Using computers to promote literacy development

Computers have become powerful tools and important resources in education. While the computer can be useful in teaching the two traditional aspects of literacy: reading and writing, it also creates a new literacy, which requires a paradigm shift in literacy education. The choice of computer-based teaching and learning experiences greatly depends on the literacy education perspectives adopted by the teacher as literacy teaching is pedagogically theory-driven. This chapter starts with a presentation of the main perspectives of literacy, which will become a basis for the discussion of the use of computer in literacy education. Word processing and the World Wide Web are specifically highlighted in this discussion as computers make these resources available for use in education.