1. “human agents both shape and are shaped by the cultural, educational, economic, and social
contexts they inhabit” (12)
Contexts: historic, social, economic, educational, familial, technological (for electronic literacy efforts)
“The many related factors that influence people’s adoption of computers as literacy tools and
environments” (31)
Education
Collge: Rob, Rhonda, Amanda,
High School: Massoumeh (cosemetology degree)
Didn’t Graduate: John, Joshua (working on ged)
Ethnicity/Culture:
All white/Caucasian besides
-Massoumeh Irani- Famale; Nationality: Iranian (Persian); Race: Middle Eastern (spent first 21 years
here)
-Joshua Smith- Mexican American; Race: Latino
Income Level
-All lower to upper middle class, except Joshua and Massoumeh (then; now upper-middle class)
Parents Influence
1st Contact (computers)
Work
Value
Typewriter

2. Access to literacy can be looked at and understood in many ways. Take writing for
example, as a literate practice that exists, functions, circulates, shifts, and has value “within
complexly articulated social, cultural, political, educational, religious, economic, familial,
ecological, political, artistic, affective, and technological webs” and it is a way to “understand
our selves and our identities and our abilities to work with others” (2 Wysocki). Tracing and
understanding electronic and literacy practices and values is important because they are
considered “constituent parts of life… that gives us a basis for understanding the interpenetration
between machines, humans, and the natural world” (7 Selfe). By interviewing 6 different people
within a similar age demographic group, we can point out and recognize some of these
similarities and differences of how people learn and value technological literacy.
The participants in the interview set studied here were born between the years 1954 and
1970 and all had different contexts within gaining and identifying with digital literacy.
Globalization can be considered a major context that all of these participants have been involved
in. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, an explosive growth of the computer industry occurred,
transforming the United States from a manufacturing society to an information one;
subsequently, a global expansion of the internet occurred in the 1990s, shaping the context of
technological literacy and growth within these personal lives. “Globalization has become an
umbrella term for what is taking place around the world in association with global integration of
economics, rapid media and information flow facilitated by new communication technologies…
and resultant cultural transformations challenging traditional social structures” (Review 214).
`The global and national military context of -Massoumeh Irani’s family life influenced
her literacy values and practices directly and indirectly. Irani lived in Iran for the first twenty-one
years of her life; She grew up with a mother, a father, and four sisters; “Two of my sisters were

3. older and two were younger” (Grouhi 1). For a family of seven, Irani mentions that she grew up
with low income. In Iran, she completed school through high school, where she learned to read
and write, but her father did not value this literacy at all. The religious context in Iran caused
education to be looked at differently; according to Massoumeh, “my dad was very religious, so
he didn’t believe in girls finishing school and going to college. My mom had to argue with him a
lot to let us finish high school” (3).
Massoumeh first came into contact with computers sometime in her thirties, about fifteen
years ago. She started to engage more with computers after her family, consisting of her husband
and son, bought a personal computer for their house. The main motivation factor for this
investment was for her son’s education. Massoumeh says, “my son was going to school, so we
thought it would be good for him to have a computer at home to do his work on. So that’s when
we started learning from him a little. I started to learn from him. This was in like 2001 or 2002”
(3). Massoumeh’s son became a major mentor for her and her access to digital literacy.
Growing up in Iran, access to computers seemed to be very difficult because of the
political and economic factors. Massoumeh mentions that schools there didn’t have computers,
except for special schools. These “special schools” she says were “for like gifted and talented
schools in math. You had to have money to buy them of course” (4). So, computers here were
accessible to people who had money; they were also associated with the more younger, academic
part of society.
The historical context of the society that Massoumeh grew up in seemed to lack the
emphasis of computers and technology because of the prevailing military conflict in Iran. She
says, “When the Revolution happened under Khomeini, it kind of slowed down any technology
spreading. Then, Iran went to war with Iraq, when I was in high school, and bomb drills took

4. more focus then getting computers into school, or anywhere really” (5). This historical and
political context affected the factors of Massoumeh’s cultural ecology and access to
technological literacy in a major way. In 1979, Khomeini was the spiritual and political leader of
the Iranian Revolution; he ruled for 10 years until his death in 1989. He had a widespread affect
on the Middle East that can be considered disadvantageous;
“Khomeini’s call for Islamic revolution all over the Middle East led to a war between
Iraq and Iran. Khomeini’s strict Shia Islamic law made women inferior beings, and
opposition to this law was greeted with harsh punishments ranging from imprisonment to
torture to execution. Khomeini planted the seeds for the Islamic jihad that are still
breeding war today” (hyperhistory).
This political conflict affected Massoumeh’s access to literacy and technology negatively
because of this society’s educational system, the biased outlook on gender, as well as the general
fear of war.
Currently, Massoumeh lives in Loveland, CO. Since moving to the United States, she has
earned a degree in Cosmetology, and uses the computer to help out with her business. She
considers her first purposes for using computers for email and games, using the computer about
once a week. She shared that, “I had a slight addiction to spider solitaire before bed. Most of my
computer time was spent that way” (4). She received her first Toshiba laptop as a gift from her
husband about two years ago. Now she uses her computer for bookkeeping, music, skyping with
family back home, facebook, and internet. She enjoys the internet for other things like google
searching, shopping, social media, and calendar apps.
Her son and husband were the mentors and motivators for Massoumeh’s learning to use
the computer in the home environment. If she needs help or tech support, she says she can call

