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Google has unveiled a new Web site dedicated to literacy. It's an online resource for teachers, literacy organizations and anyone else who might be interested in finding books online, promoting literacy and education at all age levels.
Titled The Literacy Project, the site was set up through an agreement with UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning and LitCam, the Frankfurt Book Fair literacy campaign. The site provides users access to literacy resources from around the world, including videos about projects to increase literacy. It also allows patrons to create a reading group or blog about literacy-related topics.
The site's videos are especially interesting: today's include a Bollywood video, a British literacy project, and a U.S. inner-city school project. Google is taking a stance with this site, saying it's not about piracy of books, but about everyone having access to them, which is a public library's mission. Doesn't everyone deserve to read good?
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Sloane -
You know I think you're the greatest, right? That said, doesn't it make you sad (doesn't it make everyone sad) that we've taken to relying on the internet for literacy? In the United States, literacy rates were considerably higher in 1800, way, way before public school, way before the litany of literacy organizations and learning DVD's/CDs/electronic toys. It doesn't take a computer and an internet connection to teach your kids to learn, you lazy fucking parents (yes, pun is intended, necessary in fact given the primary target of these campaigns). It takes the following: Sunlight, candle or other light source. Writing material. Writing implement. Patience. Books are helpful but not required. I learned to read when I was 2. My son is pushing 4 and almost there. Did either of us use electronic gadgets or the internet to learn? Did any of the billions of literate people before us use these tools? Are they really going to help or is this a case of people with too much money trying to feel good about themselves by tossing a few million like so many Band Aids(tm)? Get to the heart of the matter folks. Get to the parents. We have PLENTY of available teaching tools. What we don't have our parents who give a shit.
Sorry, Sloane. Yes, this is a well-intended effort but you know it's not going to do a damned thing to help the real problem. I hope this doesn't mean you aren't going to interview me now. . .it's just that I've only now returned from a tour of a Waldorf school for my boy, and it's very, very clear (especially after touring a public school) that the issues are far larger (and simpler)and way beyond any sort of techno-gadgetry.
In response, I agree with what you are saying - but let's look at it from a few different points.
1) It's a tool for educators and professionals. I don't think it's meant to have anyone learn to read online BUT teachers might be able to find new and creative tools that others are using in various parts of the world. Or how about creating a blog about how a village in Burkina Faso is learning to read, how inspiring! Or what about a rare book from the NYC Central Library that can now be scanned and online about early methods for learning to read with language barriers in the classroom?
2) This is a global project and I don't think many of us can fathom the illiteracy of other countries. One of the 4 program areas for the Gates Foundation is "Global Libraries" which is the support of free access to information via computers in libraries around the country. A cynic could say this just sells more computers but really, this is saying that information is free. From the first libary in Alexandria, Egypt to now. And that sharing information should be free and easy to access for all. The chances that some towns and villages around the world will have a top notch library where teachers can go and further educate themselves might not be as likely as one computer where they can go and find more information then they could ever dream of.
Do computers threaten traditional means of education? Yes, and let's hope it kicks governments in the ass to get going on this most crucial of issues. Do computers replace real parenting? Absolutely not.
SVB
Sloane -
Your first point is well taken. I didn't think about it so much as a learning aid for teachers. I tend to think of teaching another person how to read as a pretty simple task, not one that requires online guidance. However, for those who depend upon tech for everything, I can see that some would benefit from this approach.
As to Gates' "laptops in Africa" approach, I'm dubious. I think he and his wife are doing fantastic work, but these machines are going to break, crack, fall into disrepair and become utterly useless in short order. Moreover, the toxic waste issues associated with (potentially) millions of cheap computers is something to think about. Already, Africa is home to vast amounts of Silicon Valley's waste. Adding more? Maybe not such a grand idea. Helping stabilize economies (Tobin Tax, anyone?) and providing "Lighthouses of Learning" as in Curitiba, Brazil is a far better approach than handing out computers in places that are on the verge of collapse. Yet. .yet. . . the truth is that the Gates' are doing work on every level, so the laptop donations may not be such a bad idea provided that they are working on the waste issue simultaneously. Hate to loop all the way around like this, but I'm typing, thinking, being distracted by others in the room and caring very little if I'm making a cogent argument.
Boil it all down and you've made me think about this a bit differently. Gracias.