Eng. 658 - Week 5 Blog 1

In her essay “Toward New Media Texts” (2004), Cynthia Self contends that in order not to “run the risk of making composition studies increasingly irrelevant to students engaging in contemporary practices of communication” (72), contemporary instructors raised and trained on alphabetic texts must embrace and be open to the advantageous possibilities brought about by new media. Self develops her ideas through a fervent argument that shows the benefits of bringing technology into the classroom, markedly so through visual assignments designed for even the most novice of instructors (new to media) to administer. Selfe’s purpose is clearly to educate instructors on the inherent benefits of introducing technology into the classroom in order for us not to lose touch with students raised on and with technology. Selfe creates an informal relationship with her audience of scholars, college, high school, and elementary teachers who are concerned about how to incorporate new media into the classroom.

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.