Selfe's article focuses on composition teachers and their relationship with technology. She urges them to think critically about how technology effects their students and the role computer literacy plays in society. She states clearly that giving everybody computers isn't going to make everyone equal. She strongly opposes top down approaches to better literacy and she affirms that literacy programs such as the Clinton-Gore project are as political as they are educational. I agree with her ideas and here are a few sentences that illustrate her thesis.
1. In the case of computers-- we have convinced ourselves that we and the students with whom we work are made of much finer stuff than the machine in our midst, and we are determined to maintain this state of affairs.
Selfe talks about how composition teachers, humanists who concern themselves with the human condition and things of that nature don't utilize the technology they have, more so they don't really think about the importance of computers or critically analyze the impact it's had on them and literacy in general.
2. If we pay attention to the facts surrounding the project's instantiation, however, we can remind ourselves of the much harder lesson: in our educational system, and in the culture that this system reflects, computers continue to be distributed deferentially along the related axes of race and socioeconomic status and this distribution contributes to the ongoing patterns of racism and to the continuation of poverty.
Selfe tries to make an example of the Clinton-Gore project which focused on getting America's Kids ready for the 21st century. The goal was to give children all around the United States more access to computers. But as Selfe explains in the sentence, the equipment wasn't distributed fairly. Schools serving poor children and kids of color have less advanced technology then schools serving affluent and white students. Selfe's main point in this article is that people, especially composition teachers need to pay attention to technology I think this is a good example of where keen observation is needed.
3. ... The national project to expand technological literacy can also serve to re-teach us a second lesson-- that literacy is always a political act as well as an educational effort.
Selfe explains why the initiative was thought of in the first place. It all has to do with the political context of the time. Clinton-Gore was preparing to enter the white house and the economy of the U.S. was stagnant. There was a widening in the gap between the rich and the poor, and the United States was threatened by the growing economies in the east. The plan was to make the United States a technological nation. To make that vision possible, children needed to be familiar with computers so when they grew up they could enter jobs that required computer literacy.
4. We need to recognize that if written language and literacy practices are our professional business, so is technology.
Selfe explains to composition teachers that technology is part of their job, because it is a new type of literacy that their students need to be informed about.
5.We need to resist the tendential forces that continue to link technological literacy with patterns of racism and poverty.
Just because there is an increasing amount of technology doesn't mean the world has become more equal. In fact access to technology is being distributed among socioeconomic lines, affecting primarily children of color. We have to fix the system or else technology will just perpetuate the existing issues.
1. In the case of computers-- we have convinced ourselves that we and the students with whom we work are made of much finer stuff than the machine in our midst, and we are determined to maintain this state of affairs.
Selfe talks about how composition teachers, humanists who concern themselves with the human condition and things of that nature don't utilize the technology they have, more so they don't really think about the importance of computers or critically analyze the impact it's had on them and literacy in general.
2. If we pay attention to the facts surrounding the project's instantiation, however, we can remind ourselves of the much harder lesson: in our educational system, and in the culture that this system reflects, computers continue to be distributed deferentially along the related axes of race and socioeconomic status and this distribution contributes to the ongoing patterns of racism and to the continuation of poverty.
Selfe tries to make an example of the Clinton-Gore project which focused on getting America's Kids ready for the 21st century. The goal was to give children all around the United States more access to computers. But as Selfe explains in the sentence, the equipment wasn't distributed fairly. Schools serving poor children and kids of color have less advanced technology then schools serving affluent and white students. Selfe's main point in this article is that people, especially composition teachers need to pay attention to technology I think this is a good example of where keen observation is needed.
3. ... The national project to expand technological literacy can also serve to re-teach us a second lesson-- that literacy is always a political act as well as an educational effort.
Selfe explains why the initiative was thought of in the first place. It all has to do with the political context of the time. Clinton-Gore was preparing to enter the white house and the economy of the U.S. was stagnant. There was a widening in the gap between the rich and the poor, and the United States was threatened by the growing economies in the east. The plan was to make the United States a technological nation. To make that vision possible, children needed to be familiar with computers so when they grew up they could enter jobs that required computer literacy.
4. We need to recognize that if written language and literacy practices are our professional business, so is technology.
Selfe explains to composition teachers that technology is part of their job, because it is a new type of literacy that their students need to be informed about.
5.We need to resist the tendential forces that continue to link technological literacy with patterns of racism and poverty.
Just because there is an increasing amount of technology doesn't mean the world has become more equal. In fact access to technology is being distributed among socioeconomic lines, affecting primarily children of color. We have to fix the system or else technology will just perpetuate the existing issues.
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