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1.1 What Is Digital Literacy?
Literacy is an important skill in our society because many of our activities depend on our ability to read and write. Literacy is invaluable; let’s take a moment to look closer at the activity of reading. Imagine picking up a book, scanning the chapters with your eyes, processing the concepts in your mind, and preserving the ideas in your memory. Life would be nearly impossible without this skill. However, we must also master other types of literacy in order to get the most from our lives. One example is digital literacy, which at its most basic level, means understanding how and why computers work, and knowing the best way to use them to accomplish our career and personal goals. Although both types of literacy are important, a further relationship exists between reading and computers. Everything you do when you read a book has a corresponding process in the world of computing. The way you interact with words on a page is similar to the way a computer processes data. Let’s investigate this similarity.
A book is really a storage device for letters, words, paragraphs, and chapters. Computers rely on many such devices, including hard drives or disk drives that store bits (a bit is a BInary digiT) of information. The marks in a book are called words, and the bits of information in a computer are called data. Your eyes are the path by which words travel to your brain; for computers, the process is called input. Inside your head is a brain, and inside a computer is a processor (the brain is infinitely more complex than even our more advanced computer processor). In the real world, you communicate by writing or speaking; in computer terminology, this is known as output. Just as your brain has memory from which you can recall certain aspects of your life, so, too does a computer have various types of memory where it stores all of its data. The preceding computer terms are familiar to us in our daily lives and are present each time we read a book, but they are also terms used to describe the functions of computers.
Our society is in the midst of a revolutionary transformation—from a literary society (where information is stored in books) to a digital one (where information is stored on computers). Being digitally literate means having the skills to search, understand, use, and share information on a computer (Rivoltella, 2008). Being digitally literate also means learning how to become a productive and ethical citizen in the information society and a member of the virtual communities that are blossoming every day.
Tablet PC showing connected online community.
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One aspect of digital literacy is knowing how to participate effectively and productively in virtual communities. What online communities are you a part of?
Everyone who is reading this book has experienced the necessity of computer and digital literacy. It is important to note that the terms computer literacy and digital literacy are sometimes used interchangeably. While these terms can have a similar meaning, computer literacy focuses more on the hardware. In contrast, digital literacy focuses more on mastering the entire environment of electronic information such as the Web, databases, applications, and searching.
In either sense, knowledge of computer or digital literacy is critical for professional and personal success in the 21st century. You need look only as far as the words you are reading right now on the screen. They are digital—not printed on traditional paper. You are also not in a physical classroom but in one that exists online. In this new world, we rarely take out a pen to write a letter; instead, we open our smartphone to text or log onto our computer to email. We also less frequently visit a physical library to search for information; instead, we search the Internet and electronic libraries online. The goal of this class is to help you become more computer and digitally literate, starting from your current level of experience with computing. Some of this material may include ideas you have learned in the past, and some of it will be new. But just as when you learned how to read, we will take this learning process one step at a time. So, let’s begin at the beginning.
A Brief History of Digital Literacy
If we are to start at the beginning, we must ask ourselves, “What does digital literacy mean?” Arthur Luehrmann was one of the first to popularize the term computer literacy in 1972 (Moursund, 2003). However, just like computers, the idea of digital literacy was also evolving at a rapid pace. In the 1980s, the term could mean simply possessing a working knowledge of computers, or something much more in-depth and broad such as understanding how computers work, how they are used, and the ways that they influence society (Robinson, 2009, p. 2). Today, the definition of digital literacy means someone with the mental and physical tools that enable them to effectively work and play in the digital environment. This requires knowledge of the opportunities and threats that exist online, as well as the possession of or access to the tools required to interact with digital information. These tools include desktop computers, smartphones, laptops, netbooks, and tablets.
Where Do We Go from Here?
In our book, we will help you to gain a working knowledge of computers and their impact on society; strive to fulfill the most modern and challenging definition of what it means to be digitally literate; and provide you with the basic tools to work independently with a computer so that you can accomplish important functions at school, work, and play.
We will encounter other fascinating ideas on our digital literacy journey. We will learn about the history of the computer, the differences between hardware and software, and some of the most important applications in use today (Word, Excel®, and PowerPoint®). We will describe some of the central skills necessary for using these applications, and learn about Facebook—the most popular social networking site on the Internet for communicating with friends and family.
