Table Of ContentCYNTHIA L. SELFE
Technology and Literacy
in the
Twenty-First Century
The Importance of Paying Attention
Foreword by
SWR Hugh Burns
Studies in Writing & Rhetoric
Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century
Studies in Writing & Rhetoric
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Technology and
Literacy in the
Twenty-First
Century
The Importance of
Paying Attention
Cynthia L. Selfe
With a Foreword by Hugh Burns
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY PRESS
Carbondale and Edwardsville
Copyright © 1999 by The Conference on College Composition and Communication of
the National Council of Teachers of English
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
02 01 4 3
Publication partially funded by a subvention grant from The Conference on
College Composition and Communication of the National Council of Teachers
of English.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Selfe, Cynthia L., 1951–
Technology and literacy in the twenty-¤rst century : the importance of
paying attention / Cynthia L. Selfe ; with a foreword by Hugh Burns.
p. cm. — (Studies in writing and rhetoric)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
1. Computers and literacy—United States. 2. Technological
literacy—United States. 3. Literacy—Social aspects—United States. I. Title.
II. Series: Studies in writing & rhetoric.
LC149.5.S45 1999 99-11478
371.33'4—dc21 CIP
ISBN 0-8093-2269-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of America
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
To the membership and the
leadership of the CCCC,
to the dedicated staff of the National
Council of Teachers of English,
and to all of the talented teachers
of composition, English studies, language
arts, and literacy around the world
Contents
Foreword: In the Best Modern Way
Hugh Burns ix
Introduction: Paying Attention to the
Technology-Literacy Linkage xix
Part One. A New Literacy Agenda and Its Challenges
1. Literacy and Technology Linked:
The National Project to Expand Technological Literacy 3
2. The Problem of Polemic: Representations of
Technological Literacy in the Popular Press 25
Part Two. An Analysis of Social Investment in the
New Literacy Agenda
3. The Role of Government 43
4. The Role of Education 64
5. The Role of Business and Industry 86
6. The Role of Parents 98
7. The Role of Ideology 114
Part Three. The Future and Our Responsibility: Sites and
Plans for Action and Change
8. Paying Attention to Technology, Learning about Literacy 133
9. Working for Change 146
Works Cited 165
Index 177
Foreword: In the Best Modern Way
You may not recognize the name of Cynthia L. Selfe, but to so
many of us in the language arts profession, she is a leader of com-
mon and uncommon sense. I have known her for over twenty years
from our days as graduate students at the University of Texas at
Austin. There, we both began to learn something about the possi-
bilities and pitfalls of using technology to teach English. She under-
stands how democracy should work in education and how educa-
tion must work for democracy. Recently, as chair of the Conference
on College Composition and Communication, her leadership made
us better than we were, made us appear more uni¤ed and collabo-
rative despite our profession’s many delightful differences. This
book, Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Im-
portance of Paying Attention, for me represents both a culmination
of Selfe’s leadership thus far and a commitment to lead us further
still.
Even though these nine chapters raise an ambitious range of
cultural, social, and political issues, Selfe writes that this “book was
written for teachers of English studies, language arts, and composi-
tion.” We are her audience because we understand that in the next
millennium, technology will make each one of us (1) a teacher of
data-rich English, (2) a user of networked literacy tools, and (3) a
writer and a reader of digital text. If ubiquitous technology is the
reality, then universal humanity and global literacy are the prereq-
uisites.
I ¤rst heard Cynthia present a keynote adaptation of this book
in April 1998. I was attending the Conference on College Compo-
sition and Communication in Chicago. As I made my way up to the
front of Palmer House Grand Ballroom to attend her chair’s address,
I knew I would hear a teacher, a scholar, a writer, an administrator,
an editor, a program builder, and a leader. I knew I was also coming
ix
