Words vs Graphics

"On of the ways people most lack control over their own lives is through lacking control over words." by Peter Elbow

The Visualization of English is unarguably needed on school campuses and in classrooms. Literature needs to catch up with the Sciences (Chem, Physics, Bio...) and Mathematics. Many academic institutions, primary, secondary and higher education, have long integrated the advances of technology and the digital world in their curricula and lesson plans. Whether it be in the laboratories, or with Softwares (Matlab, Online Math tutorials...), or text books in the forms of CD-roms or links, most students today from elementary to graduate school are very familiar (and comfortable) with consuming and producing work utilizing both words (theories) and graphics. Softwares like Powerpoint, Excel, Matlab...have become common knowledge in most primary and high-schools today.

But a graduate student majoring in Literature, Philosophy or Critical Analysis can't help but feel grossly inadequate and isolated (even illiterate) in today's world. His/Her knowledge is useless and antiquated when matched against job postings out there, unanimously asking for candidates to be proficient in Adobe, Excel, Powerpoint....

Something needs to be done. "Words don't simply talk to words but to images, links, horizontal lines..." Most English teachers and professors today are not equipped to teach the Visualization of English. So where does this education begin? Right now, it seems only available to a very small minority of academics (and some graphic designers, or software engineers) who were fortunate (or privileged) enough to have access to a program/school that offer digital literacy training. And some of them stumbled upon digital literacy looking for jobs that their MA in Literature couldn't seem to yield. What about the kids in Middle school, high-school and even colleges? Should they keep away from majors such as Literature, Philosophy, Political Science...until the Visualization of English is integrated in our school system?

My problem with this article is the "how". How do one become digitally literate without having to major in both graphic arts and literature? Now, highly educated professionals that are digitally challenged find themselves relegated to consumerism when it comes to the web. They feel voiceless simply because they don't have the tools and knowledge to create a virtual platform to disseminate their ideas. Do they go back to school? Or simply take lower paying jobs?