Technology In Literacy

US Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley was quoted in 1993 as follows in the Wall Street Journal:

"Adults with lower literacy skills are far less likely to work full time, to earn high wages, or to vote. Since those with low literacy skills are far more likely to live in poverty, we must work to ensure that those adults who are just 'getting by' today will not be left behind by progress in a global economy, by rapid advances in technology, and by the transformation in the workplace."

In 1962, when LVA was founded, an adult with the ability to read at an eighth grade level could obtain a good job and support his or her family indefinitely. Not so today. In an increasingly complex and technological "information age", the definition of adult literacy must be expanded to include the ability to read, write, perform mathematical computations, and even to posses computer skills. The aim of adult literacy programs is to ensure that all adults in this country have all the skills required to function effectively as parents, employees and citizens.

For more information about the use of technology for instructional purposes in adult literacy programs, choose from the options below:

• LVA/Verizon Family Literacy & Technology Initiative
• LVA Technology Evolves (from the July, 1998 Reader)
• The National Institute for Literacy's "Literacy Information & Communication System" (LINCS)

• Affiliates Only:
  • LVA/Verizon Family Literacy Communications Network
  • LVA/Verizon Web Site and Listserv Directory
  • LVA-Connect Listserv