Literacy and Technology Linked

Selfe (1999) “Literacy and Technology Linked”

The third page, (7)

First full paragraph on the right.

“In these terms, then, the national project to expand technological literacy has not resulted in a better life or more democratic opportunities or an enriched educational experience for all Americans, as most of us might wish. Rather it has served to improve the education only for some Americans. This specific project—and the more general social forces and formations that sustain it—substitutes a value on competition and consumerism for a commitment to equal opportunity, democratic cooperation, and a public education that serves the common good of this country’s peoples.”

I understand the first part of this paragraph. Selfe is saying that teaching technology to a large group of people, especially through mediums like computers is a difficult feat to master. While everyone wishes that all American people, regardless of any stereotype, could be taught technology to better their lives it is very hard to do. The poorer people don’t have access to the technologies and billions of dollars have been spent to teach the wealthier people about the technologies. While this system isn’t fair, I think it was ridiculous to assume that the plan could work. It should have been obvious from the beginning that a whole entire society of people can not be taught the same thing. That’s like saying poverty in America can be completely eliminated. Our society wouldn’t work without poverty. The article mentions that people who are not “literate” are forced to do jobs that “literate” people would never desire, or be forced to do. However, someone has to do those jobs, and the least educated people are always going to be forced into them.

What I don’t understand is the second half of this paragraph. I guess the author is trying to say that the idea of teaching all American students how to use and appreciate technology, and the teachers behind the idea, are somehow realizing that competition and consumerism are going to have to be overlooked. That in order for the process to work, the values placed on everything our democracy relies on need to be taken into consideration and worked around.

My question: “A: What exactly is the second half of this paragraph trying to say? B: What do you think is the best solution the government can create to at least try and do a better job of teaching all students how to be technologically literate? ( I really don’t think it’s possible).

My three most used writing spaces

My three most used writing spaces:

Computers- I use computers everyday to send e-mails, to write papers and to talk with friends.  In order to use a computer the way I need to, I must be knowledgeable in different writing programs such as Microsoft word.  I must know how to open up an e-mail service, contact a person and send the e-mail.  Typing is the method used to get words from my head to the computer screen.  I used a keyboard to do so.  I also use a mouse to navigate through different communication systems through out the computer.  Using a computer requires memorization of the keyboard, or enough knowledge of it to be able to look at the screen and not the board while typing.

Text messages- Text messaging involves a smaller keyboard of sorts, which groups together numbers and letters.  Writing a text message usually allows for shorthand speech and takes much less thought than trying to communicate thoughts through a computer.  Depending on what I am trying to say, it can also be much less time consuming.  Just like on a computer to send an e-mail, to send a text message I have to either memorize a phone number like an e-mail address, or I have to go to a pre-made list to find a contact.  Text messaging is a much less formal way of communicating my thoughts.  When text messaging, the screen and the letters used to type are much closer together and I usually look at the letters while I type.

Notebooks- I only use notebooks while in class.  Communicating with a pen and paper through notebooks is the most time consuming of my three most used writing spaces.  My brain thinks much faster than my fingers can write out words with a pen.  Writing with pen and paper can allow for more memorization when re-reading the information later.  For example; in a notebook I can draw pictures which help me recall a lesson and seeing the notes in my own handwriting will probably remind me more of what I was trying to get out of the lesson as opposed to reading it in a text message or on the computer.

Bolter and Grusin’s definition of remediation: “a newer medium takes the place of an older one, borrowing and reorganizing the characteristics of writing in the older medium and reforming its cultural space.”

In this way, writing on the computer can be seen as a remedial shift away from writing in the notebook.  While both involve outputting thoughts to be communicated, they are quite different.  Writing in a notebook involves one hand, and sometimes only a few fingers.  It involves more than just saying what’s in your mind through a pen, it involves thinking about how letters look, how they form words, a sentences and pages.  While we think of what we are trying to say, we also have to recall how to create the shapes of letters.  If we mess up, we scribble something out.  When writing on the computer, all ten fingers are used as are both hands.  Ideas are outputted much faster even though they are less personalized.  The shapes of letters must be recalled in order to form the correct words through the keyboard.  However, painstakingly drawing each word is eliminated.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!