Technological Literacy

In the article I read for class a few weeks ago, Carolyn Miller claimed technical communication instructors need to be more practical about the practical.  Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch seems to be doing exactly that.  Written in response to frustration over the lack of a practical pedagogical framework for teaching with computers, Breuch attempts to get a specific conversation started by identifying some guiding questions for scholars and teachers in the technical communications field.

Prompted by inquiries from industry partners ("How are students being prepared to work with technologies in the workplace?"  -- connection to Miller's attention to the relationship between industry & academy, and both sides' assumptions and expectations), Breuch lays out a framework that will not only help tech comm teachers have an easier time articulating their course learning outcomes, but also provide a starting point for making computer pedagogy more meaningful.


The three questions at the core of the proposed framework:

1 - How important is technological performance, or the ability to use the 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?


The answers to the core questions:

1 - It is very important, but what's more important is making sure students think critically about their use of the technologies.

2 - Understanding context is necessary.  Students should be made aware of context and "reflect critically about their experience of and with" the technologies that they are using.  (There is a "context" connection with the Selber/Johndon-Eilola/Selfe article - Breuch is emphasizing the need for students to  acknowledge and maintain an awareness of context, and S/J-E/S emphasize the need for tech comm instructors to acknowledge and maintain an awareness of context and social practices. If the teachers aren't doing it, they won't teach their students to do it).  ** Context analysis assignment **

3 - Reading, writing, and communicating have become almost dependent on technology.  Students should recognize the ways in which technology shapes their linguistic activities and practices.  ** Linguistic activities log **

Breuch calls for a "full integration of technological literacy" in tech comm classes so it can "serve as the basis for pedagological objectives" (492).  She believes we need direct our practices and scholarship toward more of a focus on pedagogy and the practical, and by doing so, we will be able to better equip our students for what they will encounter beyond the classroom, and we'll also be able to tell our industry partners (and everyone else -- administration? ourselves?) what it is that we do in technical communication classes.


What I'm wondering...
Do we teach technologies in 402?  And by teaching technologies, I mean do we actually teach students how to use specific software (Breuch mentions word processing, database management, desktop publishing, web authoring), or do we expect them to show up for class on the first day knowing how to use those programs?  If we do teach technologies, how much time is dedicated to doing so?  If we don't teach technologies, where do students learn them?  In ENGL 101?!  (I kid, I kid... but not really).