ABSTRACT
THE “first electronic revolution” of radio and television undermined literacy as the foundation of learning by providing (or, often, seeming to provide) preliterate children and nonliterate adults with knowledge that had been sealed from them in books. Paradoxically, the “second electronic revolution” of interactive media (microcomputers, videotex, interactive cable, and so on) depends more on literacy than even traditional print media. Unlike radio and television, the interactive media do not promise learning without literacy. They will not be expected to close the “knowledge gap” between literate and nonliterate populations. They will probably widen the “knowledge gap,” and the advantages they provide to users will certainly raise questions of equity.
