Dylan Langei's response to "Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution"

In Cynthia Selfe’s “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution” her central claim can be seen that positive changes that are associated with technology often distract educators from recognizing how existing social forces try to resist change in connection with technology and how our culture, and the social formations that make up this culture reacts when educators support the status quo when technology threatens to disrupt the world in a meaningful way, even as we praise the changes is promises to bring.

One of Cynthia’s most important claims are when she explains that in the profession of English studies, the teachers hope that computers will create students to become “more productive in the classroom and other instructional settings, more effective as communicators, and more responsibly involved as literate citizens in world affairs.” This claims explains that in the English profession, teachers depend on computers to advance the knowledge of students which directly connects to her central claim that positive changes that are associated with technology often distracts educators from the fact that social forces try to resist change. Another important claim that Selfe leaves the reader is that “because our culture subscribes to several powerful narratives that link technological progress closely with social progress, it is easy for us-for Americans, in particular-to believe that technological change leads to productive social change.” Once again Selfe explains that we are blinded by technology strictly for the fact that our society believes we are exploiting social progress so well and so fast, that we don’t realize when technology threatens to disrupt the world.

I definitely agree with Cynthia Selfe’s central claim that technology often distracts educators because it sheds light on both her other important claims that our society is lead to believe that technological change leads to productive social change and in the profession of English instructors hope computers will better of their students. Technology can be a wall between teachers and students; they believe that technology automatically creates students to become more productive, more effective as communicators, and more involved in world affairs so this ultimately could cause instructors to overlook certain aspects of teaching because they just believe the students have advanced technology so teaching thoroughly is not required. This of course is not in every case, but is a possibility with such dependence on technology. This is not the instructors fault at all but mainly societies because our society is so wrapped around technology that we believe “technological change leads to productive social change.” We ultimately believe that everything that comes out of technology is positive, educationally and socially. This could cause teachers to overlook certain aspects of their subject when teaching because they might assume, oh my students can just look up this main point on Google or a word they don’t understand on Dictionary.com so in depth teaching could be thrown out. This of course shows that this technological revolution can have some very severe negatives socially and in the educational world.