Define Technological Literacy
According to Postman, technological literacy is necessary within democratic spheres in order to avoid the divide of knowledge and the resulting idea of technopoly. The abuse of technological literacy is technopoly, a socially constructed and potentially destructive concept that bureaucrats use to manage information and maintain certain social strata. In addition, Postman argues that technopoly occurs when information becomes useless as it has no theoretical framework which can be used in order to interpret such information. According to Postman, standardized forms, bureaucrats, and experts essentialize and limit knowledge. Therefore, to be technologically literate, a person must be able to critically analyze and recognize such limitations in the dissemination of information. Selfe builds off of the idea of technological literacy as a solution, arguing that teachers need to enhance their own technological literacy in order to help students critically analyze information and determine whether or not it is credible, reliable, and authentic. In other words, according to Baron's definition of technological literacy, students need to "develop a nose for what [is] credible" (30). By becoming more critical consumers and producers of information, students will be able to counteract racial and social inequities that occur due to unequal access to technologies in schools and other social spheres.
Comments (6)
lygt@iup.edu said
at 4:08 pm on May 28, 2014
I agree with your comment that a person must be able to critically analyze the information they find on the web. There is so much information out there, and not all of it is credible, so it's really important for people to have a framework for determining what information they should pay attention to.
Angie Carter said
at 4:12 pm on May 28, 2014
Socioeconomic issues are really complex when it comes to technological literacy. On the one hand, people have to have technological literacy in order to change their socioeconomic status, but there's an element of a catch-22 in that people have to have a certain amount of capitol (read money) to access technology and then become familiar enough with it to use to change their position. This is one of the more complex aspects of technological literacy for me.
Laura Schubert said
at 4:16 pm on May 28, 2014
However, I wonder whether the situation has changed enough since Selfe was writing in 1999 that access to technology is becoming more widespread, in the U.S. at least. You can now get a laptop for $200. Cell phone prices are declining. Access to computers in libraries and other social settings are commonplace. I wonder whether this makes technological literacy more possible for all educated people, regardless of socioeconomic status.
JHopkins said
at 4:12 pm on May 28, 2014
Great points here, but doesn't Selfe see technological literacy as a problem as well as a solution? Because of the (for many, prohibitive) cost of tech lit, it isn't available to everyone, so it actually increases the socioeconomic divide it's supposed to narrow.
kedsri@... said
at 4:15 pm on May 28, 2014
I particularly like the quote that you mentioned, "develop a nose for what credible." I think that goes with the idea of wanting students to be critical thinkers.
Reymond Levy said
at 4:16 pm on May 28, 2014
I think our group would agree with your view of Selfe. We would extend your understanding of Baron to include that being technologically literate involves expanding our definition of technology, and modify your understanding of Postman as analyzing the situation as too dire at this point for being technologically literate to make a difference, since he's against both extremes of information overload and over-regulation.
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