5. her family or look for answers on google; she also owns an Android phone, which allows her
even more internet access.
Although Massoumeh doesn’t consider the computer and internet access to be vital or
necessary for her job, saying she could live without it by doing paper books, she still loves
learning more about the computer and how it makes life easier. “The thing is just having the time
to play with it. So I would say I’m no expert” (8). Even though she’s no expert, Massoumeh
knows how to work her literacy in technology by connecting online with her family, using it for
her work, creating calendars online, making her life easier.
She still has frustrations with her relationship with the computer because she considers it
as “something that’s not natural for me like it is for the younger people, I’m sure, that have
grown up with it since early school times” (8). Massoumeh’s relationship in gaining digital
literacy is unique because she didn’t have school nor work pushing her to learn this technology.
So, she decided to learn it for herself “because of they way that culture seemed to be going.
Everything is with computers, and if you can’t use them then you are on the outside” (9). Her
husband was also a big influence on her computer use; he grew up in the U.S. and had computer
involvement growing up, in college, and in his careers.
Joshua Smith’s story is different as he is originally from Mexico. He was born in La Paz,
Baja California, Mexico. He is in his forties, and lives in Fort Collins with three kids. As far as
his education, he says that in his country he studied until the third semester of high school, and
now he is taking English classes to pass the G.E.D. Growing up, his parents did not play much of
a role in gaining literacy, besides his father placing a high value on reading. Joshua says, “My
dad used to say then I should read in order to increase my knowledge” and “I think my dad only,
uh the thing he did was push me to read and bought me three encyclopedias” (Nicole).

6. Joshua learned to read and write in school when his parents sent him when he was six
years old. He remembers these early religious, private schooling years with strong negativity. His
teachers were “mean” and also very “strict.” Out of fear Joshua was motivated to do the best and
provoked him to “be better.” He compares himself and the other students to “soldiers” as they
were “terrified” of the teachers. Later Joshua changed to a public school where he was taught to
memorize vocabulary. He says, “the system was very difficult for me to. It’s very different right
now.” Instead of focusing on digital literacy, Joshua says the schools in Mexico are different as
“they focus more on you have to memorize things. And they, they cannot find how to use in the
schools the computers because they don’t have room.”
These schools Joshua grew up in had hard economic factors pushing against them. A lot
of the equipment needed for incorporating technology into the classroom is generally expensive.
Even homes having internet connection is expensive, causing many people the inability to access
general computer knowledge. In Joshua’s words, “So that’s the problem in Mexico. They don’t
have the resources… in order to… teach the little kids how to use the computers or how to use
the news, the new, um, technologies”
Joshua’s first images and contact with computers were connected with big companies,
making him want to study them at first, then he decided that they weren’t interesting and “not
going to have a future.” This was in Tijuana during the early 80’s.
Now, Joshua uses the computer for the internet and other software such as Microsoft
Word and Power Point. He uses Power Point for his business by creating images/letters as print
to put on clothing. He also uses the internet periodically. He learned how to use Gmail, an email
software, through his English class. He says, “They told me how to use the system, the Gmail.”
His main motivator for purchasing a laptop was to be able to connect to the internet and for

7. email. At first, he was really excited about the communication, but he started to become worried
about the issue of privacy. He says, “My life is not for all the people. It’s only for specific
persons people… I like to find friend when I in front of them because I feel more comfortable to
say somebody in front instead of to send em a message and blah blah blah you know?” He enjoys
having a personal, face-to-face, relationship with people better, which is understandable.
Joshua’s family uses, or doesn’t use, computers for other reasons. His kids use computers
only in school. He says his other family members don’t use these technologies. Growing up,
Joshua’s mother was a missionary, leading her religious beliefs to consider technology as the
“Devil.” His father simply encouraged Joshua to read as much as possible growing up. Now,
Joshua mentions how his children don’t like to read, but use the internet all the time for
entertainment, not “for something important.” He thinks it’s sad that his children don’t
appreciate books or reading, saying “I don’t know how to motivate him to read but they don’t
like.”
The images of technology and computers are different now for Joshua, personally, as he
has more knowledge about them. Now, computers are assimilated with business and success. He
started to use computers in the beginning of the nineties; this time in Mexico, Joshua says
computers were expensive for many people. He still has a “curiosity” at how computers can
create so many jobs making so much money.
John Faust, a middle aged Caucasian, became extremely literate in digital and computer
technologies without a complete high school or college education through hard work and self-
motivation. Born in 1965 in Denver, Colorado, John was raised by his mother and father almost
as an only child because his four siblings were “much older” and “already grown” during his
childhood. He started working when he was 14, and “always worked from then on.” Although

