Stop saying you’re computer literate!

by Lionel WIJESIRI

As I sit here typing away on my keyboard, I realize that I am as comfortable holding a computer mouse as I am holding a pen. That wasn’t always the case, though. As an Advanced Level student in 1960s taking my first private class in BASIC, I marvelled at some students who were effortlessly creating error-free and complex programs.

I did not reach that level of comfort around computers until very many years later, after being exposed to them a little in university and more in private classes. Computers have come a long way since I took that first class in BASIC and, I guess, so have I.

That is why I was shocked and disappointed to read a comment made by ICT Consultant that the IT literacy in Sri Lanka is between 15%-20%. He added ICTA is targeting to increase this number to 60 percent and the 1000 Nenasala (Knowledge Centre) Project is one example which aims to meet the infrastructure requirements to address the ICT needs of rural areas. The remark made me remember the study conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics 4 years ago to assess the computer literacy of household population of Sri Lanka. For this survey a person was considered as computer literate if the individual could do something on his/her own using a computer. For example, if a child of 5 years could play a game using a computer on his/her own, he/she was considered as computer literate.

The study found out that at national level, 10 percent of the population is computer literate. Western Province reported the highest computer literacy rate of 15.3 percent and the lowest percentage of 5 percent was reported from Uva and North Central provinces.

“How is that possible?” I asked myself. Hadn’t computers been a standard part of their education in the last two decades hadn’t they learned reading, writing, and computing?

Today, in most places of business, a computer is standard. In the bank they use computers to look up your account information. They use computers in the auto repair shop to assess your car. You can’t find books in the library by looking in a card catalog - you must use a computerized database. The point is this - no matter where you find employment, there is a good chance a computer will be a basic tool you will have to use. So there is no doubt that it is in anybody’s best interests to be “computer literate”. But the difficult point is that this statement leads up to a sixty-four thousand dollar question. Computer Literacy.

The trouble is that the word ``literacy’’ is a magic word, which conjures up a very strong metaphor. Literacy in its original sense, knowing how to read, really is universally required in our society. Any educator who suggested eliminating reading from the curriculum would be laughed at with contempt and derision. One practical result of the literacy metaphor is that many decisions about computer education in Sri Lanka have been made in a kind of panic. Parents call up the school authorities to ask why their children are not being trained for the vital computer job skill. Or, maybe, they would send their children into one of those computer “tuition classes.” These parents may not know just what that skill is, and neither does the school authority. But they do know that the International School down the road has computers.

In my opinion computer literacy means taking control of your computer and not letting it control you. You are computer literate when you feel you are telling the computer what to do and not the other way around. It’s not simply the knowledge what button to push, but it is the knowledge of identifying the difference between a word processor and a text editor, a spreadsheet and a database program, or a local disk drive and a networked file server.

You might say it’s foolish to argue about a word. ``Call it something else, then, and let’s get on with deciding what it should be.’’ This complaint misses the point, and indeed could be said to prove the point. People who have become accustomed to the ``literacy’’ idea find it very difficult even to entertain the question of whether there is any universally required computer experience.

Usage

It’s quite true that more and more jobs involve the use of computers. That’s different from saying that these jobs involve computer expertise. Let’s look at some examples.

A good example of a computer-using job is that of selling products at McDonald’s. Take for example the “Big Mac.” Internationally, the Big Mac is a hamburger consisting of two 45.4 grams beef patties, iceberg lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion and special McDonald’s “Mac” sauce served on a three part sesame seed bun.

That machine behind the counter which looks like a cash register is actually a computer terminal. When you order a Big Mac, instead of ringing up whatever the price is, the counter person pushes a button which says ``Big Mac.’’ The computer displays the price, but it also keeps track of how many of this item is sitting under the heat lamps. If they’re running short, the computer tells the cooks in the back to make more. The same computer can tell the Manager to order more Big Macs at the right time. It’s a sophisticated system, and helps make McDonald’s a low-overhead operation.

Now, what does the person behind the McDonald’s counter need to know about computers? He only needs to know that when you ask for a Big Mac, he should push the button which says ``Big Mac.’’ That’s it. Nothing about input unit, output unit, processor, and memory; nothing about programming either!Perhaps a more common example is that of computer word processing. The word processor involves a much more intimate interaction with the computer than selling Big Macs. Still, the manufacturers of word processing systems take pains to hide the computer, to make the way you operate the machine as much as possible like operating an ordinary typewriter.

What skills does a word processing operator need? For the most part, exactly the same skills a secretary needed before word processing: good spelling and punctuation, touch typing, being able to read the boss’s handwriting or take down correctly his dictation.

What the computer adds is mostly a matter of pushing the ``paragraph’’ button instead of the carriage return and the tab.

My point really is that there are too many different computer-related skills to teach all of them to every person. Using a spreadsheet program, for example, is very different from using a word processor. Using a microprocessor-controlled automobile engine tester is very different from either. Neither ``this is the return key’’ nor actual programming will help much with any of those job activities.

Our education system always had confusion about the role of IT education in social mobility. We never understood it right. Many people think that by learning to program computers one can get a good job.

The problem with this idea is that what works for a few people stops working when everyone does it. Many decades ago, hardly anyone had a University degree. Those who did have one could get the cream of the jobs. And now, with the arrival of the private colleges, thousands of students are graduating from foreign universities. They didn’t get the very best jobs because by now, you need a post-graduate degree for that—to get decent and fairly secure jobs.Similarly, the day of the Diploma from the computer school as the route to riches is already over. Today there are many openings for computer programmers, but the jobs go to people with Computer Science doctorates, preferably with experience. There is still room for the programming entrepreneur, but the people who succeed in that role are not the product of computer literacy courses. They are computer enthusiasts who do it because it’s fun, not because it’s well-paid.

Right Idea

If orthodox computer literacy is the wrong idea, what’s the right idea?

We should remember that computers are supposed to be a general-purpose tool. And, therefore, they may appeal to different people in different ways. One may like graphics and animation. Another may like electronic mail. Another may prefer video games. The architecture and scheduling of a computer education should encourage all these diverse uses.

The right idea is to make the computer available to everybody as a serious tool, in their lives right now, not as something they’ll need later. In the case of students, probably the most important example of this approach is word processing. They have to write many papers, for English teachers, science teachers, and so on. Word processing can make the mechanics of this task much easier, encouraging edited second drafts.For the common person, the computer can be valuable as a medium for developing problem-solving skills.

It can also be a medium for developing independence, for updating broader knowledge on any subject under the sun and, at the same time, to have a little fun. So, what’s in a name? Now you would see by now that it means a great deal, when the name brings in a strong hidden assumption about the sociology and economics of the job market!