Susan B. Barnes

About the author: Susan B. Barnes is the associate chair and an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University.

Functional literacy is much more than just the ability to read and write, or even to access information. In modern society, functional literacy requires a broad range of skills, the most important of which is traditional print literacy, followed by general computer literacy (the ability to use a computer), and culminating in the ability to sort through and process the wealth of information on the Internet, on television, and in other media. Schools should have traditional print-based literacy as their primary goal, and should not overwhelm students with the higher levels of literacy until this primary...