I am with friends.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am torn by technological developments. As Varnelis points out, just a few years prior to the publication of Networked Publics, people who were in transit, either in cars or public transportation had a brief respite from being connected. Now, connectivity is around the clock (Varnelis, 2008). Admittedly, some people thrive in this environment, but I need to be disconnected for a few hours of my day.
Nicole, I am in complete agreement with you about how this has desensitized our socializing skills. I have also worked with students who are in their own telecocoon. They are usually very smart, much more technologically adept than I will ever be, and will be more than ready for a 21st century job market that will rely on these skills. However, I often think to myself, will they be able to develop the social skills necessary to work collaboratively with others?
Noticed I forgot to post my reference.
DeleteReference:
Varnelis, K. (2008). Networked publics. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press.
Noticed I forgot to post my reference.
DeleteReference:
Varnelis, K. (2008). Networked publics. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press.
Noticed I forgot to post my reference.
DeleteReference:
Varnelis, K. (2008). Networked publics. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press.
Technology changes how we do things, how we think and how we respond. Years ago, my mother would have thought the world was ending if a discussion such as this one (mobile phones) and in a manner such as this one (blogging on the internet) were happening. My point is that just because a concept goes against what we would consider as normal, doesn't make it abnormal, just different. Anthropologist Marc Ange (Varnelis, 2012, p. 18) believes that we will jeopardize our cultural approach to literacy according to Green’s three dimensions of Literacy and Technology. We will lose our ability to transfer languages and rules to future generations. We will lose who we are and forget how we came to be who we are. We will forget why we do the things we do. We will forget why the things we do are the right things. The critical approach to literacy allows us to make meaning and participate in society. Without the knowledge of the culture, we cannot hope to be an active participating member of society; one capable of effecting appropriate changes when necessary. The way that we have socialized in the past will definitely be different from socialization in the future. I do believe that even in this technological environment we will crave human contact. How that contact will emerge I can not say? How much of our humanness will be retained is unknown? I just have faith in us as humans.
ReplyDeleteVarnelis, K. (2008). Networked publics. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press.