I am wondering if there is a standard for computer literacy much like there exists for reading comprehension, and if so, the best way to implement testing.

For example, you can have a book of a certain level of difficulty for which there is a standard that says anyone who reads this book is at a 3rd or 9th grade reading level, etc. Newspapers for example are usually tailored to the 4th grade level.

We need to test employees within a company and evaluate where their computer literacy is. We could create our own standards, but wanted to first check if there exists a known method to this already which includes varying levels of literacy.

Any advice appreciated.

Andrew

An individual's appropriate level of comfort and proficiency with a computer should link to the business need. The standards you set should reflect what the individual's responsibilities will be in the business. I mean... Does the person have to simply be able to follow instructions and type or, on another part of the spectrum, does the person have to be able to do mail merges with Access data and Word documents? Find out what the standard ought to be for the position in question (what does the business need that person do to), then design the assessment from there.

Thank you for the reply. I guess what I'm looking for is not a task-specific analysis, but a general set of levels that already exist for computer literacy much like exist for reading comprehension. We would determine which level represents the job task we have, but from what I am gathering in my research, currently there are no standardized approaches to testing computer literacy, and every organization has their own proprietary method. Would you say this is correct?

Hi Andrew (sorry I neglected a greeting on my initial response)...

I am remiss to address the literacy standard issue because I have a HUGE issue with that scale. I've always found its validity highly questionable (at best). (Was in elementary ed and a tech writer in former lives.)

I believe you are correct - there is no "standard" scale for measuring computer literacy. Even if there were... to whose standard does it fit? Much like my problem with the literacy scale and assigning grade levels to it...

In any case - if you wish to venture there, you could create a scale from common sense. For example, common sense tells me that basic literacy on a computer would be basic skills with a computer configured with current specs. That would include things like: using the mouse, keyboarding, opening and closing files, saving files and knowing how to find them again. Thing is, proficient has different meanings depending on the need. If you are testing someone who is going to be a programmer, that person's bottom-line basic skill and knowledge should be way above a typical end-user's highest level of proficiency. It's all relative. That's why I'm urging you to consider assessing "computer literacy" based on business need... and if you must create some kind of scale, I'm sure a bit of common sense will guide you.

Well we are testing the population of a large company with many different types of jobs with widespread computer skill differences. We wanted to come up with a baseline average, and have been looking for an industry standard of sorts, but apparently none exists. That now known, we shall indeed need to venture into a more proprietary approach. I cannot find info anywhere on general standards.