Kids Can't Use Computers

[arfink]

So, I have been a little alarmed by the trend for young people (and old as well) thinking it's OK to be technically illiterate. This is driving me absolutely mad. :P It turns out that I'm not just crazy though, there are educators who are saying the exact same thing. Check it out:

 

http://www.coding2learn.org/blog/2013/07/29/kids-cant-use-computers/

 

Although, you should be warned, it's a long article. The author has this to say about his article:

 

"TL;DR? Why not just go watch another five second video of a kitten with it’s head in a toilet roll, or a 140 character description of a meal your friend just stuffed in their mouth. “num num”. This blog post is not for you."

[Basilisa Marie]

Part of the reason why I'm an anti-Mac person is that Macs have to be taken to a "genius" to get them fixed.  Most of my friends have had great customer service with them, don't get me wrong. But I think it fosters an attitude where you don't learn to take care of your computer problems yourself, where you not only expect someone else to take care of it, but you also believe you're incapable of learning to do it yourself, too. But obviously isn't not just a Mac problem. 
 

My dad taught me how to do "computer stuff."  It took me a while, but then I figured out that most of the things he did involved either A) searching around in drop-down menus or B) googling it.  

[CrossCuT]

I am no expert on the topic, but its a part of language evolution. Some scholars argue that all this short hand stuff isnt necessarily bad - as in the result of poor education - rather its just a new form a language. Of course some of it likely is the result of kids just not knowing what the "right way" to do things is, but one can argue that there are different writing styles for different situations.

We dont write the same in a scholarly paper as we do in an advertisement or on a forum. Short hand isnt synonymous with poor grammar or lack of understanding, its just a different way of communicating.

I recoiled from this explanation as well when a teacher in college was explaining it to me, but I understand it now.

[arfink]

I am no expert on the topic, but its a part of language evolution. Some scholars argue that all this short hand stuff isnt necessarily bad - as in the result of poor education - rather its just a new form a language. Of course some of it likely is the result of kids just not knowing what the "right way" to do things is, but one can argue that there are different writing styles for different situations.

We dont write the same in a scholarly paper as we do in an advertisement or on a forum. Short hand isnt synonymous with poor grammar or lack of understanding, its just a different way of communicating.

I recoiled from this explanation as well when a teacher in college was explaining it to me, but I understand it now.

 

You clearly didn't read the article. Not even one tiny little bit of it. I bet you didn't even click the link. This has nothing to do with lol-speak. NOTHING.

[CrossCuT]

You clearly didn't read the article. Not even one tiny little bit of it. I bet you didn't even click the link. This has nothing to do with lol-speak. NOTHING.

Nope, you said it was long so I didnt even click it.  :hehe2:

[arfink]

See, this is my point. Kids aren't taught anything, and once you get past age 25 people almost seem proud of the fact that they can't learn anything about computers.

[CrossCuT]

See, this is my point. Kids aren't taught anything, and once you get past age 25 people almost seem proud of the fact that they can't learn anything about computers.

You are 100% right! Kids are stupid!

[arfink]

:wall: blaaaah whyyyyyyy

[CrossCuT]

You should just give up Arfink. We are everywhere!

Our stupidity is going to infect you too!

 

:spike:

[arfink]

Here is another except, which should be enough for the TL;DR crowd:

 

Parents

Stop fixing things for your kids. You spend hours of your time potty-training them when they’re in their infancy, because being able to use the toilet is pretty much an essential skill in modern society. You need to do the same with technology. Buy them a computer by all means, but if it goes wrong, get them to fix it. Buy them a smartphone, give them £10 of app store credit a year and let them learn why in-app-purchases are a bad idea. When we teach kids to ride a bike, at some point we have to take the training wheels off. Here’s an idea. When they hit eleven, give them a plaintext file with ten-thousand WPA2 keys and tell them that the real one is in there somewhere. See how quickly they discover Python or Bash then.

 

Schools

In the UK we’re moving some way towards fixing this issue. Gove and I have a love-hate relationship, but I genuinely like what he is doing to the Computer Science curriculum. We just need to make sure that Academy Heads stick to Computer Science, and don’t use curriculum reform as a means to save some money by scraping the subject all together.

We could do more though. We should be teaching kids not to install malware, rather than locking down machines so that it’s physically impossible. We should be teaching kids to stay safe on-line rather than filtering their internet. Google and Facebook give kids money if they manage to find and exploit security vulnerabilities in their systems. In schools we exclude kids for attempting to hack our systems. Is that right?

Windows and OSX

 

USE LINUX. Okay, so it’s not always practical, but most Linux distros really get you to learn how to use a computer. Everyone should at least have a play around at some point in their lives. If you’re not going to use Linux then if you’re on OSX have a play around in the terminal, it really is fun and you get to feel like a hacker, as does the Command Line or PowerShell in Windows.

Edited August 12, 2013 by arfink

[BigJon16]

Arfink, great article! It has definitely gotten me to rethink my lack of technical computer skills. I took a couple programming and HTML courses in high school, but they didn't really teach us anything useful--just basic HTML writing and code. Nothing that I could practically use. 

 

Where would you say is a "good pace to start" if I wanted to improve my "technical literacy?" 

[penguin31]

The article actually got me to thinking about just how much I've *forgotten* about computers in ten years.  Ten years ago I was replacing hardware and self-troubleshooting every problem.  Today I just sigh audibly and Google the problem, and aside from the occasional hard drive swap-out I can't remember the last time I changed out a part or built anything. I still do plenty of OS and software installs, but it's a fraction of what I was doing in high school.

Heck, I even managed to forget the difference between internet and world wide web, and I distinctly remember having been taught the difference in middle school in the mid-late 90s. (Had a GREAT technology teacher then)

Edited August 12, 2013 by penguin31

[PhuturePriest]

While we're on the subject of making kids productive members of society, we should also stress teaching automotive skills in high school.

[arfink]

Arfink, great article! It has definitely gotten me to rethink my lack of technical computer skills. I took a couple programming and HTML courses in high school, but they didn't really teach us anything useful--just basic HTML writing and code. Nothing that I could practically use. 

 

Where would you say is a "good pace to start" if I wanted to improve my "technical literacy?" 

 

Well, that depends on what you want to learn. Actually, no, scratch that. The place to learn is with a reputable non-NSA-linked search engine like DuckDuckGo, and look up "how to ______" and all the knowledge of the world shall be poured into your lap. "How to change a hard drive," or "how to build a computer," or "how to write Python."

 

If you want to learn coding, check out http://www.codecademy.com/

 

The article actually got me to thinking about just how much I've *forgotten* about computers in ten years.  Ten years ago I was replacing hardware and self-troubleshooting every problem.  Today I just sigh audibly and Google the problem, and aside from the occasional hard drive swap-out I can't remember the last time I changed out a part or built anything. I still do plenty of OS and software installs, but it's a fraction of what I was doing in high school.

Heck, I even managed to forget the difference between internet and world wide web, and I distinctly remember having been taught the difference in middle school in the mid-late 90s. (Had a GREAT technology teacher then)

 

Yeah, but it all comes back when you need it. Actually, leaning on a search engine to get the job done isn't a bad way to do it. It's a legit way to learn. Nobody knows everything, so it helps to seek out the people who do know what you want to learn.

[Era Might]

I read an article a few months ago about the lack of girls, and particularly young black girls, in the coding culture. Basically the point was that coding is something people drift to in the context of friends...without a group where your interest can be shared, a young person is less likely to really get immersed...just as fans of TV shows, sports, etc. need people to talk to about them. There's a group that works to get more young black girls involved in coding, to give them that community context.