Information and Communications Technology Literacy – Getting serious about IT

The growing use of information and communications technologies in commerce and industry is once again encouraging debate and questioning of the development of students’ skills and knowledge in this domain. Whereas in the past, the debate has centred on school education, questions about ICT literacy are now being raised in the context of post-compulsory education. Post-compulsory education sits ahead of employment and ICT literacy in the population and workforce is seen as an important component of a nation’s competitiveness and advancement. This paper explores the concept ICT literacy in the light of new technologies and suggests factors that are currently seen to limit and impede its attainment. Introduction In the early days of computers in schools, a common rationale for the investment in hardware and software was the notion of computer awareness. This concept was premised on the view that schools had a responsibility to introduce students to this emerging technology and to prepare them for the fact that one day computers might have a role to play in their daily living. As time went on, and the impact of computers in society grew, the notion of computer awareness evolved to computer literacy, not only knowing about computers but being able to use them. Throughout the 1980s the relevant literature abounds with descriptions and comment on both the rationale for such programs and evaluations of their success (eg. McCormick, 1992). In the past ten years, computer technologies have diffused into many aspects of everyday life and in recent years this diffusion has been accelerated and exaggerated by the convergence of computer and communication technologies. The place of computer technologies in schools has evolved from objects of study or specialist applications to tools for teaching, learning and administration. Computer literacy disappeared from main gaze and focus of attention as the stand alone computer lost its novelty. But today, the concept is regaining attention as the new technologies once again gain novelty and public attention through the next phase of their development. This renewed interest appears to be fuelled by Internet and communication technologies, which are causing yet another revolution their use and growing influence of life and society. The renewed interest in computer literacy appears to be driven not only by those in education and industry but also by governments looking to maintain or to upgrade their world competitiveness through leadership in an activity set to dominate the trade and corporate world in the new millennium. Whether it is the place of schools to expose students to computers and information technology (IT) for vocational purposes, or simply for personal needs, remains a much argued point. It is clear that many in government perceive the development of IT skills in schools as an economic and vocational imperative. This view is not shared by all and we are frequently reminded that the role of education is: “Not so much to closely align to the ephemeral demands of industry but to equip students with the more fundamental, expansive skills of being able to critique and reflect on the changes taking place in their society” (Watkins, 1986, p. 85) The concept of computer literacy appears now to have moved beyond schools to the post-compulsory education institutions that prepare graduates for employment. The purpose of this paper is to explore this renewed interest in computer literacy and to establish the growing implications for the post-compulsory education sector. Defining Computer Literacy There have been many studies over the past two decades into both the concept and attainment of computer literacy. These have focussed on many different aspects of the perception of computer literacy. Much effort has been put into defining set of skills, which adequately describe a computer literate person. Other efforts have focussed on devising assessment tools to measure levels of these skills, a difficult task in such a multi-faceted and complex area. Further studies have compared computer literacy levels and attitudes towards computers with different groups of people, based on gender, ethnicity or socio-economic factors. Through the 1980s, computer literacy tended to be considered a grab-bag of different skills and attributes. A widely accepted definition of computer literacy is that of Simonson, Maurer, Montag-Torardi & Whitaker (1987) who define computer literacy as: “An understanding of computer characteristics, capabilities and applications, as well as an ability to implement this knowledge in the skilful and productive use of computer applications suitable to the individual roles in society. (p. 232)” In this definition, the knowledge and skills of a computer literate person were divided into four components comprising computer attitudes, computer applications, computer systems and computer programming. While this is now a dated definition and classification, it has been used and modified in subsequent studies (e.g. Smith & Necessary , 1996) and the concepts broadened to be independent of a given time frame. The essential elements of this form of definition still hold currency today. The Evolution to ICT Literacy The rapid developments in communications technologies which have occurred over the past ten years has seen a broadening in the range of skills that are considered to be imperative to the constantly evolving notion of computer literacy. We now see a spectrum of differing expressions and terms which relate to computer literacy. For example, information technology literacy, Net literacy, digital literacy or on-line literacy (eg. Gilster, 1997). Overwhelmingly however more recent references in the literature still often use computer literacy as an appropriate keyword for reference listings. Definitions of computer literacy have varied in their breadth over time and with the rapid changes in technology are evolving accordingly. Where once “basic” computer literacy was narrowly defined and could be used to easily differentiate students that were deficient. Such students could be directed to specific “context free” courses to build their computer literacy. Over the past decade, the notion of “basic” is too obscure when considering the myriad of potential contextually driven applications of computers in contemporary society. Increasingly there appear to be diverse cohorts of students, each with different bundles of computer skills, knowledge and attitudes. Students could be considered literate in one setting but illiterate in another. For example, many school leavers have the ability to confidently browse and use the WWW but may have little or no file management or word processing skills. Similarly, there are a large number of mature aged students who have had no prior computer experience. The move toward the broader term of information and communication technology (ICT) literacy has at its roots the need to involve the acquiring and advantageous use of information through the use of technology. Use of a range of communication tools such as the Internet, e-mail and the World Wide Web (WWW) for the location of information and dissemination are now considered to be components of ICT literacy and yet not necessarily that of computer literacy. In addition, many of the skills, which had previously been associated with those that an individual would need to have acquired in order to be considered computer literate, are now commonly seen to be components of the more encompassing term of ICT literacy. Many authors describe the place of computer literacy as a component of a more encompassing list of ICT skills (eg. Eisenburg & Johnson, 1996; Shapiro & Hughes, 1996; Bruce; 1998).