Topic 1. Computer literacy

Informed citizens of our information-dependent society shoud be computer-literate, which means that they should be able to use computers as everyday problem-solving devices. They should be aware of the potential of computers to influence the quality of life.

There was a time when only priviliged people had an oppor­tunity to learn the basics, called the three R's: redding, writing, and arithmetics. Now, as we are quickly becoming an informa-tion-bec6ming society, it is time to restate this right as the right tolearn reading, writing and computing. There is little doubt that computers and their many applications are among the most sig­nificant technical achievements of the century. They bring with them both economic and social changes. "Computing" is a con­cept that embraces not only the old third R, arithmetics, but also a new idea — computer literacy.

In an information society a person who is computer-literate need not be an expert on the design of computers. He needn't even know much about how to prepare programs which are the instructions that direct the operations of computers. All of us are already on the way to becoming computer-literate; Just think of your everyday life. If you receive a subscription magazine in the post-office, it is probably addressed to you by a computer. If you buy something with a bank credit card or pay a bill by check, computers help you process the information. When you check out at the counter of your store, a computer assists the checkout clerk and the store manager. When you visit your doc­tor, your schedules and bills and special services, such as labo­ratory tests, are prepared by computer. Many actions that you have taken or observed have much in common. Each relates to some aspect of a data processing system.