"Box Logic" Geoffrey Sirc

Box-logic by Geoffrey Sirc outlines the effect technology has on us and the limitations and freedom surrounding technology. “...Do we teach college or life?” (113) stood out to me and was one of the central topics surrounding Sirc’s claim. Sirc makes a good argument about the effect technology has on learning structures and encourages teachers to understand the new intricacies concerning social media. Sirc encourages teachers to teach more about life and less about scholarly work. Sirc believes that if students are prepared and well equipped with life teachings and life rules, that is by far more rewarding and beneficial than learning scholarly jargon. I believe a good mix of both is relevant for all students. There are classes that could be geared towards thinking more about life than others and it depends on the teacher’s ability to expand and determine what is within the realm of teaching and reason.

Sirc also encourages teachers to teach in a manner that will prepare students for the “...long strange trip,” (113). Sirc wants teachers to avoid rigid guidelines and encourages them to facilitate their students’ learning, teaching, and presenting in new ways. This prepares students for the real world in a way that rigid guidelines do not. Students learn about acceptance, rejection, and the ability to withstand criticism and stand by their ideas to become more marketable and employable.

Sirc wants students to be more creative and less restrained by rigid rules and ideas set before them that serves no purpose apart from stunting their abilities. Sirc states, “The Green Box is emblematic of how I want to use technology in my writing courses: as allowing students an easy entré into composition, a compelling medium and genre with which to re-arrange textual materials—both original and appropriated—in order to have those materials speak the student’s own voice and concerns, allowing them to come up with something obscure, perhaps, yet promising illumination,” (115). The fact that he practices these ideas allows teachers to be hopeful that they can also implement these ideas and forms of thinking in their classrooms.

Sirc suggests that boxes enable students to interact and evolve with the information and things they are given in order to use their own choice and ideas. He states, “The box theorists provide a way to think about composition as an interactive amalgam, mixing video, graphic, and audio with the verbal; a medium in which students can both achieve their desires as well as publish passionate writing on their social reality vis-`a-vis the larger culture,” (146). Being given a choice is a wonderful thing because it further equips them with the ability to trust their decision-making process.

Sirc encourages teachers to be ever-evolving. Because of the major changes taking on at that time pertaining to technology, Sirc wanted everyone to move away from conventional ideas and begin to change in a way where it is beneficial to life outside of education. His argument is that although teachers can choose to keep things the same, it is important that they don’t because the world they are sending their students into and the status of the job market is not going to be the same.