Tuesday, March 31, 2009
3/31/09
There are so many kinds of media forms that we can use, however the most impressive one to me is video. I really appreciate with the feeling watching a short video with a background of a beautiful song, which could always make me calm down even when i am upset.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Personal reflecion essay...
When we first asked to define literacy, we almost got crazy as we found literacy is such an abstract word. From dictionary, literacy is simply defined as the ability to read and write, however the existence of some words like “Economic literacy”, “Mathematic literacy” and “environmental literacy” made us confused about what actually literacy is.
In class, we talked about every possible literacy forms that we generally accept, not only in our daily life, but also in our major field and jobs. We found that literacy is everywhere. However when we got out from the classroom, I still found myself knowing nothing about literacy. Therefore I started to pay attentions to things around to see if something is related to literacy. Symbols, books, newspaper, paper, music, sports, and skill and so on, I think about almost every substance around me. I collect similarities and relationships among these things. Generally conducted that Literacy is an expression and comprehending of things including emotion, culture, willingness, etc. The ability to express and comprehend extend into other skills like communication, computer, language, mathematic, etc. This is what we refer to new meanings of literacy; however it is still based on ability to express and understand. There are still some other forms and meanings of literacy exist in our everyday life. When we get older, which means gaining more life experience, we should be able to better explain what literacy is.
About the group literacy map, firstly we listed out all our literacy that is relative to our personal experience and ability. Then we sit together and tried to find out those similarities and differences. We summarized our thinking about literacy in order to find a most acceptable definition of literacy. Finding relationships among group members is not a hard job compare of listing them in a same map. We spend nearly one whole lab class time in searching for map forms via Google. We hope it works.
This project helps us gaining more information about literacy. I really enjoy the process co-operating with my lovely group members: Bofei Wang, Cong Hui and Richeng Liu.
In class, we talked about every possible literacy forms that we generally accept, not only in our daily life, but also in our major field and jobs. We found that literacy is everywhere. However when we got out from the classroom, I still found myself knowing nothing about literacy. Therefore I started to pay attentions to things around to see if something is related to literacy. Symbols, books, newspaper, paper, music, sports, and skill and so on, I think about almost every substance around me. I collect similarities and relationships among these things. Generally conducted that Literacy is an expression and comprehending of things including emotion, culture, willingness, etc. The ability to express and comprehend extend into other skills like communication, computer, language, mathematic, etc. This is what we refer to new meanings of literacy; however it is still based on ability to express and understand. There are still some other forms and meanings of literacy exist in our everyday life. When we get older, which means gaining more life experience, we should be able to better explain what literacy is.
About the group literacy map, firstly we listed out all our literacy that is relative to our personal experience and ability. Then we sit together and tried to find out those similarities and differences. We summarized our thinking about literacy in order to find a most acceptable definition of literacy. Finding relationships among group members is not a hard job compare of listing them in a same map. We spend nearly one whole lab class time in searching for map forms via Google. We hope it works.
This project helps us gaining more information about literacy. I really enjoy the process co-operating with my lovely group members: Bofei Wang, Cong Hui and Richeng Liu.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Workplace literacy--skills
Literacy is everywhere in our everyday life. Lots of new meanings of literacy appear in current society, like economic literacy, environmental literacy, health literacy and so on. The existence of these new meanings of literacy really doubles me from getting the exactly definition of literacy. Therefore, I have a thought in my brain which is that as literacy is traditionally defined as the ability to read and write, how about other skills that we possess, like technical skills and numeracy (mathematical literacy).
After searching on internet, I found a word, which is “workplace literacy”, that relative to what I meant other skills. Workplace literacy is defined as literacy services that are offered for the purpose of improving the productivity of the workforce through the improvement of literacy skills. It means a basic work and communication skills, those that are specific to job, not the ability to read books and literacy. These kinds of literacy skills is no doubt influencing the choice of employers, even some specific certifications are required for employees to gain more competiveness in the market. Now as we are still in the college, we have the opportunity to learn more literacy skills like computer skills, language skills, driving skills and public speaking skills. The more the literacy power we have, the more competitive we are.
As the result of searching for literacy for a few days, I still can not explain a definition that could describe all the meanings of literacy. Literacy is sourced from language, but gradually spread out into other fields of the human society. The only two words I think to describe literacy are “ability” and “power”. Literacy is an understanding and comprehending of life, as we gain more living experiences, we might be able to better say what literacy is.
After searching on internet, I found a word, which is “workplace literacy”, that relative to what I meant other skills. Workplace literacy is defined as literacy services that are offered for the purpose of improving the productivity of the workforce through the improvement of literacy skills. It means a basic work and communication skills, those that are specific to job, not the ability to read books and literacy. These kinds of literacy skills is no doubt influencing the choice of employers, even some specific certifications are required for employees to gain more competiveness in the market. Now as we are still in the college, we have the opportunity to learn more literacy skills like computer skills, language skills, driving skills and public speaking skills. The more the literacy power we have, the more competitive we are.
As the result of searching for literacy for a few days, I still can not explain a definition that could describe all the meanings of literacy. Literacy is sourced from language, but gradually spread out into other fields of the human society. The only two words I think to describe literacy are “ability” and “power”. Literacy is an understanding and comprehending of life, as we gain more living experiences, we might be able to better say what literacy is.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Original Literacy
When I am trying best to find out what literacy is, I almost forget the original form of literacy, which is text. Newspaper, novel, essay, books and some other possible text s forms are the most undoubted and accepted literacy forms. People read newspapers to know what is going on around. Authors write novels to describe situations exist in the current society to express their attitudes. Students study for textbooks in order to become more educated. Peoples’ ability to read and write enriches their life. Therefore, literacy as a tool of communication becomes essential.
