Emergent Literacy

I cannot fully classify myself as a digital native based on this quiz. Although I could define some of the more common words and phrases at the end of the quiz, I was not able to define the first few terms. The article claims that “Digital Natives perceive technology as their friend and rely on it to study, work, play, relax and communicate”. Although I do like to watch television and listen to music and relax, I do not rely on technology to live my life. I enjoy using instant messaging and exploring the internet, but technology is definitely not flawless. I often am frustrated with technology when things do not work as they are supposed to. Some examples of technology at its worst is when I am taking an online quiz and my computer freezes, I am signed off of instant messaging while talking to friends, or there is no wireless internet available when I need it. Emergent literacy and the term emergent in relation to digital literacy are different in many ways. I feel that emergent literacy learners obtain their knowledge by observing and listening to others. In other words, the children mainly learn by example. When using the term emergent digital literacy with my own personal experience, I know that I do not necessarily learn technology from others. I taught myself every piece of technology I had to use before I ever had to use it. Tompkins stresses the word “before” in his definition of emergent literacy because he wants to emphasize that concepts can be learned before the person ever develops and learns literacy skills fully. From this definition, emergent literacy and emergent digital literacy are alike because they both begin as basic concepts that can expand knowledge with practice and experience.