Reconceptualizing adult basic education and the digital divide
The use of computer based, or digital technologies in adult basic education (ABE)is increasingly widespread, along with the proliferation of instructional software designed specifically for adult literacy learners. Some advocates claim that computer based instruction offers learners a wider range of engaging, motivating, and presumably more effective learning opportunities. More significantly, another argument for incorporating such technologies into ABE is that the mastery of what are commonly now called " digital literacies " can be crucial to adults' success in accessing information important in their daily lives, obtaining better jobs, helping their children succeed in school, and generally improving the quality of their lives. The rhetoric surrounding the use of such technologies, most commonly the Internet but also other computer based tools, suggests that those who do not have access to such technologies are becoming increasingly disadvantaged in this " Information Age. " The so called digital divide has been linked with economic disadvantage, low levels of educational attainment, and other indicators of social disadvantage and quality of life. For example, the types of jobs with higher economic and social rewards now tend to be those that provide " symbolic analytic services " requiring the use of multiple forms of oral and visual representations, problem posing as well as problem solving (Reich, 1992) typically associated with the use of new technologies. Social disadvantage has been characterized as a cause as well as a 2 consequence of digital " illiteracy. " National survey data indicates that only 22% of children in households with incomes of less than $20,000 have access to home computers (and the resulting opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills related to digital technologies) compared to 91% of those in families with annual incomes of Simply introducing digital technologies into ABE will not ensure that those technologies are used in meaningful or empowering ways. In education on the whole, new technologies tend to be assimilated into traditional classroom practices, rather than making any significant impact on the goals or organization of instruction (Hodas, 1993) Howard Becker (2000) criticizes the tendency in schools of using information communication technologies (ICT) for drill and skill instruction among low achieving children: Certainly, lower performing students and students from economically poorer backgrounds can profit from greater competency in arithmetic and literacy. Targeting computer opportunities to those limited domains, however, will exacerbate these students' disadvantage compared to more advantaged students who use their computer access to gain mastery of higher order skills and competencies.