Chapter
6: Conclusion:
Striving Toward Multiliteracies
In this chapter, Warschauer's ethnographic studies are revisited in the
context of his own findings, as well as those of other researchers, resulting
in a thoughtful, strongly supported analysis of the three focal points
of his study: "the nature of electronic literacies, educational practices
and reform, and the relation of electronic literacies to (in)equality"
(156). Warschauer suggests that we adopt the New London Group's term "multiliteracies"
to reflect the plurality of print and electronic literacies and the multifaceted
challenges they pose in contemporary learning environments. The most thought-provoking
issues raised by the study involve the complex relationships between technologies,
pedagogies, institutions, and societies. While instructors tend to implement
technologies according to their philosophies and pedagogical styles, these
in turn reflect the surrounding institutional and sociocultural contexts.
At the same time, electronic media impose their own parameters, and pedagogies
that fail to take these into account tend to be unsuccessful in achieving
learning objectives: "When the special characteristics of the medium were
altogether ignored, the results seemed least beneficial, and the practice
was most strongly resisted by the students" (157). When we recall that
marginalized learners tend to experience less
progressive policies and pedagogies than their more privileged mainstream
colleagues, it follows that comprehensive and critical reforms may
be essential to achieving the egalitarian promise of the Information Age.
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