However, there are still many kinds of languages that exist in the world, like English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and so on. Every language has its own cultural background which describes those residences that live in that area. The communication among languages, which means a better understanding of different people with different nationalities, definitely encourages the development of human civilization.
This literacy is dominating in the human society. Words are basic elements of cultures. Literacy is a tool to express culture and also to understand a culture. Although literacy may become wider and deeper in definition, however, the foundation is around expressing and comprehending.
However, there are still many kinds of languages that exist in the world, like English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and so on. Every language has its own cultural background which describes those residences that live in that area. The communication among languages, which means a better understanding of different people with different nationalities, definitely encourages the development of human civilization.
This literacy is dominating in the human society. Words are basic elements of cultures. Literacy is a tool to express culture and also to understand a culture. Although literacy may become wider and deeper in definition, however, the foundation is around expressing and comprehending.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sports Literacy
Oh , yeah…MSU basketball team has beat Kansas to enter the quarter final of NCAA, which heat Spartans up crazily. In every corner of campus, peoples are talking about this victory and looking forward the quarter final which is on Sunday this weekend. Basketball as usual brings people powerful enthusiasms and craziness, expressing our overpowering happiness and excitation. It expresses our appetency and willingness, therefore I am wondering if sports can be considered to be literacy.
I like sports, not only it can better our health, but also it is a carrier of spirit and faith. In 2002, I started to become additive to soccer of course because of 2002 World Cup which is held in Japan and Korea. As some other big-ball sports, enthusiasm and co-operation is high demanded in soccer, from where I learn the importance of teamwork. Nowadays, we can see players from different countries all playing in a same league, like English Premier League. That encourages the communication among countries. There is a saying that there is no border among players. A sports culture is going to be harvest.
Not only in soccer and basketball, we also have some other leagues for football, tennis, golf and so on. These sports are influencing large amount of people as they becoming more and more popular in the world, which can help encourage a healthy living style. Furthermore, some crazy fans also recognize the team or player they support as a faith.
I like sports, not only it can better our health, but also it is a carrier of spirit and faith. In 2002, I started to become additive to soccer of course because of 2002 World Cup which is held in Japan and Korea. As some other big-ball sports, enthusiasm and co-operation is high demanded in soccer, from where I learn the importance of teamwork. Nowadays, we can see players from different countries all playing in a same league, like English Premier League. That encourages the communication among countries. There is a saying that there is no border among players. A sports culture is going to be harvest.
Not only in soccer and basketball, we also have some other leagues for football, tennis, golf and so on. These sports are influencing large amount of people as they becoming more and more popular in the world, which can help encourage a healthy living style. Furthermore, some crazy fans also recognize the team or player they support as a faith.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Music Literacy
Music is everywhere is our daily life. Music is a magical way to express emotions through rhythms and notes. Even though you know how to play all the music instruments that used to compose a song, you cannot play it well if you know nothing about the background of the song. This refers to an understanding and comprehending of music, which is matched with the deeper definition of literacy, which is an understanding of life and culture.
I was asked, actually force to learn one kind of music instrument when I was just 12 years old. Randomly, I picked guitar as my start of music. Through practicing guitar, I can gradually understand the emotional blood flush among rhythms and notes in the music. I try to use my heart to perform a song by knowing the background of composing the song rather than just read the music score. I also tried to compose some songs to express my own emotions. You will understand the meaning of the song only when you know something about my life.
Music is an expression of emotion and life. As if we have music as a tool, we could understand others’ emotions by enjoying beautiful rhythms and notes. Music is really a magical literacy.
I was asked, actually force to learn one kind of music instrument when I was just 12 years old. Randomly, I picked guitar as my start of music. Through practicing guitar, I can gradually understand the emotional blood flush among rhythms and notes in the music. I try to use my heart to perform a song by knowing the background of composing the song rather than just read the music score. I also tried to compose some songs to express my own emotions. You will understand the meaning of the song only when you know something about my life.
Music is an expression of emotion and life. As if we have music as a tool, we could understand others’ emotions by enjoying beautiful rhythms and notes. Music is really a magical literacy.
Friday, March 6, 2009
First thought about literacy
The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use languages to read, write and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society. Therefore, literacy refers to an understanding of life with a particular language background in my opinion.
As literacy is such an abstract word, I was wondering what exactly literacy is after the class. On the way back to my dorm, some interesting design labels caught my attention. Beside the bridge near the Bessy Hall, there is a stone located there, which is frequently used by some fraternities’ members to doodle in order to promote their fraternity. Doodle, which is similar to painting and drawing, expresses the spirit and faith of the fraternity. The extra power and enthusiasm as an outcome of doodle are something that normal promotions like flyers and texts can not bring. I would like to consider doodle and design as literacy since they are ways of expressing spirit, faith and even culture.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Homework due on Mar 2nd ---literacy
According to the Wikipedia, the traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society. Therefore, literacy refers to an understanding of life with a particular language background.
Literacy is a way to describe the life that someone lives. Writing and reading apparently can help to show the life. We could understand the life within one particular place by reading literacy outcomes, like newspaper and novel that expressed by combining all existing elements through life. We are using literacy to express ourselves and communicate to each other. In my opinion, literacy is about language, but not only about language. It is not only about how to write and read by using one specific language, what's more is an understand and precieve about the culture.
Literacy is a way to describe the life that someone lives. Writing and reading apparently can help to show the life. We could understand the life within one particular place by reading literacy outcomes, like newspaper and novel that expressed by combining all existing elements through life. We are using literacy to express ourselves and communicate to each other. In my opinion, literacy is about language, but not only about language. It is not only about how to write and read by using one specific language, what's more is an understand and precieve about the culture.
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