We will identify the difference between a Twitter and a Tweet, why people are creating “Second Lives,” and how business networking on LinkedIn® can be an asset in the corporate world. We will also explore the inside of a computer to understand how it works, its theory of operation, basic components, and how programmers get it to do what they want it to do. We will learn how to use a computer to effectively search for information, solve problems in new ways, and then communicate and share our findings with others.
Other issues will encompass the darker side of computing, including concerns such as privacy, security, crime, spyware, and viruses. We will investigate emerging computer trends involving simulation, gaming, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. Our final destination will be the “Cloud,” and we will address how this is increasingly the location where personal user data and applications are stored. Although many of these terms may be unfamiliar to you now, we will begin exploring these and many other concepts slowly over the course of the next five weeks.
Woman wearing boxing gloves and punching laptop.
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When we are learning a new technology, it can sometimes feel like the technology is fighting us. Have you ever felt that a technology beat you? What happened? How did you solve the problem?
While we will examine many exciting elements of digital literacy in this book, we cannot touch on every important concept or application (such as business and enterprise software) that is significant in the world of computing. This book and this course will present you with the essential tools for growing and expanding your own computing expertise in the future.
While this is what it means to be digitally literate in the 21st century, a more humorous definition of digital literacy should also be considered. In Alan Cooper’s book, The Inmates are Running the Asylum, he wrote that the digitally literate user is actually the person who has sometimes learned the hard way about computers through frequent frustration. In this sense, he says that living digitally is like earning a Purple Heart—a badge that demonstrates battle wounds incurred while working on the front line of computing. Many of us know exactly what Cooper is talking about. We might have spent all night slaving over a document only to have the power go out or the computer crash, and watch helplessly as all of our hard work vaporizes into nothingness. These are the battle scars to which he is referring. But there is another way. With knowledge comes power, and with digital literacy comes the skills to avoid many uncomfortable situations. As Cooper concluded, digital literacy really means that “when your program loses your document, you have learned enough not to panic” (Cooper, 1999, p. 35). Join us on this journey into digital literacy and gain important knowledge and techniques that will help you live with a technology that has transformed all of our lives and promises to become even more integrated into our society in the future. Previous sectionNext section
1.2 Computers in Society
Why do we need to become digitally literate? One reason is that computers have very quickly come to play a central role in society. Prior to World War II, some experts predicted that the United States would never need more than four or five digital computers. Today, although it is impossible to determine the exact number, billions of computers are in use. More and more are produced each minute of the day, and computers are now being embedded in almost every electronic device. The automobile has several, including the GPS (global positioning system), a dashboard computer to control the digital gauges, an embedded computer in the DVD player, and a computer that runs the engine. As a result, a typical car now has more computers than many thought would exist in the entire United States. Today, very few (if any) professions exist that do not use computers.
Manchester Mark I Computer, circa 1949.
Science and Society/SuperStock
Considering the size of early computers, it is easy to see why people once thought that only a handful of them would be needed. How many computers are in your home? What would your daily life be like without them?
A long line of fantastic claims has surrounded the development of computer technology since World War II. While some of these predictions have come to pass and others have been off the mark, one thing is clear: computers are now connected with and embedded in society. The enthusiasm is based on the realization that computers can make our lives better.
Computers and Information
The attraction surrounding the computer throughout the 20th century was not confined to the technological development of robots, microcomputers, and the Internet. Rather, this optimism reflected a growing awareness of the potential for people to use these technologies to control, store, and manipulate information. From the robots of the 1940s that solved complex differential equations, to the Internet of the 21st century that serves as a storehouse of our collective memories, the promise of the computer has always been its potential to manage and manipulate information. Adding to this potential today is the ability to bring people throughout the planet together to share work, love, and intellectual interests. Some people have argued that the ability to store information on a computer (to the extent of transferring whole libraries) will be known as one of the most important developments of the 20th century (Forester, 1987, p. 1). We see the fruits of that work today in resources such as Google Books™ and Worldcat.org, as well as the Internet itself.
It is important to understand the distinction between computers and information. The computer is the boxlike device that is connected to components like a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. And it is also the tablet-shaped device you are holding in your hand and interfacing with by swiping your fingers over the surface. In either case, the information is the data that can be stored, processed, and output from the computer. We will discuss more about this later, but for now keep in mind that an important difference exists between the two, and yet they are interdependent. Digitizing information, which means turning books, music, and videos into a string of ones and zeros that computers can understand, would be useless without the corresponding advancements in computer technology. Likewise, the fastest computers in the world would have very little significance if they had no information to process. It is for this reason (as well as others) that computers and their information management capabilities are equally important for us to understand.
