THE CLiC MANIFESTO

Disconnected

 

“[N]ew forms of literacy don’t simply accumulate. Rather, they have life spans: they emerge; they overlap and compete with pre-existing forms; they accumulate, significantly, perhaps, in periods of transition, but they also eventually fade away” (Selfe and Hawisher 213). Such “changing literacies,” Selfe and Hawisher predict, mean that “parents, educators, and policy makers” must begin to “understand literacy as it has changed and continues to change, in the digital age, to formulate new insights about what it means to read, compose, and exchange text in electronic environments” (184).

The humanities remain mired in nineteenth century forms, practices, and values. Despite the moves away from belletristic pedagogies toward process and social constructionist pedagogies, the ideal form remains the essay. The disconnect between technology and the forms of communication it makes possible is another site of oppression for those from nontraditional backgrounds.

Consider the parallel stories of Delores Lopez and Raymond Branch in Brandt's Literacy in American Lives. Both are smart and motivated. Both seek economic success. But Branch grows up in a family able to support and nurture--and even assume--his interest in computer technology, while Lopez's family--equally supportive and nurturing--are not economically positioned to provide the same advantages for their daughter. The economic fact that Lopez lacks access to technology and its possibilities means she will never catch up with the Raymond Branches of the world.

In states with districts, and systems that have poor schools, rural schools, and schools with large populations of students of color, teachers need to resist the forces that continue to link technological literacy with patterns of racism and poverty. (Cynthia Selfe, Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century)

Consider, too, Eric's story of technology dropping from sight once students become too old/literate to play "The Oregon Trail" and "Lemonade Stand."

As you shall see, however, his failures in the classroom did not doom him to economic hardship, in part because he was lucky enough to have been born at the right time (1973) into a family with the means and background to provide for and support his curiosity and abilities with evolving technologies. Without that access, however, his story would have been radically different.