|
Computers change literacy
|
Community Reading Program co-ordinator Martha Urquhart researches an article on the Internet. Such skills are difficult unless one has already learned to read, she said.
|
Theresa Seraphim
for Spotlight
When it comes to being able to read and write, computers have had a major effect on how people learn those skills, say two educators.
Slave Lake Community Reading Program co-ordinator Martha Urquhart and Frontier Centre for Public Policy research associate Michael Zwaagstra, who specializes in education policy, said the technology has effected a profound change in literacy.
“In this culture, a person who doesn’t know how to use a computer (will) have difficulty keeping up with the way society is evolving,” said Urquhart.
Zwaagstra agreed.
“(Knowing how to use a computer is) a particular type of literacy,” he said.
However, that doesn’t guarantee the person is fully able to read or write.
“It’s certainly possible to be computer literate and not literate,” said Zwaagstra.
For example, he said, someone already grounded in spelling wouldn’t have a major problem with texting, while someone who is weaker in spelling might take texting as the way to spell words.
However, said Urqu- hart, technological advances such as texting and emailing (words which, she said, were not in our lexicon until the last few years) do not necessarily mean the language is being dumbed down. Indeed, she said, such advances represent the latest stage in the evolution of language.
“Every generation has had its code,” she said.
“It’s like learning another language – they’re bilingual.”
Zwaagstra agreed that language changes and that’s not a cause for concern.
“The English language will survive,” he said.
While computer use may not denigrate the language, there is still the question of how much it should be in schools.
“There is a place for computers in schools,” said Zwaagstra.
However, he would rather see computer literacy delayed until the later grades, and mon- ey spent on items such as textbooks and books.
“Computers go out of date; reading and writing never go out of date.”
There is always time later on for computers, said Zwaagstra.
“There’s not time later on for reading and writing.”
Urquhart said people have to learn to read before they can read to learn, so unless a person learns to read, she/he will find it difficult to effectively use a computer for tasks such as writing an essay or doing research. This leads to difficulty in the workplace, where such skills are vital.
“If you can’t read, how are you going to be successful in school or life?” Zwaagstra asked, adding parents can help ensure reading skills by getting kids off the computer and reading books or playing outside.
Urquhart said workplace skills include such basic skills as being able to read calendars and day planners, but the effort involved is worth it. Studies show that a one per cent increase in essential skills, such as reading and writing, results in a 2.5 per cent increase in the Gross National Product.
“That’s a substantial increase by investing in this,” she noted.
Urquhart stressed literacy isn’t just about reading and writing.
“It never was just reading and writing but now (that’s) even more so.
"We’re at a point where we have to reconsider what is literacy, what is knowledge.”
< Previous
Home
Next >
|
