Literacy has become one of the hot topics in the Irish education world. Ever since an OECD study revealed that almost one-quarter of Irish adults lacked basic literacy skills, teachers, parents, students, television and the education system have all been blamed.

Whatever the causes, the shocking statistic has focused attention on a problem that has long troubled the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA). The agency has a substantial presence on the web (www.nala.ie). Its home page comes complete with a photograph and message from President Mary McAleese.

The website is not aimed at learners. It is a resource for literacy tutors, researchers, the media and anyone else interested in literacy.

NALA director Inez Bailey says the organisation's distance education programme has, to date, been delivered via the radio and the television. "The decision, first and foremost, was not to go high-tech. The internet is not accessible for many people in our client group, while almost everyone has access to a TV or radio. Quite a few attempts have been made at internet delivery, particularly in the US and Canada, and we hope to learn from their mistakes before starting our own programme.

"There is a demand from learners for internet tutorials and we have a proposal looking for funding to begin an ICT programme for literacy learners, using worksheets. A PhD student in DCU, Charlotte Holland, is interested in developing the project with us," says Bailey.

There is a huge demand for self-paced distance learning. Some 10,000 people who were not involved in formal education or training requested a TV pack for the Read Write Now programme, which was developed by NALA, and is broadcast on RT╔.

The NALA website carries a full copy of the evaluation report of Read Write Now. An average of 136,000 viewers watched the programme on Tuesday nights and 19,000 on Wednesday mornings. Some 11,000 new independent learners used the project and 19,000 people accessed the project through different institutions and groups. Have a browse through the website for more details.

One interactive Canadian website www.alphaplus.ca provides tutorials and support services to adult literacy and language learners from diverse communities, including the deaf, native, French- and English-speaking communities. The website comes in a French or English version.

A brief glance through some of the tutorials shows how unsuitable they are, culturally, for use in Europe. There are also the usual spelling discrepancies. However, the idea is an interesting one, and particularly pertinent in Canada, where many communities are very isolated.

The AlphaPlus Centre, which runs the website, is a non-profit organisation which provides a range of services to literacy tutors and publishes a newsletter twice a year.

The website of the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) in the US (www.nifl.gov/nifl) contains a useful list of "frequently asked questions" (complete with answers) as well as information on policy and legislation. It gives the Workforce Investment Act's definition of literacy: "an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family, and in society". This is a good working definition, taking literacy beyond reading and writing - although the emphasis on English rather than any other language(s) seems a little narrow.

One FAQ deals with learning disabilities, explaining that learning disabilities include a wide variety of disorders that are thought to be neurological in origin and that affect one or more of the basic processes involved in understanding or using spoken or written language.

The Irish Association for Children with Learning Difficulties appears to have a one-page website (www.iol.ie/~acld/) that briefly states it is the parent organisation for 20 branches set up by groups of parents of children with specific learning disabilities. We are advised to "See Map of Ireland (currently under preparation)". Until the map or more pages are added to the website, find out more about ACLD from head office co-ordinator Anne Hughes via email at acld@iol.ie.

Back across the Atlantic, in the US, www.literacyonline.org has information on Ready to Learn (2001-2005) which appears to be somewhat similar to the Read Write Now inititative. The focus here, however, is on pre-school children rather than adults.

Ready to Learn, which is broadcast on PBS, is designed to ensure all children enter school "prepared and supported in their learning".

It includes educational programming on television and online to families and children in English and Spanish and focuses on helping adults with low literacy skills to develop their own and their children's learning.

Exploiting ICT for the purposes of literacy learning is obviously a good idea. However, it is a tool, not a panacea, says Bailey.