Globalization, At-Risk Students, and the Reconceptualization of Technological Literacy

Abstract

The problem of technology has, since 1970, been radically altered by the global spread of market economies and networked computers. As a result, the notion of technological literacy education that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s must be re-constructed. After reviewing the impact of globalization and the spread of communications networks on the world occupational structure, and the consequent new risks borne by low-tier routine and informal workers, I offer a revision of the concept of technological literacy education that assigns important new roles to non-governmental organizations serving low-tier workers, and that places the hands-on use of networked computers at its core.