Emergent Literacies: Raising Questions about the Place of Computer Technologies in Education and Society in a Developing Country: The Case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

77iis article discusses the meaning of literacy in a technologically changing world. The rapidly expanding use of computer technologies in society has prompted calls for the re-orientation of education and training curricula. TJiis article critically examines what it means to be literate in the computer age and assesses the feasibility of setting 'computer literacy' as an educational goal. Throughout the discussion, the term 'computer literacy' appears in quotes to make the point that its meaning is both contentious and fluid. It is contended that Zimbabwean policy makers have tended to presume the value of computers, without critically examining how the technologies relate to education and society. The Origins of Computing Technologies Computer technologies emerged from the information and analytic requirements of advanced industrial societies during and after the Second World War. Computers were the perfect answer to the increasing demand for enhanced data processing capabilities. According to Berman, Wartime national mobilization, the Cold War, the rapid post-1945 expansion of the welfare state, and the growth of more interventionist state policies of economic planning and management in 'mixed' economies all led to the rapid growth of the state bureaucracies, civil and military, and an increasing burden of 'number crunching' tabulations. The first electronic computer was commissioned in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania. It was called the ENIAC (Electronic Integrator and Automatic Computer), and it filled a room the size of a small two-bedroom house. ENIAC's memory was tiny and could only hold twenty 10-digit numbers. By 1960, developments in microelectronics, and in particular the B. J. Berman, 1992, 'The state, computers, and African development: The information non-revolution', in S. Grant Lewis & J. Samoff eds, Microcomputers in African Development: Critical Perspectives, Westview: Boulder, & Co.: 218.