In this paper, I draw on a number of research projects conducted in England in a consideration of the possibilities for and challenges to the development of appropriate literacy curricula and pedagogy in the digital era. Following intensive interest over the last decade in the changing nature of literacy due to technological advances, there are national and local initiatives to transform the li...

For major physical diseases, it is widely accepted that members of the public will benefit by knowing what actions they can take for prevention, early intervention, and treatment. However, this type of public knowledge about mental disorders (mental health literacy) has received much less attention. There is evidence from surveys in several countries for deficiencies in (a) the public's knowled...

Objective Health literacy is on the policy agenda. Accessible, high-quality health information is a major component of health literacy. Health information materials include print, electronic or other media-based information enabling people to understand health and make health-related decisions. The aim of the present study was to present the findings and recommended actions as they relate to he...

There is evidence that the National Literacy Strategy has led to a sustained increase in literacy attainment, especially in reading, although recent international comparisons also suggest some additional issues regarding pupil performance in England. The relative success of the NLS may at least partly lie in the policy application of several complementary areas of educational research, a sugges...

BACKGROUND Health literacy refers to people's competencies to access, understand, judge and apply health information in healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion. This study aimed to describe the level of health literacy and the factors associated with it among school teachers in an Education Zone in Colombo, Sri Lanka. METHODS A cross-sectional study among 520 teachers measured hea...

The growth of health literacy and patient empowerment movements has resulted in a more active and prominent role for patients as autonomous actors in decisions relating to their health. The Internet has become an important source of information for patients seeking to understand their health conditions and to evaluate possible treatments. However, in making autonomous healthcare decisions, the ...

This article addresses the notion of teaching about games as a cultural medium in their own right. This includes critical analyses of existing texts but also involves enabling students to create their own. Implications of this approach are discussed and concrete, research-based examples are provided. A more theoretical discussion of the notion of game literacy and the principles on which this a...

Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide by Mark Warschauer This paper examines the concept of a digital divide by introducing problematic examples of community technology projects and analyzing models of technology access. It argues that the concept provides a poor framework for either analysis or policy, and suggests an alternate concept of technology for social inclusion. It then draws on the hi...

This chapter focuses on the role that assistive technology (AT) can play in improving the literacy acquisition and motivation of struggling adult students who have mild reading disabilities. Mild reading disabilities may be the result of learning, attention, memory, cognitive, or sensory impairments, and these categories often overlap. For example, Schulte, Conners, and Osborne (1999) found tha...

Socioeconomic and health consequences of aging in India are analyzed. By the year 2000, India will have the second largest elderly population in the world, according to official projections. The growth rate, sex ratio, and marital, labor, and literacy status of the elderly are predicted to result in a higher dependency ratio by the 2001. Socioeconomic aspects of this aging population will af...