Technoliteracy Memoir Part I

The first form of technology that I can consciously recollect to help develop my verbal skills was Mattel’s See ‘n’ Say. The See ‘n’ Say introduced alphabet, sound, and letter recognition. See ‘n’ Say allowed for me to learn without feeling like I was in a virtual learning setting through the use of fun and innovative techniques. The colorful décor and the ambiguity of the arrow’s next position caused an intense interaction between me and the See ‘n’ Say. This product solidified its primary goals, which was to build children’s basic verbal fundamentals and it created a strong foundation for my reading and writing capabilities.

The television played a significant role and through the use of technology it actually had a rather strong influence in my reading, writing, and speech development. Prior to attending Kindergarten I would watch Sesame Street, Pin Wheel, Scrabble, and Classic Concentration, all of the aforementioned shows taught me word and letter recognition. Scrabble the television show was hosted by Chuck Woolery. The game show used technology to make the tiled letters move up and down the blank spaces. If the tiled letter was part of the word then it was placed in its appropriate location but if the letter was not in the word the other player received a turn. Scrabble was actually a key element in developing my word structure as well as allowed for the expansion of my vocabulary. Classic Concentration the television show was hosted by Alex Trebek. The game show connected pictures, syllables, and letters to create words and phrases. This was a great exercise for the mind and the development of my writing and reading potential with word association.