Suchergebnisse

This article is a response to the article by Kevin Robins and Frank Webster entitled "Computer Literacy: The Employment Myths." Our critique of their work is based on three central points. First, we believe that computer literacy is a straw man for Robins and Webster. Their real concern is over the profound changes in British education, including the elimination of tenure for university faculty. Second, we contend that they employ a very limited definition of computer literacy and base their observations on the "start up" period of computer literacy instruction. Finally, we argue that education policy should be directed toward increasing computer literacy instruction in order to insure economic equity. Keywords: computer literacy, computer-assisted instruction, tool software, computers and equity, curriculum, computers in Britain.

This paper provides a commentary on Robins and Webster's article "Computer Literacy: The Employment Myths" within the broader context of critiques of computer literacy. The author argues that the various critics of computer literacy are participants in wider disputes over pedagogical method, the purposes of education, and the role of education in a class society. In some ways computer literacy provides a pretext for these more general controversies, and the particular merits and problems of educational computing frequently become submerged under these wider debates. The author concludes that many of Robins and Webster's points are overdrawn, and that computer literacy is neither as useless nor as dangerous as they imply. Keywords: computers, employment, education, cognition.

This article contends that enthusiasm for "computer literacy" programs in education is misplaced. Focusing on recent expenence in Britain, it argues that computer literacy courses are indefensible in terms of vocational needs, skill requirements, social mobility opportunities, access to power, and the needs of employers. It charges that concern for hands-on computer instruction actually disguises the most important features of the "information society." Keywords: computer literacy, education, employment, skills, power, social mobility.

This article concerns the curriculum of computer literacy (CL). A strong sense of technical necessity informs the design of the CL curriculum, and as a result, instruction is inadequate at best and dehumanizing at worst. CL curriculum and instruction are informed by a sense of technical determinism and a particular form of masculinity. This article draws mainly from the sociology of education, supplemented by personal observation. The article has two implications. First, to reduce the failure and frustration that many feel as they attempt to become computer literate, greater attention ought to be given in CL curriculum design to the concept of learning as enculturation and to cognitive context. Second, to counter the sense of necessity that leads designers and others to ignore culture and context, the formal CL curriculum must give serious attention to the social construction of educational technology/technique, especially the in fluence of gender.

Reports an innovative approach to developing computer literacy among visually impaired students that was presented in two four-week workshops in computer programming for visually impaired students, held at Baruch College, New York. The experiences of the workshops are analyzed, and guidelines for the training of visually impaired people in computer related fields by educational and business institutions are discussed.

ICT-based education can be used as a driver to initiate economic growth and societal development in the knowledge based society. 'Computer literacy' is recognised as a key competence to manage the challenges of this technique driven society. Therefore the European Union gathers information about the framework and the use of computers and the Internet in the schools of their member states - also by using results of school assessment studies like PISA or PIRLS. This article shows that there are different patterns of computer equipment and use in the European Union which depend to some extent on the basic structures of the educational systems. It will be demonstrated that nations with sustainable reforms in the last decades to decentralised structures are more 'modern' than others in terms of computer equipment and use. The article enlightens also the differences between the three terms 'computer literacy', 'digital literacy' and 'media competence' and their 'mixed use' in political but also academic discussion. In summary it will be stated that the discussion about 'computer literacy' misses a clear conceptualisation and sustainable empirical investigation methods. (DIPF/Orig.)