• Introduction
• Social Literacies
• Influences of the Web
• Notes and References
• Printable Text of Article

© Copyright 2000 by Virginia Montecino (montecin@gmu.edu). The right to make additional exact copies, including this notice, for personal and classroom use, is hereby granted. All other forms of distribution and copying require permission of the author.

Introduction

Gail Hawisher and Cynthia Selfe. (1999). Global Literacies and the World Wide Web. New York: Routledge.

Global Literacies and the World-Wide Web, edited by Hawisher and Selfe, explores how the Web influences the literacy practices of people in various countries and cultures and what various cultures bring to reading and writing the Web. The text also examines whether or not the WWW spreads democratic principles and creates a global market which can cater to consumer needs and desires.

Anyone in the field of computer-mediated-communication for teaching and learning knows the names of Hawisher and Selfe. Early works include Critical Perspectives on Computers and Composition Instruction (1989) and Evolving Perspectives on Computers and Composition Studies (1991). Between them they have published numerous articles and textbooks, and have presented at many conferences on the educational, cultural, and social issues surrounding literacy and technology.

The collection has three parts: "Literacy, culture, and difference on the Web;" and "Literacy, diversity, and identity on the Web;" "Literacy, conflict, and hybridity on the Web," with ten pieces in all, each with bibliographic citations.

Each piece in this collection is co-authored; one author for each piece was either born in or lives in a country other than the United States. The countries the authors investigate are Hungary, Greece, Australia, Palau, Norway, Japan, Scotland, Mexico, Cuba, South Africa and the United States. The offerings range from a look at post-revolutionary Cuba, to a comparison of Japanese and American uses of the Internet, to a look at Hip-Hop online by Americans and South Africans.

Next Section: "Social Literacies"