Technology and Literacy in the 21st Century: The Importance of Paying Attention (Studies in Writing and Rhetoric)

Part critique of existing policy and practice, part call-to-action, Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century explores the complex linkage between technology and literacy that has come to characterize American culture and its public educational system at the end of the twentieth century. To provide a specific case study of this complex cultural formation, award-winning educator Cynthia L. Selfe discusses the Technology Literacy Challenge, an official, federally sponsored literacy project begun in 1996 that has changed—at fundamentally important levels—the definition of literacy and the practices recognized as constituting literate behavior in America. Selfe tries to identify the effects of this new literacy agenda, focusing specifically on what she calls "serious and shameful" inequities it fosters in our culture and in the public education system: among them, the continuing presence of racism, poverty, and illiteracy. She describes how the national project to expand technological literacy came about, what effects it has yielded, why the American public has supported this project, and how teachers of English, language arts, and composition have contributed to this project, despite their best intentions. A primary goal of this study is to make teachers of English and composition increasingly aware of the new literacy agenda and to suggest how they might positively influence its shape and future direction, both in the classroom and in the community. This awareness is an integral part of educators' larger professional responsibility to understand the way in which our culture thinks about and values literacy. Perhaps even more important, argues Selfe, this awareness is part of teachers' ethical responsibility to understand how literacy and literacy instruction directly and continually affect the lived experiences of the individuals and families with whom teachers interact. Part critique of existing policy and practice, part call-to-action, Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century explores the complex linkage between technology and literacy that has come to characterize American culture and its public educational system at the end of the twentieth century.To provide a specific case study of this complex cultural formation, award-winning educator Cynthia L. Selfe discusses the Technology Literacy Challenge, an official, federally sponsored literacy project begun in 1996 that has changed -- at fundamentally important levels -- the definition of literacy and the practices recognized as constituting literate behavior in America. Selfe tries to identify the effects of this new literacy agenda, focusing specifically on what she calls "serious and shameful" inequities it fosters in our culture and in the public education system: among them, the continuing presence of racism, poverty, and illiteracy.A primary goal of this study is to make teachers of English and composition increasingly aware of the new literacy agenda and to suggest how they might positively influence its shape and future direction, both in the classroom and in the community. This awareness is an integral part of educators' larger professional responsibility to understand the way in which our culture thinks about and values literacy. Cover 1 Studies in Writing & Rhetoric 3 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 Foreword: In the Best Modern Way 10 Introduction: Paying Attention to the Technology-Literacy Linkage 20 Part One: A New Literacy Agenda and Its Challenges 26 1. Literacy and Technology Linked: The National Project to Expand Technological Literacy 28 2. The Problem of Polemic: Representations of Technological Literacy in the Popular Press 50 Part Two: An Analysis of Social Investment in the New Literacy Agenda 66 3. The Role of Government 68 4. The Role of Education 89 5. The Role of Business and Industry 111 6. The Role of Parents 123 7. The Role of Ideology 139 Part Three: The Future and Our Responsibility: Sites and Plans for Action and Change 156 8. Paying Attention to Technology, Learning about Literacy 158 9. Working for Change 171 Works Cited 190 Index 202 Author Biography 208 Back Cover 209 Studies,in,Writing,and,Rhetoric Studies in Writing and Rhetoric "Part critique of existing policy and practice, part call-to-action, Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century explores the complex linkage between technology and literacy that has come to characterize American culture and its public educational system at the end of the twentieth century.". "To provide a specific case study of this complex cultural formation, Cynthia L. Selfe discusses the Technology Literacy Challenge, an official, federally sponsored literacy project begun in 1996 that has changed - at fundamentally important levels - the definition of literacy and the practices recognized as constituting literate behavior in America. Selfe tries to identify the effects of this new literacy agenda, focusing specifically on what she calls "serious and shameful" inequities it fosters in our culture and in the public education system: among them, the continuing presence of racism, poverty, and illiteracy."--BOOK JACKET.