[transliteracy and education]

Thorough article in the Times Higher on transliteracy and new media in education. The reporter, Hannah Fearne interviewed my ph.d supervisor Prof. Sue Thomas for her thoughts on transliteracy and breaking academic barriers. Some interesting bits:

"Research has a habit of turning up surprising or controversial findings, and none more so than this: Britain's universities are populated with illiterates.

Academics at De Montfort University are researching the nature and impact of a new kind of literacy: the sharp end of modern communication known as "transliteracy". The term describes the ability to read, write and interact on a range of platforms. Think of the media's teenage stereotype, a young girl watching Hollyoaks on television while simultaneously discussing its plotlines on the social networking site Facebook, listening to music on MySpace and texting her friend to discuss home study.

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At De Montfort, Sue Thomas, a professor of new media, is more interested in the impact that transliteracy is having on higher education and pedagogy. In these terms, many academics are in essence illiterate, says Thomas. Most would admit it, even taking a certain pride in their part-removal from the world of e-communication. This matters if they find their teaching relationship with hyper-transliterate students breaking down because of an inability to communicate fully with one another.

Thomas believes that if academics cannot show themselves to be transliterate, they will lose the respect of their students. "University is about sharing knowledge," she says, and students expect it to be carried out on their terms, in the ways they are used to. "There is still a huge cultural barrier for some people. We find quite often that librarians and e-learning staff are very open to this, but when you go within the humanities and you look at traditional areas such as English, there is a real resistance to technology."

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Academics will eventually be forced to take note because the gap of understanding will lead to further confusion. One of the most tangible dangers of the chasm is a loss of authority over plagiarism. As Thomas explains: "Lecturers who maybe don't understand the web very well will probably be very stressed about recognising plagiarism. Students are also very stressed about wanting to use the web as a resource but are worried about being accused of (breaking rules)."

Thomas believes that as transliteracy shoots up the higher education agenda, academics will be forced to adopt new forms of communication in their teaching. As an indication of how seriously the issue is being taken, the National Union of Students has confirmed that it is carefully monitoring attitudes towards communication and technology."

Read the full article, "Grappling with the Digital Divide, here.