Where Are Computers Used?
Although it would be impossible to list all the places that people encounter computers today, a representative sample includes the following. Besides the standard desktop computer you can purchase at Best Buy® or Staples®, computers are also found in automobiles (as mentioned earlier), jet airplanes, grocery store cash registers, ATM machines, cell phones, cameras, PDAs, e-book readers, televisions, video games, toys—and the list goes on. Small computers are even found in the printers used to print words and images from computers! Computers come in many shapes and sizes such as large mainframes in rooms, desktop computers on your office table, laptops in your briefcase, tablets taking up part of a backpack, or a smartphone in your pocket.
Technology is Great
Music producers and artists including Moby and Robyn explain how the digital revolution has made recording music simpler and cheaper than ever before, allowing artists unprecedented freedom and creativity. Have you ever used computers to create any form of art?
Computers are used in the workplace for writing letters, compiling financial data in spreadsheets, tracking inventory, displaying and selling products on the Internet, and staying in contact with customers through email. Let’s look at some examples:
Robotic surgery simulator.
AP Photo/David Duprey
The Robotic Surgery Simulator (ROSS) employs 3-D virtual reality so surgeons can practice advanced techniques before operating on patients. In this simulation, a surgeon removes a mass from a virtual bladder using robotics.
Law enforcement uses computers to track criminals.
Scientists use computers to perform experimental simulations and map the human genome.
Medical students can practice the art of surgery on a virtual computer-generated patient instead of a living one or a cadaver.
Physicians use computers to create 3-D diagnostic images of the human body and to share patient data with other specialists throughout the world (Bowles, 2003).
Musicians use computers to record, mix, and produce their songs with software systems such as Pro Tools®.
Pilots usually take their first flying lessons on computer flight simulators, and aeronautics experts use computers to improve the efficiency of airplanes (Bowles, 2009).
Engineers use computers to send rockets into space and to design everyday objects (Bowles, 2006).
Librarians are no longer spending time sorting physical index cards because computers have transformed their profession into digital information management (Bowles, 1999a).
In this book, we will focus a great deal on the growth of mobile computing, such as smartphone and tablet devices. While these are also computers, by virtue of their mobility, they can do many things that a computer tied to your desktop cannot, such as suggest information to you based on your location.
At home, computers have also taken a central role. Computers are embedded in everything from televisions to clocks, and the home computer can help us balance checkbooks, pay bills online, shop online, and research more books and information than can be found in any single physical library on earth.
Technology Today: Strategies for Computer Shopping
It is almost impossible to live in the Information Age and not own a computer. But shopping for a computer can be daunting, particularly if you are not completely comfortable with technology. Luckily, some helpful online guides are available to assist you.
Consumer Reports is always a good place to start. It is an “expert, independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves.” They have over 5,000 reviews of all types of technologies, including computers. For their Computer Buying Guide, click here. For laptops, PC Magazine has a very good overview article on “How to Buy a Laptop.”
The Web site TechSpot also has a quality article entitled “Laptop Buying Guide.”
For those looking to purchase a tablet computer, Engadget has an excellent buyer’s guide, which can be found here.
Some important questions you should consider before buying a computer are:
How will I use my computer?
How much can I afford to spend on a computer?
Am I a desktop, laptop, or tablet person?
We recommend you use these questions as a starting point and seek other sources for more detailed information. For instance, the Web sites of most retailers that sell computers have applications that will guide you through the decision-making process by asking you to respond to many of the questions posed here. Your responses will lead to a list of computers from the retailer’s inventory that fit your needs.
If you are uncomfortable with that process, visit the store and tell the salesperson how you plan to use your computer and how much you can spend. In most cases, you will be directed to the system that is right for you.
Laptop computer wrapped with yellow crime scene tape.
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Computer threats, including malware, viruses, and crimes such as identity theft, are on the rise. Have you experienced a computer threat? What do you think could be done to better protect technology users?
Computer Threats
The story of the computer in society is not always a positive one. Computers (and people who use them maliciously) can threaten and jeopardize individual rights. The first concern is the right to privacy, which means keeping the information you create for yourself accessible only to you. Computers collect a vast amount of information on people all over the world. Data such as books checked out at the library, food purchased at the grocery store, clothing bought online, phone calls made and the duration, medical histories, and tax and educational records are all stored in a computer somewhere on this planet. While there are important laws that prevent access and dissemination of this information beyond the person for whom the data is intended, these securities can be compromised by hackers (people who break unlawfully into computer databases). It should be noted that while the news media often casts all hackers as engaging in malicious activities, originally the term had a positive connotation, which was the ability to find a new way of using technology to solve a problem. More correctly it is the cracker that engages in identity theft, by stealing your login information, name, Social Security number, and so on. Never weaken your own security by sharing your password with others.
