Last week was another great week for Film Annex and Women's Annex here in New York and in Herat, Afghanistan. We opened the 10th school in Goharshad high school.
Actually, there is a great story and history behind the name. Goharshad means a shining jewel in Persian. It is also the name of Shah Rukh's wife, who was the Emperor of the Timurid Empire of Herat. She was the daughter of Giāth ud-Din Tarkhān, an important and influential noble during Tīmur's time.
Herat, Goharshad Tomb
She was playing a very important role during that time, especially by attracting artists, architects, philosophers and poets acknowledged today among the world's most illustrious. She was one of the most powerful and influential women in Afghanistan's history. Many schools and places were named for her hard working and efforts in the Dari/Persian speaker countries.
Therefore, we can see that since many years ago, Afghan women were one of the critical elements in Afghanistan's development.
In the past, transferring knowledge and information was based on traditional methods which were not accessible to everybody anywhere. Thanks to the information age and the revolution in the way people communicate, things that were dreams for our ancestors are now part of our normal daily life. Education is one of the other areas which has been widely influenced by the new technology and innovations.
Education + New Technology = Digital Literacy
Digital Literacy can be seen as the interaction of people with technology using their educational skills as a tool to search, share, develop, based on their abilities to communicate and transfer the knowledge they receive.
Being in a digital literacy space and using it in a specific purpose gives me the idea of a person being in a loop of actions which will be repeated when every single milestone is accomplished. The digital literacy loop that I have in mind consists of these milestones:
- Act (Requirement Definition)
- Tools and Techniques
- Create Content
- Share
First, make a plan of what you want to do, either writing a blog, doing research, making a film, or any other assignments you want to accomplish. Then, access the right tools and techniques by using the suitable social/digital media platform. An educational software will help you be more focused, then it is time to be more practical and implement what you planned, and finally share it with your targets. Based on the audience's feedback, you will refer again to your first step which is Act, and then you will be on the loop to improve, promote or create new ideas.
That was simple wasn't it?!
If you are already implementing it, then you are in the digital literacy loop, but if not, you are most welcome to just take the first step and give it a shot.
Please leave your comments and let me know if you are also in the loop or not :)
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