8. his work was persistent, he did not complete high school. Instead, “I immediately went into the
workforce… and… did all kind of vocational schoolings as far as work.” John didn’t recall very
much influence from his parents regarding their values of literacy; their role seemed to be
focused on the importance of school. He says, “They made sure I went out the door in the
morning to go to school,” which is where he learned to read and write.
John first came into contact with computers at his “first adult job” at a company called
Capital. He says, “That was the time when computers were first coming into the workplace.” He
“saw the writing on the wall that what the job and the vocation of what I was doing was
moving into the computer arena… so I took it upon myself to take classes, and to learn
how to use the computer, which was a Macintosh at the time, and used the first Beta
versions of the software of the graphic arts…so I was able to do that when they were first
coming out”
During this time, John was also starting a family, which was another motivation for him to
continue to gain digital literacy knowledge and experience. He decided to buy a personal, home
computer, saying “it was real expensive at the time, and it was, from what I remember one of the
very first personal computers you could buy.” He considered it a good investment as he
remembers this computer first being used for games and painting programs as learning tools for
his kids.
John was also able to gain technological skills through his work through specialists as
mentors. He remembers one of these specialists, saying, “I took it upon myself to befriend him,
and he started teaching me and I was able to go to his home and work on his computers as I was
learning. He actually gave me my first break.” Eventually, John became very skillful at digital
technologies; “when I owned my own business, at Diversity Graphics, and we used Macintoshes,

9. was an expert at computer… my nickname was the mac daddy, and I was very well versed with
the Macintosh.” He could pull them apart, put them back together, and troubleshoot any
problems, causing him to be highly relied upon at his business. Then, he moved into the
insurance business, causing him to convert to using a PC, and now “I no longer have the interest
to be an expert in that type of computer.” He thinks the Macintosh is a better design with much
less “issues” that a PC has, but thinks that “the PCis much more complex.”
Currently, John uses his personal computer for work purposes as well; “it is a Hewlett
Packard, a relatively powerful machine, hooked up to the internet.” Yet, he’s still frustrated with
the Windows based system, especially now because “people are moving back toward the
macintosh,” causing him to run into compatibility issues. Technology still makes his job easier
though because of email and web meetings, he can easier communicate with clients.
John’s disinterest in school and education, and focus on working and teaching himself,
ultimately led him to be highly literate with digital technologies. He says, “school wasn’t
important to me at the time, I had always worked hard, so I always had money… It was when I
actually started a family that it became more important to me, and that is what drove me to want
to succeed on the computer in that area.” Other than work related, John has other opinions and
uses for the computer and internet.
He thinks computers are beneficial for keeping up socially with other people through
email. He doesn’t use facebook or twitter, though, and mentions a dark side that computers have
regarding social media; “I actually think that that actually hurts people socially because it keeps
them in the basement or in the house when they should be out in the park… but that’s the same
with everything, there’s a good side and a bad side.” He thinks that the good things involve

10. speeding things up, helping children learn, and “helping people access things around the world
that we weren’t able to.”
Rob Davenport has similar demographics to John, as he is a 49 year old white male, and
is a business development director for a large insurance firm. A difference that these two do
have, though, is education; Rob went on to college and has a bachelor’s degree in Science and
Business Administration with an emphasis in Information Systems. Rob was born in 1963 in
Tampa, Florida. His parents were teachers, so Rob grew up in a family that highly valued
literacy.
Rob started college in 1981, where he first came into contact with computers. He says,
“Personal computers were starting to come about, there was a lot of the large industrial
computers and that’s what I learned on in college.” He was around 22 when he first bought his
own computer, and now, he uses his computer every day, “Multiple times a day. It’s basically
become the platform on which you know, business is done and personal productivity and
applications are done.” His motivation for learning computers in college was “graduating” and
“to make sure I had a degree in something that was relevant at the time.” In college, Rob had
access to computer labs, which contained a lot of support and basic computer classes.
Rob saw how much value came with digital technologies; when he started college, he
began as a geology major. He changed his major to information systems after he took his first
computer class and wanted to learn more about them. He knew he could get a job in that field. A
motivation he had for bringing the computer home was having this sort of access through what
he learned at work. Currently, he says he uses the internet “probably once every 3 minutes,” and
considers himself “a competent user.” By competent, he means that he can figure things out
himself as well as teach others how to use different software and applications.

11. Overall, Rob considers computer technologies as making things easier; “It makes
everything connected.” The main factor that influenced his digitial literacy, according to Rob,
was that he was at the “right age” at the “right time” in this industry, which caused the leading
factor in his relationship with computers. Yet, he also considers this relationship as “a necessary
evil,” saying, “Sometimes I long for the simpler days, but I don’t see anything changing anytime
soon.”