Fluency of Information Technology

Literacy and Computer Literacy: Analyzing the NRC's Being Fluent with Information Technology, has possibly the most information to discuss out of any 20 pages I have ever read.

It begins by clarifying the NRC piece, and what fluency with information technology (IT fluency) means:

Fluency with information technology, the report concludes, requires three types of knowledge: contemporary skills, foundational concepts, and intellectual capabilities.

It further goes on to explain what the components are, but then allows for the continuation of defining IT fluency.

I thought of the eleven theses, the first seven were the most important:

1. Literacy is a technical skill.
2. Literacy is conceptual.
3. Literacy is historical.
4. Literacy is social.
5. Literacy is intertwined with power.
6. There is a literacy divide between school and home.
7. Bridging different literacies is desirable.

According to the NRC, skill means:

The ability to use certain hardware and software to accomplish tasks.

While there were more than one definition of literacy given, I feel that the following is the most accurate:

"a particular capacity and mode of behavior: the ability to understand and employ printed information in daily activities, at home, at work and in the community--to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential."

This would break down even further to say that literacy is, the capacity to demonstrate the ability to use a given medium to achieve goals in any setting. This is the definition that I have defined through the two definitions and the first thesis. It was stated that, “"Fluency with information technology requires three types of knowledge: contemporary skills, foundational concepts, and intellectual capabilities." This isn't what exactly is trying to be defined; IT fluency is trying to be defined not only as a definition, but as the sum of a series of steps taken to become "literate" with information technology. As one continues on through the theses the definition of fluency IT is developed, through the definitions of Literacy and the applied concepts of each thesis.

One could write another paper on how these theses argue. The time required for that is so far beyond what is manageable right now, that it will have to wait.