Technological Ecologies and Sustainability

From Glossa Technologia

DeVoss, Dànielle N., Heidi A. McKee, and Richard (Dickie) Selfe, eds. Technological Ecologies and Sustainability. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital P/Utah State UP, 2009. Computers and Composition Digital Press. Web. <http://ccdigitalpress.org/ebooks-and-projects/tes>.

This edited collection (incidentally, important because it marks the inaugural offering from the bits-and-bytes-only Computers & Composition Digital Press) takes a multifacted look into how to create durable, robust cultures of digital composing in academic environments, an especially urgent topic given that today almost all academic writing is produced to some degree using digital technology. As varied as the perspectives are on the subject matter--the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the classroom setting, writing programs, writing/research centers, and the larger scholarly and environmental concerns reaching outside of academia--the contributors to this collection do share common philosophical grounding. Specifically, the authors are of a mind that creating sustainable technological ecologies within academic institutions is more than a matter of material concerns (money, hardware and software, IT support, or facilities); they also argue that we work on building strong cultures of digital writing around those materials. This is accomplished through our approaches to teaching with technology, our scholarly discourse with colleagues (formal and informal) about technology, our attention to matters related to responsible recycling practices, and so on. Throughout the book, the case is made persuasively again and again using differently circumscribed contexts, exploring case studies ranging from the very local to the nearly global in scope, and demonstrating how vast, complicated, and interconnected such techno-ecological spaces often are. If you occupy any space in this complex equation--teacher, administrator, writing center director, scholar--this work is worth consulting, as it will help you to question the pragmatics, ethics, efficacy, and legitimacy of the work we do in digital writing environments. --b e n m c c o r k l e 16:06, 30 June 2009 (CDT)