Pocket-size language computers could be very useful in the drive to improve adult literacy, but many educators are ignoring the available technology, a congressional study says.
The Office of Technology Assessment report, released Wednesday, says teachers have failed to seize upon the electronic word wizardry, developed in video games, closed-caption television, and desktop computing, that could help 35 million Americans who suffer below-normal literacy."Technology is not a central consideration for most literacy programs," said the OTA report.
For example "there are only a handful of instructional television programs targeted to adult literacy . . . (and) common electronic devices such as home video game machines are largely ignored as technologies for literacy," the report said.
The 35 million people considered functionally illiterate are a diverse group, from divorced women trying to re-enter the work force to teenagers who dropped out of school when they became pregnant, the study said.
The report said that state and local support for adult literacy programs has grown eightfold since 1980 and federal funding has doubled to $362 million a year.
"But despite the growth, adult literacy education operates at the margin" in a "patchwork of services," the report concluded.