This book chronicles the development of electronic literacies through the stories of individuals with varying
backgrounds and skills. Authors Cynthia L. Selfe and Gail E. Hawisher employ these stories to begin tracing technological
literacy as it has emerged over the last few decades within the United States. They selected 20 case studies from
the corpus of more than 350 people who participated in interviews or completed a technological literacy questionnaire
during six years of their study. The book is organized into seven chapters that follow the 20 participants in their
efforts to acquire varying degrees of technological literacy. Each chapter situates the participants" life-history
accounts in the cultural ecology of the time, tracing major political, economic, social, and educational events,
factors, and trends that may have influenced--and been influenced by--literacy practices and values. These literacy
histories are richly sown with information that can help those in composition and writing studies situate the processes
of acquiring the literacies of technology in specific cultural, material, educational, and familial contexts.
These case studies provide initial clues about combinations of factors that affect--and are affected by--technological
literacy acquisition and development. The first-hand accounts presented here offer, in abundant detail, everyday
literacy experiences that can help educators, parents, policymakers, and writing teachers respond to today"s students
in more informed ways.