[NLA] It's a small world --

[Susan Hayden]

there is one good scenario for the persons not owning computers and that is the local public library.  open to all and committed to research and learning the nation's public libraries not only provide computers and online access, but also teach information literacy.  another reason to support your local public library!
peace,
susan hayden
literacy consultant
west virginia library commission
charleston, wv

LitNetJose at aol.com wrote:

> Subject: Scuttling tech opportunities for working class, rural communities and children
>
> This is sad.  When I began my work in literacy in 1985, my partners and I thought we were fighting a hard enough battle just helping adults improve their basic literacy skills...while trying not to be too distracted by the other challenges the learners were having in their family and work lives.
>
> Then the technology hit.  It hit hard, creating another level of functioning and another area in which "having things" was an issue.  Teaching technology skills and creating access to technology became a great, unfair, additional challenge...on top of basic skills acquisition.
>
> I had to borrow money to buy my first computer. I even changed my "spill", adding "keyboarding" as a ingredient, along side the other skills--reading, writing, math, critical thinking--which make up "literacy".  We not only have to deal with the challenge of the digital divide, but also the challenge of the "content chasm"...in essence, cyberspace content that is not user-friendly for those we serve.  The playing field is not level.
>
> I have heard on many occasions, that we cannot depend on the government for help.  The help is sometimes there and sometimes not...and sometimes it looks like it's there, then vanishes.  Many of us have learned the wisdom of assumed independence, dealing with our issues on a neighborhood/community level.
>
> Now, after having sold the nation and the world on the importance and need of technology and, really, asking people to invest,  the message we are receiving is that it is not as important for the working class, the children, and people in rural areas to read, write, communicate, do business, stay up on homework demands, work demands, and more.
>
> I recently had the opportunity to read editorials submitted by young students for an annual writing contest.  More than one child complained that their teacher assumed they had a computer at home or Internet access.  I applaud the young people who manage anyway, or at least try.  I would be pretty upset.  In fact, I am.
>
> The investment and belief in technology is not working in favor of those with the least.  The rug is being pulled out from under us.  The gap we fear widened today.
>
> Why does this sound so familiar?
>
> Really, I don't mind pushing the big rock up the mountain...as long as I am not alone...and I know that I am not.  It would just be nice if the percentage of the grade and height of the mountain would stablize, like real mountains!
>
> Where there are challenges, there are also opportunities for working together and strategizing towards solutions.  So here we are.  The rock has slid down quite a few feet this time.  It is nice having the partnerships and communication we have here to assist us in making up lost ground.  Thank goodness for the NLA.  Or as Frodo says in the "Fellowship of the Ring", "I'm glad you're here, Sam Wise."
>
> Jose Cruz
> National Alliance of Urban Literacy Coalitions
> California Literacy
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