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In one respect Adult Education is no different from Early Childhood Education; they both exist in real time in a world where computers are becoming as much a part of society as fire and sharp tools for cutting. Students, regardless of age, will need to be as comfortable producing written work using a computer as I was (a million and a half years ago) with pen and paper.

Modern chances of success in education rely heavily on how comfortable a student is with word processing, PowerPoint, Blackboard, downloading and uploading files, or performing web-based research. Whether or not someone is technologically inclined, progressing through the channels of higher education will require regular interaction with technology.

Teachers offers their email address as well as, or in place of, their office phone number. For the majority of schools, turning in hand written work has not been an option since the nineties - teachers got a taste of Times New Roman and collectively refused to go back to chicken scratch. More and more courses have an online component, or use a web forum for course communication and material distribution - students got a taste of downloading course readings for free and refused to go back to overpriced textbooks and course kits.

There are many, many upsides to computer technology, but that isn't to say that the use of computers in education is easy for everyone. For adults returning to school from the time before the PC, lack of computer skills accompanied by a healthy does of computer phobia is very real and very understandable. There are many adults who are computer literate because of work or personal interest, but there are as many who aren't. Even years into the technological revolution, computer literacy should not be a universally assumed skill. Schools have realized this gap and many provide resources for returning students to acquire basic computer skills needed for the modern classroom. Adult students need to take advantage of those resources.

If you are an adult returning to school, take a deep breath and realize you aren't the only one sweating the idea of pushing the wrong button and blowing up the computer, or getting lost in the cyber space and never getting out. Being less than computer savvy and having a larger than life fear of computers is normal.

Prepare yourself by taking a workshop. Practice downloading and saving files. Watch a few Videocasts. With time and practice these things become easier. Basic computer literacy is like any other skill, with experience it becomes automated. Seriously. Get a laptop and let yourself push any button you want. You will not harm the computer unless you push the button so hard the keyboard breaks in half. (I'm joking, and I realize that's not funny. Please, don't add this to your list of things to fear in technology.)
You, the adult student, are as capable of using a computer and you deserve to be as relaxed and fearless while web surfing as your younger classmate. Computer literacy is part of the basic right to education and like all rights it is worth working for.

Learn more about this author, Sally Miles.
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