eLiterate

The "Problem" of our e-Literate Boys

[FEATURE ARTICLE - Vol.01, Issue.01, MAR.2009]

In the midst of panic about our failing boys, some educators have suggested that our definition of literacy is too narrow. If we re-define literacy to include digital literacies, such as the ability to play video games and surf the Internet, boys are reading quite well. The question is: Should we? Based on their research, Kathy Sanford and her colleagues certainly seem to think so.

The scene in Ms. Pelusso's grade seven classroom is typical. It is time for language arts, and the teacher has just asked the class to take out their novels for literature circles. One boys at the back has failed to comply, instead absorbed by the action on his hand-held game boy. "Aidan," the teacher says "give me that. You know you're not supposed to play video games at school. You'll get it back at the end of the day. It's time for language now and you need to start your reading." Reluctantly, Aidan takes out his book. "But Miss," he says "I don't like reading." "Why not?" Aidan shrugs and says "It's a waste of time."

Some might view this incident as yet more evidence that boys are failing when it comes to literacy. In fact, all over the world, researchers are reporting evidence that boys are continually failing to meet the reading and writing standards required by the standardized tests their education systems set for them¹. The solutions suggested by our very own Ontario Ministry of Education include the 4 "R's": remediation, reconfiguring the curriculum to fit boys' interests, and still more reading and writing ². However, more recent research is uncovering a nagging little problem, namely that although most boys are uninterested in traditional narrative fiction, which forms the great bulk of our language arts programs, they are still quite literate in other ways³. Could it be that our definition of literacy, and not the boys, is what is in need of change?

Kathy Sanford and Heather Blair, two gurus of digital literacies research, certainly think so. In their research, they have defined literacy as a social-cultural construct saying that, as new ways of making meaning emerge in our culture, the definition of what it means to be literate also evolves⁴. You'll find little argument from employers that navigating a web page is more important than reading To Kill a Mockingbird and there have been suggestions that employers will start demanding, and educators should be developing screen-readers who can effectively sift through the vast amount of information out there on the Internet⁵. Undoubtedly literacy is starting to look a lot different in the 21^st century than it did in the 20^th. Sanford and Blair also suggest that boys, who tend to play more video games than girls, are also learning important literacy skills from these games. While such a non-traditional approach to literacy may make many teachers of English nervous, in determining whether to open our classroom doors to digital literacies or hunker down with the literary cannon and prepare for siege, we need to ask the following: What exactly are boys learning from the out-of-school digital literacies that they are practicing and how well will these skills serve them?

The findings from some of Sandford and Blair's research indicate that there are some parallels between video game playing and the types of skills that are typically developed in language arts classrooms. They have noted that video games bring with them a whole new vocabulary, such as "cheats" and "downloads" so boys are learning and applying new words and new uses for old words⁶. What good language arts curriculum doesn't include vocabulary development? Video games also teach boys an awareness of genre⁷ something that is regularly taught in a language arts class when students study fiction and poetry. Is there really much difference in the skill of knowing and being able to describe the difference between a role-playing game (RPG) and an action game and knowing the difference between an elegy and a lyrical poem? Perhaps as educators, we need to ask ourselves why we value one so much more than the other. Sanford and Blair even claim that awareness of social issues such as globalism and capitalism, along with the manipulative techniques of marketing, is actually an indirect result of gaming⁸. While the traditional language arts teacher may balk at such a suggestion, isn't awareness of social issues and the human condition exactly what we are trying to promote by getting students to read Hamlet or Death of a Salesman?

There is also evidence to suggest that digital literacies can also support subject-area literacy. Students in Sandford's study report that they use the internet for research, showing how school and out-of-school literacies intersect⁹. A science project focused on inquiry learning also showed how internet-accessed information can be integrated with the school curriculum. In this study, students logged into a university network, manipulated experimental conditions and viewed the real-time results on chicken embryos¹⁰. Sanford and Madill also found that, by playing games such as Civilization 3 and Medal of Honour, Pacific Assault, boys in their study were learning historical content knowledge in an interactive way¹¹.

And are the skills students are learning from these literacies relevant? Besides the ability to promote content-area literacy and the development of skills traditionally valued in language arts classrooms, digital literacies help students develop skills important for their success in the world of work. So far, this has not happened but Video games teach boys to think in networked ways rather than in linear patterns as they must strategize and attend to multiple visual and print messages¹². In addition, they help boys enhance their ability to read non-linear, multilayered, intertextual texts and images¹³. Digital literacies like video games¹⁴ and navigating the internet help boys enable boys to develop the capacity to do two things simultaneously, an extremely useful skill in the technological era¹⁵. Arguably, as Sandford and Blair suggest being able to search the internet, interact on a computer game, read visual on-line messages and program video games is far better preparation for employment than reading narrative fiction¹⁶.

Instead of seeing a crisis in boys' literacy, if we educators broaden our concept of literacy we might just be able to make boys like Aidan see that they do like to read, and they are reading in ways that are far more likely to prepare them to face the challenges of a technological workplace. While we shouldn't throw out the literary cannon, we need to start incorporating digital literacies into our classrooms. By acknowledging and using digital literacies in our classrooms, we can encourage relevant traditional and non-traditional literacy skills, teach students to critically analyze the mass media, and allow students practice with techonology relevant to their out-of-school lives and future careers¹⁷. The alternative, as so many boys have discovered, is that our language arts classes become a "waste of time."

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References

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[Opinions]Vol.1, Iss.1, MAR.2009

Don't make it fun: An argument against popular digital literacies in the classroom

As an educator in an inner-city middle school and a parent of two teenage boys, I believe we must seriously question the effects of using popular digital literacies in our classrooms. Although our own Ministry of Education may...

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[Interview]Vol.1, Iss.1, MAR.2009

All just a game... or is it?

Helen K. is a grade 8 teacher who believes that using digital literacies to reach her male students is a "natural progression." Her literacy unit that encourages students to utilize computers, video games, the internet and CD ROMs and deconstruct them...

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[Game Review]Vol.1, Iss.1, MAR.2009

Speare, the literacy arcade game, tries to infect students with a love of the Bard

Intergalactic warfare and a battleship named 'Speare' may not be the first thing that comes to mind when hearing the classic speech " Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"...

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