“Some have made quite remarkable use of this new literacy. Even though Generation X often gets bashed for its political apathy, many students have used their digital literacy to engage social and political issues.”
I chose these two lines to be the two that I wanted to respond to because they are the base of my thoughts on the mood of Faigley’s address. I agree that the general mood of this piece was sadness. Faigley seems incredibly sad about the state of the literacy not just in our classrooms but in our society. In class, coming to the agreement that Faigley was saddened by the state of literacy (especially that of multimedia literacy) but I had a slightly different feeling about why he was sad about it. Most of our class seemed to think that he was sadden by what we were gaining access to with the invention of the world wide web, and it easy to understand why it is that this could be the case. The question that came up in class is really valid, what is it we are really getting access to? I however, think it was something different that was making Faigley sad. I think he was sad because if what we are using this amazing tool for. He points out how powerful the world wide web can be in engaging people in civic issues and political arenas, but all too often we chose to use the web for escapism and entertainment over education and activism.
I agree that the internet can be a powerful tool if used correctly. Its not the exact same thing but its similar to television. It can be used to learn but now it has become a device of leisure instead of a potent weapon.
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