Andrew Molnar





This is a work in progress
The Information Age Education Pioneers Project depends on volunteers submitting names and making contributions to the writing. Please help! Click Here for more details and to volunteer your services.

See http://special.lib.umn.edu/cbi/oh/pdf.phtml?id=203 for an 1991 interview.

About Andrew Molnar
This is the beginning of a document about the Pioneer. In general, we are interested in two types of information:


 * General information about the pioneer.
 * Specific, personal stories drawn from your experiences in interacting with the pioneer or in interacting with others who have personal knowledge about the pioneer. Help the reader gain insight into the pioneer as a human being, a pioneer, and a leader dedicated to improving informal and formal education.

Quoting from Computer Literacy, a Sampling of Definitions:


 * COMPUTER LITERACY: Basic skill in use of computers, from the perspective of such skill being a necessary societal skill.


 * The term was coined by Andrew Molnar, while director of the Office of Computing Activities at the National Science Foundation.


 * "We started computer literacy in '72 [...] We coined that phrase. It's sort of ironic. Nobody knows what computer literacy is. Nobody can define it. And the reason we selected [it] was because nobody could define it, and [...] it was a broad enough term that you could get all of these programs together under one roof" (cited in Aspray, W., (September 25, 1991) "Interview with Andrew Molnar," OH 234. Center for the History of Information Processing, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota ).

Questions and Answers
This is an "Up close and personal" section. It includes both questions directed to the Pioneer if he or she is still available to answer questions, and personal stories contributes by friends and acquaintances. If it is appropriate, please include the following question submitted by Dave Moursund. Remember, this is a question to the Pioneer, not to the person writing about the Pioneer.

Q. Drawing upon your years of experience in the field of education, what do you think are some of the very best ways to improve our current informal and formal educational systems?

A. (Response not yet provided.)

Andrew Molnar's Past & Current Insights
Here, we want to capture one or both of the following:


 * A section written by the pioneer if he/she is still with us and is able and willing to write. We are interested in personal insights, retrospective analysis and comments, suggestions to the world of education, and so on.
 * Material similar to (1) above, but written by the pioneer in the past.