Revised Piece 1

For my first revised piece, I chose to revise "My Own Piece" about literacy in the 21st Century:

To Be Literate in the 21^st Century

            In this day and age, it is pretty safe to say that technology is involved in just about everything we do. When “writing” a paper, no one actually writes a paper, they use a computer to type it and a printer to print it, or they send it via e-mail. Instead of reading an actual book, people own Kindles or other devices that enable them to read e-books. Even when people do read actual books, technology was used to produce those books. When one thinks of the term “literacy,” they usually think of the ability to read, write, or comprehend. However in today’s society it means so much more than just that. To be able to function or be literate in any sort of normal manner, one must be aware of and have some knowledge of how to use the many different types of technology available.

            First of all, understanding technology is essential to communicate effectively today. Rarely does anyone send an actual letter as a main form of communication anymore; in this day and age we are very much concerned with immediate responses and things happening quickly, and communication by letter, or “snail mail,” is not fast enough for a simple message that needs a quick response. It is simply much more efficient and timely to send a text message, email, or call someone’s cell phone. Therefore to be able to communicate effectively, one must be aware of and keep up with all of these different types of technology and how to use them.

            Literacy in technology is also necessary to simply function normally in society. Almost everything we have and use today runs off of technology; for instance, cars, phones, televisions, computers, and even things as simple as dishwashers or refrigerators. Honestly, if one does not have a basic knowledge of all of these it's hard to survive in our modern society. Cars are needed to get where you need to go quickly, television provides information about important events that are taking place in the world, and computer work and skills are required for almost every job. When you get down to the basics, it's really surprising to discover how much we rely on technology for everything.

             In conclusion, though it certainly is still necessary to be literate in the traditional sense of being able to read and write (we could not function in society without that skill either), it is just as important to be literate in the sense of understanding and being able to use most common types of technology. We need it to be able to communicate quickly and efficiently with each other, for one. And secondly we need it to be able to function in society and get work--whether it be an actual job, work around the house, or running errands--done at all. Technology truly is necessary in almost every aspect of our lives.