Reflection on the last class

The emerging use of technology breaks the barriers of societies and different communities as well as gender, age, and social status of individuals. Literacy, therefore in modern contexts, are affiliated with a mindset that is very different from that of the old world. The inter-networked technologies enable the information to spread out through various medium, allowing every individual who has access to the Internet to become expert in the areas chosen. Expertise and authority are no longer limited to certain group of people, but are “dispersed and collective” (Lankshear, 2006). Before the frequent use of the Internet, one has to ask everybody around, look into the encyclopedia, or physically go somewhere in order to get certain kind of information. Take my grandma for example. When she doesn’t feel well, she usually asked people around to find out what type of disease she has. Then she needs to find out the type and sources of her illness in order to make reservation with the right doctor, the doctor specifically associated with her illness. Next, she has to call all her friends to ask who is the most prestige doctor in that field. Finally, she has to call the hospital to make reservation. Since she has hearing problems, she usually asks her kids or other relatives to do so for her. Nowadays she usually types in the symptoms online to search for articles related to her illness. As she determines which type of doctors she should see, she goes to the forum and discusses with other people about which doctor is the best in that field. When she sets her mind in a certain doctor, she goes on to make a reservation through the Internet. Every piece of information she needs is a click away. She is really happy about the invention of the technology. The Internet access enables her to understand her disease by reading information online and chatting with people. She feels a lot less isolated and helpless.

I like the idea that brought up by the article “Smart Mobs: The power of the mobile many.” The author mentions that though computer and the Internet were designed by people, the way people use them are not predetermined. This reminds me of a video clip that I saw on the Youtube.



In the clip, individual members belonging to diverse sociocultural groups, holding different thinkings, converge on a specific location from all direction simultaneously to either have fun or to express their dissatisfaction of the “rip-off” business of AF who advertises their products through the teenage subcultures: loud disco music, spaces with dim lights, vintage styles, etc.