The Main Convergences

and Divergences of Digital

Culture: Literature and
Education

Mohamed First University

Pluridisciplinary Faculty of Nador

Gibran Banhakeia

gbanhakeia@yahoo.com

2017/2018

Abstract: This research aims at analyzing the unsaid issues of Digital

culture in terms of education and literature in general and, in particular, it
pictures the updated voice of Electronic Literature of 21st century,
forasmuch as it entirely governs the way people communicate, think and
even educate themselves, this research would depict such new far-reaching
advances of cultural predicaments as to how it is being considered as the
model of rejection and acceptance. In a nutshell, this paper is bound to
explain the paramount convergences and divergences of Digital Culture.
This change, albeit, becomes as the crisis, beneficial and positive side of
human intellectuality.

Key terms: Digital Culture, Digitalization, Literature, Education, E-

learning.
 “I love watching the Oscars and seeing everybody saying all that
'it's an honour just to be nominated' rubbish. Then you see their
faces when the split screen comes up as the winner is announced -
the losers are all smiling through gritted teeth and looking as if
they just swallowed half a pound of soor ploom”

John Niven
Introduction

It is universally acknowledged that Digital culture has developed into a new

structure of similarly living patterns of “Modernizing Technological Minds”
that differs from what we knew as the old traditions or stories of our
grandfathers. This change produces several issues that are at the same time the
state-of the-art technology in every country, due to the fact that the image of
Culture changes into another model of Cyberculture, Literature transforms,
specifically. Internet leads all the readers of literature into E-books and the
notion of letters restrains amateur readers from cohabiting with the modern
world of technology. On the top of what the model of universalization offers to
its people as the newly hopeful projects, the concept of “conformity” and
“realization” turned Digitalization into a model of adaptation of “what is new”
against “what is old” to the extent that everything is roughly harsh to
comprehend nowadays. Although, this seems very strange, due to the
sociological demands of today, to visualize problems that our world
unbearably undergoes (I believe “through” is not necessary here), in terms of
how globalization governs us mindfully and materially. The modernity of
cultural identity and social inconformity is? in a correct sense against
globalization: Digital Culture minimizes the value of national literature, since
the inclination of technology would put its stored stories, anthologies and
novels into universality through circulation, translation and production (David
Damrosch; What is World Literature; P1). It is possible to clear again that
Technology, internet, defines today the realm of literary studies in a very
modernized way, though, it is difficult to expect from the international public
that rejecting the wave of old traditions ridicules students is a very essential
way because following many reflections on the Internet in the context of how
electronic literature functions as the society of Twenty-First Century is the
new one of today; changing methods of international examinations like the
shift from TOEFL into TOEF IBT, TCF into TCF SO in order to deconstruct
how the International Politics in the modern society favors the new way of
living with Digitalization inasmuch as the old school of papers examinations
have been disappeared from the dictionary of life and of education. It is totally
tough to approach how Digitalization functions, forasmuch as there are
severable predicaments that we must elucidate from the outset and by doing
that it should be a coherent strategy to reformulate again this problematic
question: What are the main divergences and convergences of Digital Culture
in the society of Twenty-First century ?

We have to scrutinize some elements of education to picture the international

view of education in developing countries. In view of clarifying how education
and culture are extremely dominated or dominant points to each other by the
Information Technology, it is essential to show how Culture changed. In the
foreground, this paper (there is only one) aims to analyze objectively two
points: the obstacles of Digitalization: Education and Literature and the
influence of Digital Culture.

The Issues of Digital Culture: Language and Literature.

