James Paul Gee and Carmen Luke’s work has an interesting take on discourses and technology. Gee mainly focuses on primary discourses and identity, which was a complex and confusing read for me. Dominant discourses such as money, goods, and status, are marginalized and stigmatized to the mind. Discourses are very subjective to me because some people experience more discourses than others, or secondary discourses. Secondary discourses, or two discourses interfering with each other, might be relevant to modern day life because of the many diverse cultures and languages we interact with. Luke’s main goal to me was to bring attention to how technology affects discourses and literacies. Many people, including me, are concerned about children’s engagement since media culture and technology. It is important to me that the text also points out that there are many ways that technologies have introduced new models of textual practice and immediacy. Technology has helped me in the classroom by creating new ways to explore data and aid engagement for visual learners like me. I understand technology has a direct impact on literacy, it is also important to recognize how it can help students with and without learning disabilities progress in the classroom. As Luke points out, “Fundamental principles of reading have not changed,” they just shifted the cognitive process. Both texts have strong opinions with textual evidence that supports their claims, however I found myself relating and understanding to Luke’s text more because of the technological component. I strongly relate to the concerns as well as the benefits of technology in the classroom and how it effects our ability to be literate.
Leave a Reply