CI 5461

Cynthia Selfe’s article “Toward New Media Texts: Taking Up the Challenges of Visual Literacy,” sheds light to the fact that many educators might not feel comfortable working with new media texts especially when they were taught via text book only. This article reminded me of an experience that I came in contact with at Crosswinds Middle School. I was shocked to see the wide range of resources available to them. One device that captured my attention was that personal typing notebook. Students could type an entire essay, plug the device to a laptop and print it in the classroom. Furthermore, they were laptops available to the students, as long as the teachers signed for it. This was shocking and sad at the same time. Perhaps if I inform you of my experience, then we can be on the same page. I attended a high school that was said to be the 3rd best in the city, but our teachers barely introduced new literacies in our classroom. The closest technology was a broken down projector. Thus, I never knew how to type a paper until the end of my junior year when I took a computer class (this is all due to the limited resources available to the urban public schools). When Selfe states that teachers are not comfortable with the new media texts, I feel as if she is directly speaking to me. Because of my experience, I do not feel as if I have the knowledge to introduce new literacies/media texts in my class. But I will certainly try and learn from my experience (maybe I will start with visual literacy); however, this will be out of my comfort zone.