25. Critical Literacy What is important is to make them [students] aware of the implications and ramifications of new literacies. The liberating and democratizing powers of current technology should not be taken for granted. Students have to go beyond developing a simple functional literacy in the new media and genres. They have to still adopt a critical literacy for expanding the possibilities of the new resources, appropriating the available media for their oppositional purposes, and democratizing the cyberworld for broader participation. ( Canagarajah, 2002:222-3)