Is there a difference between being literate with the computer, the Internet, and newer technologies such as various MP3 players? The proliferation of communications mediums as a result of technology has inspired marketers and advertisers to replace courses such as "promotional strategies" and "principles of advertising" with updated concepts such as "integrated marketing communications" that consider the rapid growth of new media.
If a common definition can be found, then who determines the definition? Prospective employers or academia? Taking it another step, who determines the methods used to test this proficiency?
In Oklahoma, computer literacy is defined by the State Regents as demonstrating proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office software including Windows, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Some universities additionally require the database program Access. Testing is done via a computerized exam called SAM produced by Thompson Learning. I know from experience that there is a learning curve in becoming proficient in using SAM to take exams.
These are some of the issues that intrigue me when dealing with online and hybrid course delivery formats.
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Jones, Steve (2002). The Internet Goes to College: How Students Are Living in the Future with Today's Technology. Pew Internet and American Life Project, Washington, DC. Retrieved from website: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/28/22/3c.pdf
This article describes a broad-scale study completed in 2002 that asked college students about their academic and social use of the Internet. The point is clearly made that college students in the United States have grown up with digital information and find technology such as the Internet to be as ordinary in their lives as, say, the refrigerator. The findings in this study are generally consistent with the concepts discussed by Donald Tapscott in his 1999 book, “Growing Up Digital” that describes characteristics, values, and implications of a generation born into a digital world.
The study lists three primary findings:
- “college students are early adopters and heavy users of the Internet,
- college students say the Internet has enhanced their education,
- and college social life has been changed by the Internet.” (Jones, 2002, p. 1).
A seemingly logical but inaccurate assumption is often made, then, that college students who are Internet literate are also computer literate, and that the two areas of literacy are the same. But a look into how the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education define computer literacy and computer proficiency says otherwise.
I know from personal experience that my 18-year-old son who is a college freshman has set up an extensive instant messenger system on his desktop that links to friends’ cell phones for text messaging. He has edited skating video and mixed audio for customized CDs touting his and his friends’ skating abilities. He downloads music to his iPod. He also phoned last Sunday night for the third Sunday evening in a row (the deadline for weekly assignments is midnight on Sundays) for help in an English Composition course that he is taking online. Most of his frustrations stem from not being able to readily access clear directions for assignments and understanding how to send them to the instructor. He asks questions such as “what is rtf (rich text file)?”
Beginning in 1998, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education required degree-seeking students at Oklahoma state colleges and universities to demonstrate computer proficiency. They defined computer proficiency to be “the competent use of a variety of software and networking applications” that could be demonstrated by taking a high school or college course that met the requirement or by passing the school’s assessment for those courses (Oklahoma Higher Education, 1998).
As explained on the University of Oklahoma (OU.edu) and Rogers State University (RSU.edu) websites, for example, computer proficiency and computer literacy are defined as demonstrating proficiency in Microsoft Office applications Word, Excel, PowerPoint, (sometimes) Access, and basic networking skills (including user names and passwords and using an Internet browser (which are quickly covered in a session about Microsoft Windows when students learn how to access their student email account).
Computer literacy as defined by the Higher Regents is a graduation requirement for degrees at four-year Oklahoma colleges and universities. Therein lies the rub . . . and the danger.
Is there a difference in being computer literate and being Internet literate? Whose definition of literacy should be used and in what context? Which skills are needed for success and in what context? Do instructors assume that students who are Internet-literate also computer literate? Do students assume that because they may be Internet literate that they are also computer literate? Do instructors or students make that distinction before it becomes an issue? This will be the issue that I address in my research paper for this course.
References
- Jones, Steve (2002). The Internet Goes to College: How Students Are Living in the Future with Today's Technology. Pew Internet and American Life Project, Washington, DC. Retrieved from website: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/28/22/3c.pdf
- Oklahoma Higher Education (1998). “Policy Statement on Undergraduate Degree Requirements and Articulation.” Chapter 2, Section 5: Standards for Education, p. 102. Retrieved 1-30-06 from website: http://www.okhighered.org/policy-proced/Chapter%202/chpt2-section-5.pdf.
- Rogers State University (2006). Retrieved 1-30-06 from website: http://www.rsu.edu/academics/bulletins/bulletin.asp?Y=five&P=compSc
- Tapscott, Donald (1998). Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. McGraw-Hill, New York. University of Oklahoma (2006). Retrieved 1-30-06 from website: http://casweb.ou.edu/home/students/information/info_current_complit_qa.html#requirement