The beginning of twenty-First Century becomes the time of rapid momentum

of developing technology, spanning from the military access to the field of
education, because literary enterprise is adjusted to the extent that even archaic
concepts have been misused, they become as vividly? tools into the world of
technology: “Education” transforms into “Technological Education”,
“Literature” to “Electronic Literature”, “Culture” onto “Cyber-Cultural
Activism”, “Business” to “E-banking. This digital transformation changed
exactly the way of living seeing that everything is linked to the world of the
Internet. By the same token, this idea is comparatively coupled with the World-
Wide Information Networks of Twenty-First Century inasmuch as this era is
governed by Digital technologies that become as the visible enterprise for:
communication studies, distance learning and discoveries. The very negative
implication immensely appeared to revive the old structure of thinking,
because there are countless results of refusing this old system of 90s and 80s;
unlike there being such overwhelmed thoughts that envisage this social concept
of Internet in terms of differences and distances conclusions. This socio-
technological impact is specifically explained to picture as to how scientists
deconstruct the age of globalization:

“World-wide information networks and digital technologies are probably

the most important phenomena through which the world becomes
visible, where societies can communicate, study and originate new
actions in a permanent process of perceiving and discovering each other,
recognizing convergences and differences, distances and approaches”
P237
It is granted that this situation describes new actions of globalization that lead
its people to be regarded as visible humans and this is the purely role of
globalization, of deleting and inserting a new perspective to all societies, is
that, it alters language to the extent that everything is universal. The world of
universalities transforms people into a new machine of one single function to
only act from one simple shot or side, in that, language communication and
culture are extremely governed in this current existing simple magic formula of
globalization. Henceforth, the portrait of considering globalization as the
utopian way of living assumed to be a true image before the spanning of
cultural and cross-cultural issues in the midst of twenty-first century and this
social structure changed rapidly:

“Language in globalization is an important tool which allows people to

communicate among others. In the same way as the printed culture, the
language becomes the universal vehicle for communication”

Needless to deny unconsciously that the importance of the English Language,

with the force of technology, metamorphosed into something that we never
thought of its shape and even today we are shocked by the this incredibly
unexpected diffusion, seeing that this direction will produce the so-called
“Universal Language” that can produce many complexities that will be lately
observed in the humans actions and the way they deal with the external world
of society. To say it briefly, there can be myriads of lives and humans would
be fully bored of the way it controls them, under those circumstance the
description of English language is the dominant enterprise of Global
Information Infrastructure which fosters many issues in cultural and cross-
cultural studies to some large extent they problematize to the spot of network
circulation to study specifically in the light of understanding as to how
Cyberculture (Computer-Culture) affects other national languages to take
progress :

“Today the dominant language for the Global Information Infrastructure

is English. Could this situation be changed if more content in different
languages circulates in the network? Will this produce chaos? Should we
adopt English as the second language?” 238

The main argument that stimulates people on asking such questions of their
unexplained images of their identities is caused primarily by the domination or
the governance of Technology over humans that means the role of machine
surpassed the value of humans that is one of the reason they wanted to revive
the old school of life in the hope of establishing old cults that have been taken
from them by the force of technology and then they started worrying about
their national languages and traditions as if someday it will be vanished once
for all from this life :

“If one language is adopted as universal on the networks, will happen

with local languages and cultural traits? Will nations maintain their own
tongues and adopt the universal language as a surviving measure?”
Despite the importance of universality of language in the era of
multilingualism, people are still bothered by the idea of integrating such native
languages in the process of development, education and even technological
communication, particularly (or in particular), they define it deliberately as it is
an uncivilized language. In other word, they prefer establishing a foreign
language rather than forcing native language to progress even multilingualism
is access approach to native languages

“Multilingualism without a universal language could be a huge obstacle

or it could enable redefinition of society. If people do not understand
each other there will be an inability to communication”

According to this realistic quotation, which depicts social obstacles of

universality of misunderstood communication which is turned into a paradigm
of ambiguity and this explains that people cannot communicate easily due to
the current change of globalizing humans’ mentalities by Digital technologies
as well as this oddly way of living produces the unacceptability of living
without it. Nevertheless, we come to realize that Digital culture plays far-
reaching advances in viewing: “Local Literature to World Literature”, “Local
Culture” to “Open-Cyber-Culture”, “Translation to International Translations”,
“and Education to E-learning”. The form of native language would appear into
another shape within the domination of universal language of information
through positive circulation:

