#techliteracy

Information technology is rapidly transforming our communication and recreational lives or, more frequently, recreating them. The social gaming concept is no longer a case of going to an arcade or a friend’s house to play. As for the contemporary video games, they include the ability to play with other people online, which means new possibilities of socialization.

Apps such as Netflix or Amazon Prime also rolled out virtual watch parties so that we can watch the movie with friends even if we physically are not together. However, these innovations have the constraint that not everyone can afford to navigate them hence leaving us with a digital divide of our social lives. And as with all the things related to technology, as we gain more expertise in these tools, we also become more capable of partaking in such types of play.

So, today I woke up early, put on my glasses, and went for a run. I’ve never been much of a morning exerciser, save for morning pony rides, but I can’t ignore how amazing it feels to create fresh air and stretch your legs first thing when you wake up. There’s something about seeing the sky and the trees, and hearing the chirping and yowling of birds as you wake up… there’s just, nothing better. Besides riding horses, of course. When I came back, I made some coffee — I made some for mum, too, but she had to walk the dogs before she left to meet a friend for coffee. Something even better than getting out for a walk super early, is getting back super early and getting to enjoy your first cup of coffee in solitude, maybe looking over the news or flicking on a morning podcast, figuring out what’s been going on since you last connected to the world. 

After I’d enjoyed my leisurely dose of caffeine, I checked my list once more before loading all of my things into my car; even though I’d told myself I was packing light, I still seemed to have an entire car full of crap to bring with me. The back seat of my car was overflowing: I had my duffle of clothes; my laptop bag; some extra shoes, coats, and sweatshirts; two bursting bags of random stuff for Nana. My front seat was full as well, with snacks, shoes, and my various purses. Before driving away, I plugged my phone in to my USB, loaded my destination into Maps, and chose my “Jon Bellion” Pandora station as appropriate road trip-music. I replayed “Dead Man Walking” three times before letting it roll into some classic AJR. 

It didn’t take me very long to get to Sumas, and I wish the rest of the drive had been as easy as getting to the Canadian border. The border guard didn’t give me any trouble, and it took me all of five minutes to make my way across and get rolling on my way to Highway 3. Now, it’s no secret that the Jeep doesn’t handle too smoothly at high speeds, but she’s usually fairly easy-going on the flat bits, and cruises just fine with minimal alternation between fourth and fifth gear. However, that easy driving only lasted a moment compared to the rest of the trip. Keeping the old girl up to speed was a feat even in perfect conditions, because any undulation of the roadway was liable to make her shimmy down a couple miles per hour, and as the terrain got more mountainous, my little Jeep was struggling. At one point, trying to blast up a gradual incline at 40kph in fourth, we lost speed so quickly I thought something must be wrong, and I almost pulled over to the side of the road; I shifted down to third to see if that would help, and it just barely kept us afloat. For the rest of the drive, I was more on my toes, shifting before a hill or just as we began to lose RPM. We made fairly good time overall, but there were definitely stretches where we crawled along at 60kph when the signs were asking for 90.

But the real kicker of today came after I’d made it to Nana’s, when I sat down with my computer to check my emails. First thing in my inbox? Beatrice. My favourite person to get an email from! I’d barely had it opened and the first couple sentences read when I felt a huge smile break onto my face. What I gathered from my first breeze through, was that she wanted me to represent GSS somewhere, soon. On my second run-through, I saw that somewhere was Latvia, and when I finally slowed down and read through it word-for-word, I found that Beatrice was asking if I’d be a part of her GSS Editor team and attend an UNESCO student forum in Riga, Latvia. 

I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied by just emailing back, so of course I dialed up B’s number. Waiting for her to pick up, my mind was spinning: I’d never been to Latvia, do they speak English there, what would I be doing, what is the conference about, who the heck is running this thing, and how the heck did I get so lucky as to be on B’s go-to list?! When B answered, we were both beside ourselves to be hearing the other’s voice again. It was like a true reunion! She was her usual frazzled self, although a bit more justified this time: she’d lost her uncle and her dog in the past two months, and her and Andy had been taking both loses very hard — especially their beloved pup. 

When we’d caught up, I said “so, I’m looking at a map of Latvia, and it looks pretty cool.” B was ecstatic. I could tell this conference was a big “in the works” kind of thing, but I knew I wanted to be a part of the conversation. The whole thing looks like it’s about regular people being aided by tech on a daily basis, and how big tech companies are bringing these ideas into cities to try and solve some commonplace struggles. Especially as a student, looking at this topic from a youth’s perspective and having been to some of these cities where they claim to be using tech to help people, I immediately thought to challenge the idea of the conversation: if we’re talking about tech literacy, and how people are becoming aware of the opportunities available to them? I also wonder how these major “advancements” and additives to an already rich and deeply connected community and culture could truly change the whole social geography of a city. 

How can these new advancements in tech not only benefit and help a community, but how could they possibly hinder it, or provide more opportunities for individual growth and therefore be detrimental to the traditions of the people as a whole. 

Does tech push a uniquely “western” ideal of living onto groups of people with their own distinct customs and views on progress and human identity?