Paper versus screen: assessment of basic literacy skill of indigenous people

Abstract

The adoption and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers new ways to improve the access, equity and quality of education globally. Mobile technologies have significant potential to support teaching and learning processes as well as improve the literacy of citizens, even among indigenous and underprivileged populations. Therefore, this paper assesses the level of literacy (read and write) of the indigenous community in Royal Belum State Park, Perak using structured observation on four levels of literacy tests. Comparison analyses were conducted to assess the level of reading and writing on both paper and mobile platforms. This study found that most respondents have a sufficient foundation in basic literacy (reading and writing simple texts). Their response time to read texts on a smartphone was faster compared to paper-based text. However, the response time to copy a text on a smartphone was longer than the response time when performing a writing test on the paper-based version. This study suggests a positive sign of literacy improvement of indigenous people, particularly in Royal Belum area on a traditional paper based version, despite a low level of digital literacy that requires further attention to be addressed by stakeholders.