Just as the ability to read is integral to basic survival and achievement, the ability to work with computers and the Internet is becoming fundamental to participating and working in society. Basic technology literacy is a first goal for survival in the information age; technology fluency is essential for full participation. "Fluency" with information technology in this context refers to a definition developed by the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Information Technology Literacy in their report entitled Being Fluent with Information Technology (National Academy Press, 1999). Fluency refers to a person’s ability to apply his or her knowledge to adapt to changes, synthesize new information, and effectively apply information technology to work and personal needs. These indicators measure technology literacy in our community and the capacity of the education system to produce technology fluent students.

The overall indicator will be an index assembled from the responses to the following questions. The index will provide a measure of basic literacy, basic skills, and fluency for the adult population. This basic literacy will also be measured for school-age children (K-12) in the Education section.

a) Use of Basic Applications
What percentage of residents know how to use basic computer applications?

INDICATOR

This indicator will be a graph indicating the percent of respondents in a survey asking for comfort level of the following basic and more advanced applications:

Navigating a Computer (turning computer on and off, using a mouse, opening programs, finding files)

Word Processing (creating a document, saving a document and printing a document)

Publishing (creating a flyer with colors and simple graphics)

Spreadsheet (creating a simple spreadsheet or database)

Managing Peripherals (adding or changing a printer, scanner, external drive or some other computer peripheral)

Installing Software

b) Basic Internet Communication Skills
Do residents know how to use the Internet to find information and communicate with others?

INDICATOR

This indicator will be a graph indicating the percent of respondents who are comfortable completing the following Internet and communication tasks:

Connecting to the Internet

Using e-mail (creating and sending a message, replying to a message, using an address book, and sending and receiving attachments)

E-mail lists (signing up and removing oneself from a e-mail list)

Searching for information

Downloading files from the Internet

Creating a web site

Setting up a listserv

The Information Technology Indicators Project is part of the City of Seattle Department of Information Technology Community Technology Program in cooperation with the volunteer Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB).

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