LT1 Prep

• I can utilize Cindy Selfe’s article by showing the kairos of her article, and transferring her seemingly radical ideas to today. What Selfe wrote in the 90’s was seemingly unfathomable, finding a link between technology and literacy was fighting and bizarre for most educators in her day, but here we are a short 16 years later, where a classroom without technology would be bizarre and frightening. What is important here is the ever-changing dynamics of literacy and technology. Where this technological path will lead is unclear, but there’s no stopping it. Just like those opposed to technology in Selfe’s 1999 article, many people today are wary of the new links between technology, literacy, race and sexuality. However, as proven by the changes in education and technology since the publication of Selfe’s article, resistance is futile.

• My specific subtopic of my LT1 will be analyzing the association between technology and literacy and race and sexuality. The same way that we can no longer ignore the importance of social media and MSGC to literacy, we need to pay some well-deserved attention to how sexuality and race affect literacy, as well.

• Race and sexuality are such hot-button issues these days, as an educator you simply can’t afford to ignore them. Despite this fact, however, educators everywhere do. Phrases such as “I’m color-blind” or “my students’ sexuality is none of my business” are running rampant in classrooms everywhere, and are complete and total lies. I want my readers to stop “ignoring” these issues and face them head on, incorporating them into their classrooms and acknowledging their importance in teaching literacy. I want my readers to think about the long-term effects of how they react and teach, and incorporate these issues. I want my readers to believe that these topics are of critical concern, not only in education but in day to day life. Why? Because these issues have been swept under the rug for too long, and our students are suffering as a consequence of this neglect.

• My immediate audience would be educators, specifically in the secondary education field. I feel as though this topic would be good for most teachers in the States to become familiar with, but maybe I’ll just keep this paper Georgia specific, for now. The age limit would have to be late twenties and up, because that’s the starting age of most educators. As for socioeconomic standing, I don’t think that really matters much, because teachers can be from any background. However, statistically, teachers are white, middle-class females, so I’ll try to bear this in mind.