" but I don't follow why one would think that access to computers and the Internet would by itself result in increased basic literacy. "
No more or less than one would think that reading books and writing papers with a Bic word processor would improve basic literacy. Require that you subscribe to the theory that people learn by doing. Mike ************************* Michael F. Pitsch [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 10:14 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] NAAL points to serious,ongoing adult basic skills problem in U.S. Steve, Forgive me if all this has been discussed on DDN before, and if so please just point me to the archived messages. If not, however, could you give some background on the argument that narrowing the digital divide would increase adult literacy. Who made this argument? When? As someone who has followed adult literacy and technology for the last decade, somehow I have managed to miss it. I don't think narrowing the digital divide in itself will necessarily improve adult literacy in the U.S. or anywhere. Adult literacy -- literally adults who cannot read well working to improve their basic reading skills -- will increase if more adults are effectively taught to read. There may be some methods which use computers (and the Internet) which may be useful in this process, but I don't follow why one would think that access to computers and the Internet would by itself result in increased basic literacy. With access to a computer and the Internet those who were already literate could improve their reading comprehension and fluency by reading more and more challenging materials. But that might happen with access to a library or bookstore, too. David J. Rosen [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Dec 29, 2005, at 12:56 PM, Dr. Steve Eskow wrote: > Andrew and all, > > Perhaps the point I am hoping to get discussed is obscured somewhat > when the issue becomes whether David Rosen or I reads the NAAL > correctly.. > > We are concerned here with narrowing or eliminating the digital > divide. > > Between 1993 and 2003 the digital divide in the US was narrowed > dramatically. Many millions, billions, spent on hardware and software, > in homes and schools and offices. A vast literature published on the > transformations in education that computers will accomplish. > > The results to date of all this money, all this experimentation, all > this hope? > > All who want to look at the results unblinkingly need to reckon with > this > conclusion: > > After ten such digital-divide-narrowing years, the ability of students > to read prose and documents has dropped slightly for all levels of > education. > > Or depending on how you read the numbers, or want to read the numbers > searching for hope, literacy has remain unchanged. > > Either way, there is no basis here for arguing that the spread of the > new communication technologies has accomplished that transformation. > > An honest appraisal of the results to date is badly needed, and new > directions uncovered if the promise of the new technologies is > genuine. > > Steve Eskow > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
