In his article, Baron argues that the current new technology of computers is parallel to the technology of the pencil at the time when it was new and exciting. Computers have totally changed the way that literacy happens, and they make literacy more accessible for some people and less so for others. Do you think computers and new technology will help increase overall literacy in the world or will they just make a greater divide between “highly literate” people and people with “low” literacy skills?
4 thoughts on “Effects of computers on literacy”
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I found this article, as well as this question very interesting because it begs the question of whether or not an implement can improve literacy skills, or provide a lack-there-of. It is my personal opinion that computers will create a smaller divides between those who are “highly literate” and those who have low literacy. Although owning a computer is expensive, there are many places in our community who have them for free. At the University of Pittsburgh, while one may not own a computer there are 24/7 labs where one can get on a computer to type or be online. However, I do not believe it is a computer, which correlates to literacy skill, but rather the amount of practice and lessons one receives. A young child who owns a laptop, but is never taught English, will not know how to write an essay. While a computer is a great tool for word processing, I do not believe it is something which can improve one’s literacy skills but rather further the practice of literacy.
I agree with lgend that there are many places where people who do not own computers are able to borrow or use them and many public schools have started to give computers to their students to use. I don’t think that having a computer puts someone behind on literacy necessarily but I think that your socioeconomic status can affect your literacy with computers. I feel like schools from wealthier areas are able to offer classes on coding, Photoshop, or even just computers in general and less wealthy areas might not be able to offer these classes. I think that there is a definitely a large gap of literacy in the way that people are able to use computers as tools based off of socioeconomic status but also just interest in the topic.
I’m of a little different mindset. I think that the effect on the gap of literacy because of the computer is two fold. On one side I do think that it is possible for a computer to improve ones literacy. Think of a language learning like Rosetta Stone. This is a program that helps improve’s ones literacy and it is accomplished entirely through the medium of the computer. I would argue that programs like this could shrink the gap between high and low literates.
On the other hand though, with the invention of the computer has come many new forms of literacy based around the computer. What I’m referring to and what Professor Vee discussed in her article is coding as literacy. In my opinion coding is a form of literacy and by this definition there are many “languages” of code. Some of the languages are similar in build but each has their own nuances which make them unique and difficult to master. This introduction of all these new forms of literacy , in my opinion, effectively widen the literacy gap.
While I think the computer can narrow the gap in standard literacy, it has the opposite effect when talking about more specialized literacies.
I think that computer technology is here to stay, obviously enough, and I do tend to believe that computers will potentially end up transforming our literacy capabilities in ways we may not have envisioned as possible prior to the invention of the computer. Even with coding as literacy factored in I don’t think this will hurt people who are already literate because it will just make people literate in “different” ways, but it wouldn’t make someone who codes more literate than someone who does not. So, if you view this proliferation of computers in everyday life as “increasing overall literacy” then I think that the prognosis is generally pretty good. However, it remains to be seen whether increasing segments of the population will have ACCESS to computers to begin with, and that is where the potential problem lies, in my opinion. So for me, it’s not so much an issue of whether computers are good/bad for literacy itself, I think they will only help in that regard, but its whether or not computers will be AVAILABLE to everyone and therefore everyone will have access to this new and improved literacy and this remains to be seen.