Breuch,+Lee-Ann+Kastman.+Thinking+Critically+About+Technological+Literacy

= Breuch, Lee-Ann Kastman. "[|Thinking Critically About Technological Literacy: Developing Theory to Guide Computer-Assisted Instruction in Technical Communication.]" = //Technical Communication Quarterly //, 11 (3), 267-288

Abstract
Issues related to technological literacy can provide a useful frame for thinking critically about computer-based instruction in technical communication. This article identifies issues of technological literacy related to performance, contextual factors, and linguistic activities. When considered collectively, these issues provide technical communication students with a mechanism to identify and analyze a range of perspectives associated with technology and communication.

Argument
Today, it is pertinent that graduating students be technologically literate; however, it is difficult to define technological literacy and decide how to educate students with regard to this broad but imperative knowledge. The article discusses how to integrate computer pedagogy meaningfully into curriculum for technical communication. Through deciding the importance of technology in education, the degree to consider contextual aspects, and the influence on linguistic activities, the author states that educators can create technology literacy guidelines. The answers to these framework questions can provide a nationalized pedagogy standard so all college graduates will receive equal computer literacy education. In summation, we can expect students to understand technology, how to use various technologies (most importantly, the computer), and to understand how technologies can broaden their education in linguistic applications such as reading, writing, and communication.

Key Passages
“I have begun to consider whether technological literacy could be a framework for pedagogy in technical communication-a framework that would make sense of the multiple perspectives in computer pedagogy” (p. 269).

“1. How important is technological performance, or the ability to use a computer? 2. To what degree should we consider contextual aspects of technology, such as political, economic, social, or cultural factors? 3. How does technology influence linguistic activities such as reading, writing, and communicating” (p. 269).

“We can suggest that we want students to be capable users of technology who understand broader implications and the potential influence of technology on linguistic activities” (p. 280).

Selected Works Cited
Bumett, Rebecca E., and David Clark. “Shaping Technologies: The Complexity of Electronic Collaborative Interaction.” //Computers and Technical Communication: Pedagogical and Programmatic Perspectives//. Ed. Stuart Selber. London: Ablex, 1997. 171-200

Flores, Mary J. (Computer Conferencing: Composing a Feminist Community of Writers.” Computers and Community: Teaching Composition in the Twenty-First Century. Ed. Carolyn Handa. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1990. 106-1 7.

Haas, Christina. Writing Technology: Studies on the Materiality of Literacy. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1996.

Wahlstrom, Billie J. “Communication and Technology: Defining a Feminist Presence in Research and Practice.” Literacy //and Computers: The Complications of Teaching and Learning with Technology//. Ed. Cynthia L. Selfe and Susan Hilligoss. New York: MLA, 1994. 171-85.