“We have digital culture based in a universal language, English, as

people present information in this language either it is their mother
tongue or it has been translated so it can reach the largest audience. At
the same time, we have multilingualism as each country presents its
information in its native language. The mix of languages allows
information created for a specific purpose to reach its intended
audience”. 238

The idea of universalizing Peoples, Literature, Histories and Languages has

never been viewed as the main argument of technology. Though technology
advanced this era to the development of communication, 3D games, 3d
printing tools, Robotics and E-learning, this is not the method of developing
novels or books and it is only an updated manner of dealing with E-books
through technology. Before the existence of Internet, the progress of
humanities has not scanned entirely by the field of cyberism, in fact it was
modelled as the jar door to search books through new technological
materials, but it is analyzed through the circulation of translation that means
the process of developing literature must be put into an ethnocentric
(universal) culture in that the development should be mainly reflected as
transition from local culture to universal culture and then this translation
passes to the world of polysystem that is definitely the mains process of
progressing books ( David Damrosch) .
On the top of what has been said positively concerning the role of
globalization, we will shed more light on the invisible side of
globalization as to how it completely throws old practices as unnecessary
tools. Furthermore, this unexpected portrait of society would lead us to
survey a new pattern that is contrast with the old traditional life, since the
way Globalization measures and functions is something bizarre to us:

“Globalization meant throwing away old practices and adopting new

ways, where, in spite of cultural differences, a similar behavior is
expected”. 240

This portrayal of twenty-first century rejects the old ways of integrating and
acting that are no longer usefully available; because, the notion of life is
approximately linked to the notion of Digitalized culture which is interpreted
as The Complex World.

From Education to E-learning: COURSERA, EDX TOEFL IBT, TCF SO

It is an obvious must to assert that without the usage of Internet people would
do not have to the access of information (Google); without the use of
Information Technology we would be unable to read electronic books that
were once upon time difficult tools to access; without the use of Internet we
would never progress national literature, because it plays the role of
marketization of literature, history and science to be in the place around of
World Literature:

“The digital culture can help Chile and other countries to reinforce their
national identity by making culture visible. Contents should include
public sector information, visual arts, music, literature, history, science,
and technology among others”. 240

It is true that the shift from culture to the world of globalization created many
social issues regarding the question of identity and the value of humans,
nevertheless looking only to one simple side of negativity this text would not
establish a clear image of Globalization in that we should mention the positive
side of Digital Culture that open new doors to student, researchers and
scientists in the hope of considering it as the tool of researching information.
Apart from this usual perspective, this era of information technology depicts a
new wave of understanding education that goes ultimately with technology and
this explains such countless E-platforms that elucidate the role of technology in
education. After this caravan of raising consciousness toward using interned,
there being new platforms as Coursera and Edx which made interesting
performance at the international level. The most important aspect of enrolling
students in these platforms: firstly, students have the possibility (or ability) to
follow the course, using unpaid method. Secondly, courses are made by
Professors. Thirdly, they attempt to discuss so that they create an atmosphere
of diversity. Hence, the students can lead people to study autonomously and
learn many things as soon as they do practicum exercises:

“either as the scaling of centralised and identical instruction to

unprecedented numbers of students or the opportunity for self-
directed learning, in which large participant numbers are
understood as providing the means to construct knowledge
Independently of teachers and institutions” (Rodriguez, 2012, 2013)

In the event that students prefer to study autonomously in order to study

culturally rather than obligatory, most of them enroll into great courses
demanding unpaid method of learning, nonetheless in the end they do not
even complete the required tests in such a way to earn his certificate. The
hinged reason behind that is: most of networkers wanted (tense) to know
this new world of platforms and when they embark into such educational
courses and then they find themselves with no way to cope up with the
suggested, not given, courses. According to Edx and Coursera, most of
students wanted to get a free certificate with unpaid method, so it gives
them an access to it but they want it without doing the homework. What is
bizarre is the most of students had took the opportunity to buy their
certificates without doing their tests and the reason behind that:

Huge enrolment numbers are also central to the promotional videos

released by EdX (2013), suggesting “imagine taking a class with a
hundred thousand or more students.” Two further videos claim that
edX’s ambition is to enroll a billion students from around the world
(edX, 2012a, 2012b).

