Procedural literacy
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This page will explain what procedural literacy or computer literacy is and what role it has or has not in today's (and tomorrow's) educational technologies. Author: sugarch0
Introduction
Beyond the questions about a New Millenium Learner (NML), digital natives (see also natifs numériques), a digital divide (see also Fractures numériques) and educational technology in the web 2.0 era is a questionning about changes in our educational culture and its social implications. What should be part of a basic, common knowledge base in the 21st century? Should there be an alternative approach to the knowledge society in times where knowledge is available from many different sources(Pedró,NML conference)? What skills should be acquired?
In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly declared an "international literacy year" and started a 10 year program to reduce illiteracy (Bawden 2001). This has raised the interest and awareness on the meaning of literacy in an information-rich society.
More precisely, what kind of literacy is needed in a culture where information technology - and technology itself - is ubiquitous?
First interesting views were found in the article "Procedural litearcy: educating the new media Practitioner" by Michael Mateas who calls for procedural literacy as being part of the general culture a new media practitioner should have. Several other authors (Sheil 1983 and 1993, Proulx 2002) join the idea and propose that procedural literacy should be part of the basic culture of any digital device and/or web 2.0 user if he is to be truly literate in the present time, stating that his education is not complete without an “understanding of the interplay between the culturally embedded practices of human meaning-making and technically mediated processes”(Mateas 2005).
History
The term "procedural literacy" is one of the latest expression of a long series of definitions of literacy that include information-, computer-, media- or digital literacy (Badwen 2001). Although the expression "procedural literacy" is recent, calls for a true literacy of computation have been made already in the sixties, at the very beginning of computer development (Mateas). Papert's work on the programming game logo (Papert 1980) is only one of many educational programs and research projects that still develop today and that are intended to transmit a general understanding of the programming language. This language should be treated as “a universal representational medium for describing structure and process” (Mateas 2005). This call is echoed for example in France where in the eighties there was a discussion around "numeric alphabetization" (Proulx 2002). Finding a realistic model with defined educational objectives is the central question for teaching computer literacy. These issues are discussed from the eighties on and are the subject of an agenda of cognitive science research (Sheil 1983 and 1993). The development of internet gives these consideration a new dimension and again has driven discussions on how to teach general computer or procedural literacy.
Definitions
Literacy
Literacy is the condition of being able to read and write, being learned, having a commpetence in or with something (Bawden 2001). Thus, literacy means being able to receive, sort, understand, and transmit information and it is closely linked to eductation as well as to the skills and competencies for a successfull social life in a particular culture.
Defining literacy as opposed to illiteracy often carries the concept that illiteracy can be "cured" and that literacy can be measured accurately. But the concept of literacy is a relative concept since it is progressive ans has a close relation with a particular culture.(Bawden 2001).
Literacy was born with the first sumeric alphabet, it has followed the development of languages, of hieroglyphs, of books, and it has spread together with printed media to a greater part of our society. In the web 2.0 age, literacy has many names: Media literacy, digital-, network-, IT- or computer literacy. There seem to be a consensus among most researchers that 'information literacy' is a more general expression that encompasses different competencies linked to searching, finding, evaluating and transmit information. Using digital devices is part of these competencies as well as understanding how the information is processed, being able to find and sort information and at a higher level of literacy, snthetise and reuse it.
Thus, literacy has to do with a person's role and competencies in his culture an society. Today this implies the ability to search and find the right information (wherever it is), to collaborate but also "having a competence" with technology in general ond information technologies in particular.
Procedural literacy
Procedural literacy means going beyond "black box programs" and programming languages themselves to develop an understanding that “the space of computation is bigger than the particular view of it embodied (enforced) by any particular programming model”(Mateas 2005). Being literate in computation or acquiring procedural literacy means an awareness of the constraints of specific tools (or programming languages) and being capable of considering a larger space of computational possibilities.
Web 2.0 and procedural literacy
Selwyn: use of computers by digital natives is varied and often unspectaculer. Not necessarely better technological knowledge/user knowledge.[digital divide] Proulx: link with open source communities could open the minds for prooceedural literacy.
Educational issues
Issues: What to teach for procedural literacy, how to teach it? Should the computer be used as a cognitive tool to acquire procedural literacy?(proulx)
Examples
games as the vehicle for transmitting computer literacy as well as span the culture divide humanistic - artistic and scientific-technical and for learning procedural literacy (mateas 2005)
Bibliography
Badwen, D.: Information and Digital Literacies: a Review of Concepts. Journal of Documentation, vol. 57, No2, pp 218-259, March 2001
Mateas, M. : Procedural Literacy: Educating the New Media Practitioner. On the Horizon, Vol. 13, No1, 2005
Papert, S.: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas, Mindstorm, New York: Basic Books, 1980.
Prensky, M.: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, On the Horizon, MCB University Press, Vol. 9, No5, October 2001
Proulx, S.: Trajectoires d'usages des technologies de communication: les formes d'appropriation d'une culture numérique comme enjeu d'une socuété du savoir, ANN. Télécommun., 57, No3-4, 2002.
Sheil, B.A. : Teaching procedural literacy, Presentaion abstract, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 1983.
Sheil, B.A. : Coping with complexity, information technology and people, Vol.1, Iss.4, pp295-320, 1993.
Webography
Buck Institute for Education: 21st century skills
The new millenium learners: a project in progress Pedró, OECD/CERI 2009