Perils of Not Paying Attention R&T #2

Selfe does an amazing job in Chapter 6 addressing the elephant in the room -- teaching technological literacies. 

Literacy is a concept that is commonly left to the responsibility of the English instructor to implement. Selfe demonstrates that 21st century literacy requires people to read, write and communicate in an electronic environment. The problem is many English teachers have poor attitudes about actually acknowledging a need to effectively read and write in electronic environments. English professional educators are far too focused on a humanist belief and traditions that appear rather selfish. Some professional educators are open to necessariness of technological literacies but lack the skills and strategies to actually teach it. 

Selfe explains a preoccupation with mislead funding. A list of state school districts are provided with statistics that support irresponsible allocations. Many large districts are obsessed of having machines in the room but less interested in keeping a highly qualified staff of teachers. 

Selfe later explains the social implications of limited access to technology. These limitations apply to minority communities in the United States. Selfe suggests that unavailability of technology (computers, internet, etc.) is a political attempt to maintain a divide a keep the poor -- poor. This is reflective of the literacy struggles the United States and other countries faced in the past. Books were too expensive for the poor to buy, so access was lost and literacy became a matter of the class system and wealth. Technology is not affordable, so there is a division of class and wealth to have access to these tools to be what is not considered 21st century literate. 

Lastly, Selfe chronicles what English professionals should do to change the attitudes and improve literacy for the 21st century. Below I have listed a few:

-Taking action at local colleges and universities

-Establishing literary practices in electronic environments in curriculums, standards and assessments

-Informative research and scholarship

-Demonstration in the classroom

-Relevant teacher training 

This reading was amazing. Selfe really puts abstract topics in perspective. Since I have joined the education discipline, I have been beyond frustrated with the attention give to technology literacy. It is frustrating when English instructors assume a word processing program is technology literacy. There is so much more we can do with our kids. It also frustrates me when teachers use smartboards as projector screens. However, I cannot just blame teachers I have to gripe on the leadership, who fails to provide proper training and sample strategies. After reading this article I plan to have a conversation with the instructional coach in my school. It would be nice if she could create some lesson templates that any teacher could use to teach technological literacies are something discipline specific.

I included the following link. It is very short and sweet, but I think it does an accurate job summing up what Selfe wanted to say. 

http://youtu.be/u7q5vMgkUKI

SeSelfe, Cynthia L. Computers in the Composition Classroom. Ed. Michelle Sidler, Richard Morris, and Elizabeth Overman Smith. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print.