WebJunction

Computer literacy remains ... and will likely always remain ... a huge issue, depending upon how "literacy" is defined.

Computers today require a great deal of interactivity. You have to *do* something if they are to be used. But what if they become "intelligent" enough to be rather like TVs? What if you could just turn it on and, perhaps, talk to it or ask it questions?

Then, you wouldn't need today's type of literacy (the how-to type) but, rather, a fundamental understanding of your own needs. Most of us, perhaps nearly all of us, have a superficial understanding. We can get by in a day-to-day sense, in a routine sense.

We'd be able to ask the computer such questions as "What's the best route to work? Are there any birthdays I need to remember this week? or What can I put in the recycling bin?"

We won't, however, be able to ask questions such as "Who should I vote for? How do we solve the Israeli/Arab conflicts? or What's the answer to the energy crisis?"

These latter questions require the "human inquiry literacy" of the reference librarian rather than the "technical literacy" which is how computer literacy is defined today ... and will likely continue to be defined for at least the next 20 years. (Maybe less if the intelligence resides in one cloud rather than a billion PCs.)

What can make computer literacy all the more difficult to achieve is the technological breakthroughs we are currently experiencing. According to Moore's law, there is a technological breakthrough every two years or 18 months. It could even be much less than that. Even if someone takes a computer literacy course, there are increasing possibilities that the skills obtained may not be up to date with today's standards, especially in this economy. A sure-fire way people can get a job today is if they have certified experience and claiming to have taken a computer literacy course does not hold much merit. It is important that everyone obtains computer literacy as early as possible in their lives, just like reading, writing, and arithmetic, but there will always be factors beyond the controls of an educational curriculum.

Excellent question!

In my view, one way to think about this is to compare "computer culture" to "car culture."

When I grew up back in the day of dinosaurs, many boys (and many girls) were *expected* to know how their cars actually worked. I learned to tune-up my own car, installing new plugs and adjusting the points. As cars grew more reliable this type of knowledge was less and less useful ... it became enough merely to drive the car. Only a few -- geekish? -- amateurs feel a need to go under the hood today except due to economic necessity.

When I "grew up" with computers I learned to navigate with in a DOS environment, pre-Windows. I've never been particularly expert in this, but also understand that today's kids are used to desktops and wysiwyg interfaces. They don't need to see the guts, as it were.

This is a good thing in many ways, but I think something has been lost as well as gained. This is the sense that the computer (or car) is a tool as well as an environment.

Of course, I'm online a great deal and interact with what feels to be very much an environment ... but it is still a tool to accomplish specific tasks.

Young people, I think, are frequently familiar with the environment but not the "tool-like" aesthetic that says you can *do* things with the computer. The environment holds Google, Facebook, and a few other well-known components ... but the idea that one can manipulate or drill-down may be quite foreign. It requires looking at the computer as a tool. This may not come naturally to those who grow up with it as an "environment."

Hard to say, I suppose. My 14 year old son is a geek. He re-assembled my old Windows machine when I got a new one when he was in third grade ... just toted it up to his room and reassembled it. He's installed Ubuntu and now has (I think!) three operating Macs and two PCs ... does he really need to know all of this?

I dunno, but it's fascinating to see him dig into an older computer and replace drives or download and load a new OS. He "gets it."

His 18 year old brother, however, is *not* a geek and we bought him a Mac laptop for college, the reason being that much less can go wrong with it ... and if there is a problem there's a nearby Apple store that can handle it. That said, he's perfectly adept at using it.

Once he knows what he's supposed to be doing with it.

The issue may not actually be "computer knowledge," but rather "computer aesthetics" and "tool use." Aesthetics are hard to teach since the require re-aligning a value system. They can, however, be demonstrated.

Working at inner city libraries, I met many people who had never used a mouse, opened a program, or typed a website address. It was eye-opening. I had assumed most people had gained basic skills at work, if not at home. Not the case. The need for basic computer and other tech literacy skills is great. In the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN) we organized a Technology Literacy Collaborative (TLC). TLC meets every other month, giving staff of local community tech centers (CTCs) the opportunity to share ideas and resources. About 25-30 people attend meetings. CTC staff report that demand for services exceeds staff, income is a big factor in skill level and access, knowing someone who knows how to use a computer is another factor in skill level. I'll share the TLC website when it becomes available.

In the meantime, here are two of my favorite sites for patron training resources, including lesson plans and materials for teaching classes on basic computer skills.

Public Training at HCL (Hennepin County Library (MN) Extranet)

Lesson Plans [for Computer Classes] (Hibbing Public Library, MN)

Mary Ann Van Cura
MN State Library Services

Of course everyone should have knowledge in computer even the basic one, coz nowadays computers had become one major part of the society... Even elders, or young ones should learn something and be able to apply it ..





Roemer Industries]