It is important though to visualize the ambition of Coursera and Edx that is

about to create something which original that has not been done before in the
event that people would be extremely attracted to the so-called E-leaning
Access . Prior to what it offers as courses to the international students, the
purpose of creating all these platforms - aims only to achieve a huge number of
student in the event they can be recognized internationally as the best platforms
and the way of universalizing this educations – was also to offer education
through unpaid methods as well as this attracted huge members from all over
the world to glimpse on Coursera and EdX. This strategy assumingly
foreshadows Platformers success and the most important report of Coursera
elucidates that it has dynamically updated its progression to surpass the level 5
million and then it affirms that it reaches more than 6 million followers
(Coursera ,2014)

This descriptive model of educating people would bring us onto another

similar point of understanding how such international exam changed
completely from the format of Paper-based examination to E-examination. The
role of globalization wants to universalize everything and even tests of
languages this transition become very obvious at the international level; for
example, the transition of TOEFL into TOEFL IBT, CAMBRIDGE EXAMS
into E-CAMBRIDGE, and TCF Paper exam into TCF SO. The most important
aspect of using Internet as source of examination: controlling easily the
examiner from cheating that means the mode of securitization is an essential
unit. The E-examinations are newly updated paradigms of this universal
society through which the educators are acting against the traditional system of
education. The student of twenty-first century coped with the use of Internet
and favors the current use of examination because culture becomes the realm
of Digitalism:

“As emphasized in the book’s introduction, which is intended to frame the

themes and main discussion of the collection, the reality of “digital
divergence” in a global environment (as opposed to the concept of
the“digital divide”) is that digital systems will become more and more
different over time. Whereas the term “digital divide” suggests intractable,
binary opposition between the haves and the have-nots, “digital divergence”
predicts complexity and difference.”

One of the most striking feature of Digital culture is that it can be considered
negatively and positively, because it presents the reality of a global
environment that is difficult to understand to the extent that we have a clear
notion of security within societies. Attempting to heighten on the current issues
of globalization .We must exclusively focus on the unsaid problem of
securitization .The idea of providing this securitization is one hand verily a
truthful point view, nonetheless, from another perspective, E-examinations are
immensely regarded as the new way of progressing Business. Therefore, every
positive point exposes us to the negativity of E that endorses myriads questions
of public opinions. Concisely, the conception of looking to Digital Culture in
terms of conformity, happiness and realization is elucidated before, albeit the
unvoiced issues of today are: Whether globalization acts exclusively to achieve
particular goals? Or it feverishly ponders on changing everything to
accommodate Digitalization for the purpose of colonizing humans’ minds.
Furthermore, this is mentioned in the entitled books of Complex words which
painstakingly elucidate the reality of digital culture.
Conclusion

It is universally approached that Digital Culture modified literature,

communication to be on the verge of globalization and universalization and
to throw away useless traditions and unnecessary entities from the outdated
context of society. Chiefly, it is true that this geographical image is
somehow unacceptable. In spite of how digitalization alters new paradigms
to act positively on its side to produce another history of technology; in spite
of why Digital communication globalizes humans mentalities to overly speak
only English language, in spite of when the world of complexities would end,
this image of technology has truly dominated us and it continues to exclusively
separate E-humans from the real humans in the very near future. Nevertheless,
in view of not losing cultural identity and of not forgetting the old tradition of
our grandfathers, literature or Electronic literature is always the same border of
getting to humans to see the history of letters that existed once upon time. The
perplexing problems of today are to perceive and to foreshadow as to when this
globalization goes on and as to when it can stop excluding old tradition and
replacing them by new ways of technology. As we see the darkest side of
Internet as the model of exploiting old mentalities to cope up with the new
ones in term of adaptability, it is reassuringly better to search useful
information through the internet that help students or general people follow the
mainly positive side of Digital culture that connects us with the atmosphere of
positivity .

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