658 Week 4 – Blog 1

Cynthia Selfe, in her essay Students Who Teach Us (2004), asserts that in this quickly changing and paradigm shifting world, teachers need to be humble enough at times to allow our students to teach us about the new and exciting uses of technology. Selfe supports this thesis through her example of a student, David Damon, who although smart and talented with computer technology, lacks in regards to transferring his talent to traditional Standard English. Selfe’s intention is to argue that even though a student may lack proficiency with Standard English skills, we (teachers) need to shift and open our perspective in order to be more open and aware to talents that students possess which do not fall into traditional paradigms. Selfe creates a relationship with her audience of graduate students and scholars who are interested in the possibilities and challenges of bringing new media into their classrooms.