HOW COMPUTER LITERATE DO PEOPLE NEED TO BE?

Not too long ago, a computer company ran a series of television commercials in which a personnel interviewer is reviewing a resume composed mainly of achievements in video arcades. After looking it over for a moment, the interviewer addresses the young applicant: “You destroyed one billion aliens from the planet Mongol. You know a lot about computer games. So tell me, what do you know about computers?” The applicant’s face goes blank.What do you know about computers?’‘ may well become business question of the future, and that has caused a lot of interest in the subject of computer literate," has become a kind of  battle cry among many business, government, and education leaders. This is easier said than done, since there is confusion as to exactly what the term computer literacy really means.It has become so overused that ii you were to ask 10 people what they thought it meant you would probably hear10 different answers. The simple fact is that this is no universally accepted understanding of what constitutes computer literacy.Some definitions of computer literacy include:

Spreadsheets—if you can do a spreadsheet you’re literate enough for us

Programming in at least one language, and possibly more being able to turn a system on and do something with it. Having enough knowledge to apply the technology to a job or to solving a problem. To know how to use whatever software you are given Simply being aware of the technology, and understanding how it might be of value to you Knowing the jargon and how it all fits together. According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, “literate” means “able to read and write.” Applying this to computers would mean being able to program. When schools talk about making our children computer literate, this is largely what they have in mind. A recent radio commercial also used the job interview format. The recruiter asked what languages the applicant knew. “French, Spanish, and a little German,” came the response. “What?” the recruiter exclaims, “No COBOL, Fortran, or BASIC?” The emphasis of that advertisement and others like it is that we had all better learn programming if we want to be literate and employable. Do we really want to become a nation of computer programmers, though? Judging from the diversity of opinion as to what constitutes computer literacy, and the limited range of jobs people are performing on personal computers, it will probably not be essential for most people to learn a programming language. This will probably become more evident as software programs become easier to learn and use. Still, many people harbor a fear of competition or obsolescence at the hands of a younger, more computer-literate generation. As they see commercials showing toddlers sitting on their parents’ laps while working on a personal computer, and computer curriculums becoming a part of the educational process from kindergarten through graduate school, many working people are starting to wonder how much they should be learning. How much someone needs to know, will probably depend on what kind of work they do, the availability of software to do it, and their own interest in learning about computers. For most people who have (or will gain) access to personal computers, however, that need will stop short of learning how to program. People also need to understand that they aren’t really competing with those who are still in school. Personal computers are just as new to education as they are to everyone else, and while students are getting a jump on things, many of them are years away from the workplace. Much of what students are learning won’t he readily transferable to their future jobs, either. Once employed, they will have to learn how to work the business applications and wait in line for a personal computer the same as everyone else. As companies invest more of their resources in personal computer technology, they will demand that programs be simplified to accommodate even the least educated of their workers. With the economic force of volume purchasing power behind them, companies will no doubt lead the way towards more user friendly programs. This in turn limits what people will have to learn, and ensures a steady stream of work for programmers.Perhaps the best thing that could be done would be to purge the term computer literacy and substitute a more realistic description that takes into account what people really need to know, such as the following stages of development:

 

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WHO OWNS THE TECHNOLOGY?

As noted earlier, data processing has a large vested interest in personal computer technology. The arrival of these machines means that computers themselves no longer belong exclusively to the data processing fraternity. Where the control of computing power was once centralized and managed within specific boundaries, it is now available to just about anybody.

It is not unusual to find large companies purchasing hundreds, if not thousands, of personal computers. This places computing power in the hands ol each person who has access to one. This not only extends the power of one system, as when people are given terminals that provide limited access to the central computer, but provides the potential for hundreds and thousands separate systems. Many of these systems may have the capacity to communicate with each other directly, or by networking through small computer systems established within departments, or through direct access to the mainframe computer. The arrival of all these systems also means that data processing has lost the battle to keep them out of most organizations. Having failed in that mission, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that data processing departments are ready to throw in the towel and make personal computers an integral part of ongoing operations. As we have already seen, personal computers pose some very real problems that many data processing departments aren’t prepared to address. Add to that the fear of losing a power base, and you have .what amounts to a minimum commitment in more than just a few organizations. In 1985, for example, studies of data processing budgets conducted by the Data Processing Management Association showed that while. 40 percent of expenditures went for salaries, 24 percent for large systems hardware, and 14 percent for software; less than 5 percent was expended for training and for Support of personal computers. Data processing managers projected that these figures would hold at about the same rate for personal computer expenditures through the balance of the decade. * Caught up in the crunch of developing and supporting programs that run on the large systems, data processing management seems to have relegated personal computers to second—class status. Issues of territoriality, however, keep many data processing managers from relinquishing total control of personal computers to other organizational areas. Often, training and support are assigned to an information or office systems’ center responsible for “end user computing.”

Not all organizations have such centers, however, nor does data processing always play as active a role in the personal computer process. In some organizations, there may be a void when it comes to making decisions about personal computers and their ultimate care and feeding,

For example, it’s not unusual to find organizations in which the only criteria for buying a personal computer system are a department head’s signature or the approval of the purchasing department. In organizations like this, there may be a multitude of different operating systems and software, none of which may be compatible. An engineering company that conducted an internal audit of its personal computer systems discovered that it had 51 systems representing 11 different manufacturers. Of these 51 personal computers, only 11 shared the same operating system and could run the same programs.

Everyone is on their own in environments like this, and training and support is very much dependent on employees’ abilities to learn things for themselves or from a user expert. User experts are called on whenever there is a void to fill, whether or not an organization has formal programs in place.

User experts have taught themselves how to use a particular hardware or software package, and now serve as a type of internal consultant, providing their own brand of training and advice. In some cases these people have developed the expertise necessary to be a real value. More likely than not, however, they have learned just enough to be dangerous. In one company that has a formal support program, and that keeps records of the problems worked on, 48 percent of all service calls were traced back to the efforts of user experts trying to help someone out.

How personal computers are viewed can also play a role in deciding who controls them. In many organizations, personal computers are viewed primarily as report writing machines that make financial and administrative planning considerably easier. Since the range of activities they perform is rather narrow, responsibility for their placement and control is often vested with financial departments or executives. So, who really owns the technology? In the overall analysis, it probably belongs to the person who is really using it. Control of just who gets their hands on the technology and what they do with it will probably end up with data processing or one of its offshoots, such as management information. This will become increasingly true as people demand more access to 11w information contained on the large mainframe computers. Since personal computers lack the power to process complex applications, it’s only a matter of time before people begin asking to have their work done on the large systems and the results downloaded to their personal computers.

The arrival of the personal computer marks a dramatic shift in how data processing will have to deal with the rest of an organization. In the past, access to the system was mainly in the hands of clerical staff, which sat for hours at terminal keyboards processing information into the system, or requesting certain types of information back. As more management and professional workers explore the power of the personal computer, they in turn are demanding more access to .other forms of financial or strategic information that goes right to the heart of an organization’s database. In the interest of security, most data processing departments will find themselves very involved with these new users, and will have to develop new strategies for dealing with them. In all likelihood these strategies will require a closer involvement and working relationship with human resources professionals.

 

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