“The Shift from print to digital literacy” by Maaza Ali.
When it comes to peer reviews, I often find it challenging. First, English is my second language, and secondly, giving constructive criticism is difficult. Nevertheless, I will do my utmost.
The shift from print to digital literacy is a broad topic, and moreover, it is challenging to pick one specific topic; like networks, the digital is wired like a giant mess, sometimes. Ali’s essay is easy to follow through to the end with references where they are appropriately cited. “The aspect of people from two different generations” is introduced along with the changing features of technology that delivers information/ data (cited in Ali, 2015, p.1). Definitions of two generations, digital immigrants and natives, are well addressed together with examples of how people would adapt to such technology changes (cited in Ali, 2015, p.1). The use of physical lexicon is rarely the choice for people who search for meaning of a word; online searching becomes the primary tool for most people (Ali, 2015). Ali’s interesting divisions of different generations prepare the direction of essay for audience. A great shaping technique in the introduction. This makes me wonder about the generation that is far beyond the profession (technology use).
The economical benefits, such as the comparison of investment on print & digital media, and the advertisement market change are both features that Ali has selected in the essay (2015, p.1-2). Regarding the effects of this shift that makes user range of technology wider, I think it is crucial to mention the results. Unlike Ali’s opinion, I think this is a feature of the shift from print to digital literacy as well; it is much deeper feature that is hidden among human behaviors/ adapting feature (I might be wrong about this). The potential adverse effects of brain cognition (memorization) has been discussed in Carr’s article (2008). This is also mentioned through Ali’s example: the researching and studying for exams may not be necessarily better (2015, p.2). Ali’s selected examples are convincing, which reflects her excellent summarizing skills of selected articles as references.
Through her opinions on the accessible, fast tools to the World Wide Web, I think her target audience would be students and educators (probably just former one). The critical thinking about resources through sites should be the primary weapon for online users in order to get trustworthy, qualified information (cited in Ali, 2015, p.2). “Adding onto the importance of understanding social media sties” is introduced with following references and examples (Ali, 2015, p.2). The only recommendation from myself is to make a statement like ‘online users/ students, again, should learn this online critical judgement and decision making when they face such abundance of applications’ after the feature of storytelling.
The conclusion is stated in a concise form of restating opinions for online users. The overall assigned topic is broad, but Ali managed to select examples and guide readers throughout the essay. It has been a eye-opening experience of reading someone’s work.
Note. The reference order could be reordered alphabetically.
