Amy’s Blog

Tough Choice? Electronic Literacy Challenges In Today’s Society

June 24, 2008

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=8494220

For most children who are raised in the millennial generation, their days consist of surfing the web, instant messaging, text messaging, listening to their i-pods, playing video games etc.  This lifestyle is not the norm for all children throughout our country.  E-Literacy challenges in the twenty first century are everywhere in our society.  One challenge is the abundance of technology and its consistent changes.  In this day in age, if individuals are not willing to learn and use technology for their own personal use or for work purposes, then it most likely will not be learned or used by the individual.  This will naturally create a gap between electronic literate and non-electronic literate individuals which will in time effect the work place, social interactions, and other communications where technology is the primary means for communicating.  Another technology challenge is the gap between home and school.  This challenge can be viewed by different angles.  Some school districts do not have the budget or technology to invest in current technology, therefore their students will not learn how to use the tools that are predominantly used in society.  In other scenarios, the challenge may be that the student has access to technology in school, but it is not reinforced in their home environments.  Either situation creates an e-literacy gap between home and school, and creates literacy challenges among students who face these challenges, especially when they are confronted with individuals who are e-literate within our society.     

Today’s headline on Yahoo News made me aware of another controversial issue among people and technology.  The headline today was Amish Teen’s Tough Choice”.  Preview the clip and tell me what you think.

Warschauer, Mark.  Laptops and Literacy.  Teachers College Press.  August 20th, 2006.

Amish Teens Touch Choice.  ABC News.   Yahoo.  Retrieved June 24th, 2008.

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