Literacy vs. Fluency

Computer literacy has traditionally meant proficiency with a few contemporary computer applications such as uwnetid, word processing and the like. Though such literacy instruction enables students to use computers immediately, it does not have the staying power needed to accommodate the rapid changes in Information Technology.

To use computers effectively over time, people must become lifelong learners, continually expanding their knowledge and upgrading their skills. The NRC report adopts the term "fluency" for this more fundamental understanding of IT. The term connotes the ability to synthesize, to express oneself creatively, and to manipulate the medium to achieve one’s goals.

Components of Fluency

The NRC report identifies three types of knowledge that are essential for fluency:

• Skills – competence with contemporary computer applications and tools; this component approximates traditional computer literacy. An example is learning to use a word processor, or transfer files across networks.
• Concepts – fundamental principles on which information technology is founded, including basic ideas related to computers, networks, etc. An example is the understanding of the digital representation of information, or how networks operate.
• Capabilities - the ability to apply information technology in complex and sustained situations, which encapsulate higher-level thinking in the context of information technology. An example is to engage in sustained reasoning.

The report lists the 10 top priority items of each type of knowledge. Notice the three types of knowledge are co-equal and interdependent.

Project Learning

Though skills have been successfully taught in conventional literacy courses, and concepts have been taught in standard computer science and information systems classes for years, the capabilities present an instructional challenge.

In order to teach the capabilities, to provide a context to learn the concepts, and to facilitate the acquisition of skills, Fluency With Information Technology is a project-based course. The main content is delivered through the formulation and implementation of sustained (ulti-week) projects using information technology.

—Larry Snyder