One of the ways identity theft can occur is through phishing. This is an email sent to a user that appears to be from a bank or other legitimate business asking for an update for passwords and other login information. Take a look at the following Web site, which shows a sample phishing email. When you click on the “reveal clues” button, it will show you how to detect whether it is an email designed for malicious activity to compromise your security: http://www.pnl.gov/cogInformatics/showcase/simulation/phishing/phishing.html.
One common example is PayPal, which is an Internet site that works like a bank in which you can keep funds and make online purchases (Schneider, 2008, p. 534). The phishing scam tells users in an email that their account has been compromised and that the only way to protect their money is to log in via a link that is provided in the email and reset their password. In reality, the fraudulent email is from an identity thief (Rosenberg, 1992). The unsuspecting user types in the information and gives the criminal access to private data and banking accounts (Eck, 2000, p. 163). Visit the following link for some examples of actual phishing emails and a discussion of how you can determine if visitors are fake: http://www.credit.com/credit_information/id_theft/Phishing-Pharming-and-Other-Scams.jsp.
Explore the interaction to learn more about how to identify phishing scams.
Viruses, Worms, and Trojan Horses
Computers can often be at risk from a program called a virus. A virus is a series of computer instructions or code that can replicate itself and infect other computers. Ken Thompson, a computer scientist, was the first person to describe this phenomenon in 1984, when he explained how a program could be designed to replicate or reproduce itself within a computer network, spreading like a virus, without human authorization (Moravec, 1988, p. 132). A computer virus can be spread through corrupted emails or other files downloaded from the Internet.
A virus can be as benign as one that simply announces its presence, or as malevolent as one that erases all of the data stored on a hard drive. Antivirus and malware protection programs exist to help ward off these threats. The companies that create them, such as Norton™ and McAfee®, are constantly updating their virus definitions so that subscribers have the most up-to-date protection available against threats. There are also free options such as AVG’s antivirus software (http://free.avg.com). But despite all the best protection, some viruses can still get through. One of the best ways to defend yourself against a virus is to avoid risky behavior. Never open an email attachment from an unknown person or start a program that has been emailed with the extension “.com” or “.exe” unless you can verify by the sender that the program is not malicious. As a general rule, always be cautious about Internet downloads (Morley, 2008, p. 43).
If you thought a virus was bad, a computer worm has the potential to be even worse. For a virus to spread, it requires a user to consciously share it with another user. As an analogy, if you have a cold and you stay at home, isolated in your room, you will not infect anyone else. A computer virus is the same. However, a worm is a program that can unknowingly infect your computer’s memory and can duplicate itself and spread on its own. It takes advantage of how connected most computers are to the world, and spreads through email. Many worms are harmful and users design them with malevolent goals such as wiping out an organization’s computer system (Reynolds, 2012, p. 89).
A Trojan horse is another attack used along with viruses and worms. The term comes from a story in ancient Greek mythology about a beautiful wooden horse that was left outside the gates of Troy. The horse looked like a gift, but when the citizens of Troy brought it inside the city’s gates and opened it up, Greek soldiers jumped out and managed to capture the city. In computer terminology, a Trojan horse is a program that hides its true intent and looks like it is performing important functions. In reality, it is hiding a malicious intent, which is usually to allow someone to gain unauthorized access to a computer or network (Lehtinen, Gangemi, & Russell, 2006, p. 87).
How can an unsuspecting user become infected with one of these threats? One way is by illegally downloading music, video, or other programs. Known as pirated software, this often contains unknown risks. One way to learn more about these threats is the site b4usurf.org, which is the Business Software Alliance’s organization dedicated to establishing a legal and safe digital world. The site helps educators, parents, and the young learn about surfing dangers. On this topic, it points out that “The pirated software also may contain viruses and spyware which could crash computer networks because there will be no assurance of the quality or reliability of the software” (The Cost of Illegal Downloading and File-Sharing, n.d.).
