I think a student needs to know how to trouble shoot the operating system
to be computer literate. It's not enough to say, "I don't know, but I can
try to find out." Nor is it enough to be able to operate an application.
When a person is literate, they can pick up a book, any book in their first
language, and read it. Should a person who is computer literate be able to
go to any computer and be able to operate its basic functions, ie. turn it
on, run a few programs, search and retrieve files, perform basic
troubleshooting if necessary?
Unfortunately, at our school, we are required to use At Ease to block
access to the finder. This might be saving a few headaches, but in the
long run students do not know how to use the operating system. They can
use MS Works, but that's about it. I don't know if I can call them
computer literate yet.
Brad
Brad Pearl
bpearl@airmail.net