Becoming Literate in the Information Age: Cultural Ecologies and the Literacies of Technology

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the literacy narratives of coauthors Melissa Pearson and Brittney Moraski, who came to computers almost a generation apart. Our goal is to demonstrate the importance of situating literacies of technology-and literacies more generally-within specific cultural, material, educational, and familial contexts that influence, and are influenced by, their acquisition and development. The increasing presence of personal computers in homes, workplaces, communities, and schools over the past twenty-five years has brought about dramatic changes in the ways people create and respond to information. In the United States, for example, the ability to read, compose, and communicate in computer environments--called variously technological, digital, or electronic literacy'-has acquired increased importance not only as a basic job skill2 but also, every bit as significant, as an essential component of literate activity.3 Today, if students cannot write to the screen-if they cannot design, author, analyze, and interpret material on the Web and in other digital environmentsthey may be incapable of functioning effectively as literate citizens in a growing number of social spheres. The ability to write well-and to write well with