IT Literacy: The Idea of Emergent Literacy in IS Education

The IS field has been unresponsive to the calls from other fields for better IT literacy education. This paper examines the concept of IT literacy from the point of view of the IS field. It distinguishes IT literacy from computer literacy and from the more recent concept of “information literacy.” A novel conception of IT literacy based on anthropological literacy studies is proposed. This concept of “emergent IT literacy” describes literacy with IT, not as skills to be gained, but as a social practice of controlling the environment with the help of technology. Emergent IT literacy provides a cogent foundation for the IS introductory course. This paper argues that many of the recent disasters including the aftermath of hurricane Katrina could have been better managed if the responsible parties had better IT literacy.