Using your readings and interaction with the subject to date, develop a statement about your current knowledge and understanding of concepts and practices in digital literature environments, tools and uses, within the context of your work or professional circumstances.

Into the Digital Woods…

I’m hoping for and expecting some meandering learning curves from ETL533: Literature in digital environments. An environment of unstable, and constantly morphing literary boundaries and aesthetics.  While the title of this subject appears fairly self-explanatory, the term digital literature is itself a little slippery. Before engaging with the literature for ETL533, my perception of digital literature was that of multimodal, electronic literary texts that blend language, visual, audio and structural features. I also thought it could include literary works and picture books which have been digitized to be read on an e-reader or iPad. As digital literature can mean different things to different people, I was relieved to find some consistency in definitions from Module 1 articles, as well as readings from previous subjects.

Academics and practitioners in the field of electronic literature define the term as being literary works that have been created by harnessing computer technology (Heckman & O’Sullivan, 2018; Rettberg, 2012; Rowberry, 2018). Essentially, it is an umbrella term for literary objects that are created on a computer, designed to be read on a computer, and which are distinct from digitized literature (Hackman & O’Sullivan, 2018). Thus, reading Jane Austen as an e-book doesn’t count as digital literature. As Rowberry (2018) discusses and challenges, e-books are not considered innovative enough to be classified as digital literature (p.320). Perhaps the term digi lit could encompass both digitized and digital literature?

In our recent online class, we discussed possible examples of digital literature. Some wondered if animated quest games or TikTok videos could be included in the classification of digital literature, considering their use of engaging narrative structures, which resonate with their students. However, a narrative is not inherently literature. A film, for example, is a narrative text, yet it is not referred to as literature. Viewing and reading are complementary, yet distinct skills.  Encyclopedia Britannica defines literature as written, imaginative works (Rexroth, 2020). Therefore, digital literature should theoretically be fiction, embed written words, and be generated with the use of an operating system.

At the core of my practice as a primary school teacher, is helping students to be literate and numerate individuals, assisting them to interact appropriately and fairly with others, and to support them to engage with the world around them. Digital ‘literature’ resources in the classroom and school library certainly provide opportunities and challenges around these themes, which I’m yet to fully exploit. My current school context is a BYO device classroom, with all  Year 5 and 6 students using iPads to support their learning. We’re learning together, and I love it when our digital tools do two things; firstly, work without glitches, and secondly, when they enhance the learning.

Many of the readings from Module 1.2 focus on the importance of digital literature environments enhancing rather than hindering the learning experience. One of the main shadows currently in my thoughts around digital literature, is that for primary school students particularly, technology-based reading has the potential to distract students’ focus. While interactive features can strengthen a reader’s understanding and engagement with a text, they can also divert attention and impact negatively on their comprehension of a text (Dobler, 2013; Lamb 2011). The need for educators to seek quality digital books, and to apply criteria for the selection of these texts in school settings, is emphasized by McGeehan et al. (2018), and Yokota and Teale (2014), who provide five criteria for evaluating digital picture books. As I mentioned in the discussion forum, it is essential that educators model critical literacy skills when selecting and using all text types.

Leu et al. (2015) play with the proverb, ‘cannot see the forest for the tress’, in naming their article, Seeing the forest, not the trees, to discuss new technologies for learning and reading. They argued that the internet and its information landscape is the ‘forest’, and the new, limitless number of digital tools and literacies we can select from are the ‘trees’. This resonates with me, as we must see both; the new and old trees, in order to successfully understand and meander through the digital forest, with all its hidden wonders, hyperlinked paths, and scheming trolls.

References

Dobler, E. (2013). Looking beyond the screen: Evaluating the quality of digital books.  Reading Today, 30(5), 20-21.

Heckman, D., & O’Sullivan, J. (2018) Electronic literature: Contexts and poetics. In K. M. Price & R. Siemens (Eds.) Literary Studies in a Digital Age, Modern Language Association. http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6K649S3G

Lamb, (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(3), 12-17.

Leu, D. J., Forzani, E., Timbrell, N., & Maykel, C. (2015). Seeing the forest, not the trees: Essential technologies for literacy in the primary-grade and upper elementary-grade classroom. The Reading Teacher, 69(2), 139-145.

McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just because it’s digital, doesn’t mean it’s good: Evaluating digital picture books.  Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58-70.

Rettberg, J.W. (2012) Electronic literature seen from a distance: The beginnings of a field. www.dichtung-digital.org/2012/41/walker-rettberg.htm

Rexroth, K. (2020, October 30). literature. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/literature

Rowberry, S. P. (2018). Continuous, not discrete: The mutual influence of digital and physical literature. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 26(2), 319–332.

Yokota, J. & Teale, W. H. (2014). Picture books and the digital world: educators making informed choices.  The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 577-585.