What is literacy? Certainly hope this works.

Literacy Autobiography #3

                                          "Not all of those who wander are lost" J.R.R. Tolkien
This picture was taken at a peak in Shannondoah Valley on the Appilachian Trail on my 60th birthday last year. I am single now, older and definetly wiser.  I have been across the United States as a traveling respiratory therapist and have many miles to go before I sleep, Life is good.

Literacy Autobiography #2

 On my 25th wedding anniversary, we went to SanFrancisco to celebrate. We biked through NapaValley and had such a wonderful time in the 'City by the bay' Everytime I hear this song it takes me back to a time when life was so good. I left my heart in San Fransico by the one and only Tony Bennet.

Literacy Autobiograpy #1

When I was in junior high school, my literature classes consisted of getting out of there as quickly as possible. We were never asked how our readings related to anything in our lives. High school pretty much the same. I never thought about profound statements in text that I would always remember. So the next 3 posts important times of my life.

John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address Friday, January 20, 1961 Heavy snow fell the night before the inauguration, but thoughts about cancelling the plans were overruled. The election of 1960 had been close, and the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts was eager to gather support for his agenda. He attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown that morning before joining President Eisenhower to travel to the Capitol. The Congress had extended the East Front, and the inaugural platform spanned the new addition. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Robert Frost read one of his poems at the ceremony.

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country"
          This one of the most memeorable quotes from his only inaugeral speech. Although I didn't race off to join the Peace Corp, community service became a significant part of my life This link is the speech. .http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres56.html

Reading assignment #1

Reading assignment #1:

Define print culture.

 Print culture embodies all forms of printed text and other printed forms of visual communication. This includes incorporation of printed pictures in magazines, newspapers. Books give printed material a wide mass appeal through the ease of visual communication ."Print culture" refers to the cultural products of the printing transformation.

What are the benefits of print culture compared to oral and scribal culture?

Way back before there was print, all that existed was the oral culture. But the need  to store what was said for long periods of time lead to the developement scribal culture. Scribal culture being inaccurate and tedious at best developed into print culture. Scribal culture also deals with large levels of inconsistency. It was always considered that the oldest document was the most accurate, as it had been copied the less. In the process of copying documents,many times the meaning became changed, and the words different. As evidenced in some of the Bible passages that have been passed down through the ages. Nostrdamus is another example of misinterprtations.Reliance on the written text of the time was never exceedingly strong. Over time, a greater need for reliable, quickly reproduced, and a relatively inexpensive means of distributing written text arose. Scribal culture, transforming into print culture, was only replicated in manners of written text.

What was the impact of print culture on society?

The printing press brought a vast rise in literacy, so that one of its effects was simply the great expansion of written culture over oral culture. Numerous eras throughout history have been defined through the use of print culture. Many armed conflicts starting with the American Revolution were fought after print culture  and brought the rise of literacy. Furthermore, print culture's ability to shape and guide society was a critical component before, during, and after the Revolution. Today Presidential elections and other worldly events are won and lost on the front page of America. Thomas Jefferson said it best, “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.” This serves as an excellent example of how newspapers were highly regarded by the colonial people and into the modern age.

How are changing technologies influencing print culture?

 The article "The First Amendment, Print Culture, and the Electronic Environment" mentions how the new electronic age will make print better. Placing information into electronic form not only liberates the information from its pages but removes the need for specialized spaces to hold particular kinds of information. People have become increasingly accustomed to acquiring information from our homes that previously was only accessible from an office or library. Some fear the end of print. But fear not, the format will never be erased but only remediated. New forms of technology (new media) will be created which utilize features of old media, thus preventing old media's (aka print's) erasure.

What are the implications of these changes for learning in school?

 The advances made by technology in print also impacts anyone using cell phones, laptops, and personal digital organizers. From novels being delivered via a cell phone, the ability to text message and send letters via e-mail clients, to having entire libraries stored on PDAs, print is being influenced by devices. Youtube today has become the MTV of my era. If you want it, "google it" is the mantra of the students today. I asked my students to write a bibliography for a paper and they were unable. It saddens me that the reading and writing of education is slowly degrading.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Jo Ann Nelson, but only the government and my mother call me that. Everyone else can call me Jodee. My blog was created in my very first graduate class, I just hope I can remember how to do things. Technology is not my strong suit.  I am an assistant professor for the respiratory care program at Pierpont Community and Technical College, I am a transplant from Cleveland, Ohio where I was born and raised. I was married and have 2 adult children that reside in Cleveland. I have been a clinical respiratory therapist for 25 years and have come full circle and have been teaching for 4 years, which I absolutely love. I am about half way through my Master's in Ed and hope to complete before I retire. I love the outdoors and for my 60th birthday, my daughter and I walked 30 miles of the Appalachian Trail. What an adventure that was. My bucket list includes hitting all 50 states and doing something in each state. Passing through does not count.I'm about half way. I look forward to working with everyone and hopefully teach an old dog new tricks.
 Now that I have figured out how to use the syllabus, I hope to gain much more knowledge and skill in this new media age. As Lee Iacoca was fond of saying"lead, follow or get out of the way." So If I am going to lead, I better get proficient.
Literacy means to me the skill of reading and writing. With these come critical thinking and decision making skills. But why can't Johnny read? If I had the answer to that , I would be very rich. In the health care field, reading and writing are an absolute necessity. I think my students can read, but they write in phone text, which I hate, I made them write papers and the spelling errors were quite remarkable.