A Complex Machine
To borrow the title from a book by David J. Eck, computers are The Most Complex Machine. The reason for this complexity is not merely how they are designed, built, and operated (Eck, 2000). Creating a robot that would be smarter than a human would not only be extremely complex, but also has yet to happen. A computer might be able to beat anyone on the planet in a game of chess, but that same computer might have no idea how to play tic-tac-toe. Computers are complex from a hardware and software perspective, and the way in which they have been integrated into our society is also complex. Computers bring positive change, information, and capabilities to those who increasingly rely on them at work and at home. This reliance can also become a threat, as those with malicious intent use computers to commit crimes against society. The computer is similar to fire in that they both have dual natures. Fire provides warmth on a cold night but also has the power to destroy property or kill people. Likewise, while the computer provides access to knowledge, it can also be used to steal our identities. The computer is, indeed, a most complex machine. The only way to prevent fire from burning you is to learn how to use and control it. This is also the goal of digital literacy. In the next section, we will look at some of the most important trends in computing tod
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1.3 The Social Impact of Computing
As technologies grow and evolve, they bring changes to society. This is what is meant by the phrase the “social impact of technology.” Take a look at the automobile and consider how it has shaped our roads, cities, and suburban living areas. The automobile has even changed courtship patterns and how we meet, mingle, and date. While courtship used to take place on the front porch of a woman’s house, automobiles have made dating a much more private and romantic affair than was possible during the 19th century (Bailey, 1988). But this does not mean that technology alone determines or controls our social existence. Instead, it is a reciprocal relationship. Individuals create new technology, and when people begin to use it, society itself can change. In this section, we will explore some of the more important social impacts of computing today and consider some of the ways in which computers are changing communication, collaboration, ethics, and how they are intricately connected to society.
Importantly, it is the evolution of mobile computing that has resulted in the greatest changes to our social lives. No longer are computers bound to the office desktop. The availability of cell phones and tablet computers with powerful processors and Internet access means that many people spend less time “off-line” than online. This means that there is a significant social impact to computing that is essential to understand. While people once used to wake up and read the morning newspaper, today, more and more people are turning on their smartphone or tablet computer to check the latest news, or see what their friends did the night before (or even that morning).
Communication
Woman working in home office, surrounded by technology.
Creatas/Thinkstock
Digital communications have made working from home the new routine for many employees who no longer require a daily commute to an office. What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of working remotely?
Computers enable us to communicate with each other in unprecedented ways. We all know how easy it is to stay in touch with our loved ones with cell phones. But this communication technology also connects us to people throughout the world, ending our isolation in even the most remote areas on earth. Katie Spotz, a daring 22-year-old endurance athlete, decided that she wanted to row a boat across the Atlantic Ocean to bring attention to the problem of a lack of clean drinking water in some parts of the world (to learn more, see http://www.rowforwater.com). While this 90-day journey found Spotz alone in the midst of a great ocean, her solar-powered batteries, satellite technology, and computer let her stay in constant contact with her family and friends on Facebook. Even a person floating in a tiny rowboat in the middle of the ocean is never truly alone if she has the power of computer-aided communication on her side.
Connections across vast distances are made possible through a combination of multiple technologies, including high-speed Internet, portable computers, GPS, cell phones, and video technology. Of course, these connections benefit far more people than those engaging in extreme events like rowing across an ocean. For example, computers and communication technology now allow virtual offices to exist anywhere in the world. People who were formerly tied to an office within a building owned by an employer can now work efficiently at home. While not every profession has this luxury (most physicians still need to see patients in person though even they can sometimes remotely diagnose disease through the use of computers), other jobs such as accounting, teaching, programming, or design can easily be performed remotely. In a book called The 60-Second Commute, authors Erica Orloff and Kathy Levinson (2003) argued that computer technology creates a new communications environment in which people can integrate home and work life in entirely new ways. There is no magical reason to start the workday at 8 a.m. anymore or end it at 5 p.m. Computers blend leisure and work time, enabling some professionals to measure their contributions not by time spent on the job site but by the quality and efficiency of the work they perform (Orloff & Levinson, 2003). Computers have created a communications revolution.
