Computer Literacy and Fluency in Information Technology: What’s the Difference?

The ability to use computers to retrieve and create information is empowering to most of us. It is an essential skill for those of us in healthcare. We discuss the concepts of computer literacy and fluency in the textbook. The term fluency was first used in the book, Being Fluent with Information Technology (1999), published by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Academies Press. The authors suggest that fluency has a deeper meaning and is associated with lifelong learning and three types of knowledge:

• Contemporary skills. The ability to apply and use computer applications immediately.  The essential skills necessary to compete in today’s job market.
• Foundational concepts. Basic knowledge about computer systems and networks that we discuss in the first section of the 3rd edition of Informatics and Nursing: Competencies and Applications.
• Intellectual abilities. The ability to apply, manipulate, knowledge about information technology so that we can navigate unexpected problems.

If there is agreement that information literacy is the beginning point, then the journey to develop new information technology knowledge and skills over a lifetime is the pursuit of fluency with information technology.

National Research Council (U.S.) Committee on Information Technology Literacy. (1999). Being fluent with information technology. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Linda added this resource to the textbook website at http://dlthede.net/Informatics/Informatics.html.  Our thanks to Ramona for sharing.