Collaboration
No matter where work is performed, computers create opportunities to collaborate in new and important ways. This collaboration can happen with people who work in the same office building or in various locations throughout the world. Computers, by means of a variety of important software and hardware tools, have created opportunities for people to share data and work together in ways that can significantly improve workplace performance. Some have suggested, “mass collaboration changes everything” (Tapscott, 2008). This might include sharing the creation and editing of a document, bringing people in different continents together in an online video conference, or giving users of software programs the power to change and improve the product themselves (more on this topic will be provided when we discuss open-source programs). The result is a new way to collaborate that would have been impossible without a computer serving as a vehicle for people to instantaneously share, edit, and comment upon ideas. One example of this collaboration is a Web site called Wikipedia (see Wikipedia.org). While it is like a traditional encyclopedia—it has descriptive entries on important topics from A to Z—it also uses the power of collaboration to go beyond what a traditional encyclopedia can provide. Massive numbers of users bring their unique experiences to the site to create and revise the content in ways that take advantage of mass collaboration. Some have described this phenomenon with the slogan, “We are smarter than me.” In other words, there is a power in crowds (or groups of people who share common interests) that can be focused and harnessed in fresh ways through computer technology. This new collaborative power can achieve something that would be impossible for individuals or small groups alone to accomplish (Libert & Spector, 2008).
Ethics
Power and ethics have always had a close relationship, and as the old saying goes, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This means that people have a responsibility to use their power wisely and ethically. The power created by computers is no different from any other type of power, as it also has a profound effect on ethics. The first person to explore this issue was James Moor, who wrote an article in 1985 titled “What Is Computer Ethics?” in which he suggested that computers provided society with new capabilities, and that computer ethics was the study of how to use these powers wisely and fairly both on a micro or personal level and at the macro level of society itself (Stamatellos, 2007).
Throughout this book, we will see examples of ethical dimensions of computer use, but a short list of ethical issues related to the emergence of computers in society is provided here. The collection of data about individuals raises concerns about the privacy of that data and the importance of ensuring that only authorized people know certain things about other people’s lives. Another issue is security and the possibility that thieves can steal your identity and use your credit cards and other assets for their ill-gotten gain. A third issue involves the reliability of data. Computer use cannot eliminate the possibility of human error. If a person enters the wrong information about you into a database, this inaccuracy might affect your medical records or credit history. A fourth issue is that of intellectual property. Digital information can easily be copied and reproduced. Because of this, significant ethical issues are involved in ensuring that the creators of a piece of intellectual property receive all the rewards and recognition due to them.
The Digital Divide
A final important ethical issue involves equality of access. As you will see in this book, while there are many positives associated with computers, there are also related problems. Another social consequence of computing is known as the digital divide. Though this is not a threat posed by computers, it is a related threat that results from groups of underprivileged people not having them. This term recognizes the fact that while some people have easy access to computers and all the benefits they provide, many others are cut off from them. The digital divide separates those who are information rich on one side from those who are poor, who live in an underdeveloped country, or who reside in a rural area with no Internet access. In 1990, 22% of all homes in the United States had a personal computer. This percentage increased to 63% by 2001, and in 2004, nearly 75% of all Americans had Internet access in their homes. While this is a high number, and growing daily (especially among multiple-computer households) there are still a significant number of people without computers or Internet access, and they are getting left behind in school and in the workplace (Baase, 2008, p. 372). Figure 1.1 provides more statistics regarding the digital divide in the United States.
Figure 1.1: The presence of the digital divide in the United StatesFactors
Infographic showing unequal access to technology resources. Factors such as age, income and educational attainment can influence an American adult’s access to the Internet. Those with disabilities are also less likely to use the Internet.
One way to measure the digital divide is known as the Digital Opportunity Index (DOI), which is a standard measurement tool based on information and communication technology indicators that helps measure and compare the digital divide of different countries (see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/doi/index.html).
Computers and the Internet represent a wealth of knowledge for those who have access to them. As another old saying goes, “Knowledge is power.” Therefore, it stands to reason that there are ethical issues at stake when using computers to transmit knowledge. It is vital to make sure that the world is not divided into a two-class society of “information-haves” and “information-have-nots.” In one important way, the effort to help people become digitally literate will ensure that this will not happen. Those who take part in the wonderful world of computing have an ethical responsibility to understand issues of right and wrong, fairness, access, and equality that exist in the digital world. By making wise and ethical decisions, we can help ensure that power does not corrupt and that knowledge is shared equally. Summary
In this chapter, our goal was to begin our explorations of digital literacy by introducing some entry-level concepts and exploring broad aspects of the significance of computers in society. You should now have an understanding of digital literacy and the relationship between computers and society. While everyone comes into this class with a different level of prior knowledge about computers, this chapter should have provided you with the beginnings of a foundation that will be built upon during the rest of the course. The chapter concluded with three important topics—communication, collaboration, and ethics— which are recurring themes in the chapters ah
