Maybe it's slightly off-topic for this blog, but I recently read this great article titled
Kids Can't Use Computers... And This Is Why It Should Worry You and I thought I'd add my 2c worth to the debate. After all, I've spent the last 15 years watching students and teachers use of and attitudes to Computers change.
Some time ago, a very intelligent man called
Marc Prensky temporarily abandoned his intellect and coined the term "Digital Natives". That term has probably been unfairly extrapolated on and taken out of context, but is largely taken to refer to those who were born in a world with computers and the internet and therefore can better use their "native" technological gadgets. That theory is wrong. Kids certainly don't have the fear of technology older generations might, but that's about where it ends. A teacher/techie I know once used the term "Digital Contiki Tourists" which meant, to paraphrase a little - they were on the tour bus, supposedly getting an appreciation for the actual natives, but all they want to do is hang out the side of the bus and go "wheeeheeyyy", hit the nightclub and go on the rollercoaster.
Firstly though, I have to say although I did enjoy the article linked above, the author crosses the line more than once, slipping into the chest-pounding "I am UberNerd, Hear me Roar" persona. Which, as he's a Linux fan reminds me again that this slight disconnectedness from reality is a little too common from that corner of the computing world. In particular, the author opines:
"He asks what he needs to do, and I suggest he reinstalls Windows. He looks at me blankly. He can’t use a computer."I don't believe the ability to install an operating system is a core skill the average user should need. Sure, it's handy to know how, but I actually think the need to do this is a result of poor system design in the first place.
"While I was busy deleting my on-line accounts and locking down my machines, my friends called me paranoid and made jokes about tinfoil hats."This is as a direct reaction to Snowden and PRISM? Your friends were right, you are paranoid. You're worried about privacy while happily blogging every second opinion that occurs to you? Those two things are incompatible. Also, traditional privacy doesn't exist on the internet, forget about it.
"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."This is the author suggesting that you tease your own kids using wifi access as bait. Now that's just being an arse. How about the kids hide your car keys somewhere in the house and make you search a list of locations to find them. Not so clever now you're late for work eh?
"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?"Yes, it is right. I and every teacher I work with would agree to draw the line at any 'learning' that has the ability to negatively impact everyone else. <sarcasm>Why don't we teach kids about combustion by giving them a box of matches and a can of petrol and letting them go nuts!</sarcasm>
... But I Digress.
Sorry for staring the article by going off on a somewhat negative tangent. Despite that, I do agree with the premise of the article. Modern computing is easy to use, which is a great thing when you need to get work done. It just has a downside of no longer forcing people to learn as much about using their computing device, which means when things go wrong they feel more confused and affronted than ever before. So, I've picked out the bits I don't agree with, now let's look at some positives:
Oh… I guess these days you must find that the kids know more about computers than the teachers….
This isn't just a teacher being offended at the suggestion that some hormonally imbalanced adolescents might be able to teach them a thing or two. They probably could, but most of the time it'd be how to complete a level of Angry Birds. The fact of the matter is, our little "Digital Natives" save documents and have no idea where they went or what they were called, and that's just the start of it.
The parents seem to have some vague concept that spending hours each evening on Facebook and YouTube will impart, by some sort of cybernetic osmosis, a knowledge of PHP, HTML [etc].
The parents? How about the teachers, administrators and many involved in designing curriculum for the past decade? Thankfully we may be out of that period now, but schooling for a while now has operated under the assumption that IT skills didn't need to be formally taught, that it could be 'integrated'. Which meant teachers who "can't use computers" asked students who "can't use computers" to use computers in a vicious cycle of the blind leading the blind. It even worked sometimes (because of better teachers, probably), just to muddy the waters. But generally, it didn't and formal IT of some sort might even make a comeback soon. Hurray!
Not really knowing how to use a computer is deemed acceptable if you’re twenty-five or over. It’s something that some people are even perversely proud of
I had to highlight this. It's something I've noticed for a long time now. It's usually the same person who sounds offended at the mere suggestion that they understand the thing they're using to access Facebook or Instragram. Those that proudly espouse their ignorance like we should give them a medal for it. These people that still think a person who can use a computer competently is some sort of 1980's stereotype, something straight out of
"Revenge of the Nerds". People I've known like this tend to extend this attitude to the knowledge of anything else they deem uncool. These are the people Martin Luther King Jr. was talking about when he said
"nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity".
Mobile has killed technical competence
Has it? Mobile technology is still in its infancy and I really don't think it's that mature you can blame it completely. Certainly a whole community of Android hackers was given life by mobile technology. I will certainly concede though that the 'point, shoot, upload' mentality has dulled the average user. This is a disappointing consequence of convenience, more than anything. The real enemy here might be distraction. It started with web-based games. It's just too easy to waste time in class gaming, rather than waste time in class tinkering! ;)
Stop fixing things for your kids
Not a problem for most parents if this article is accurate. Apparently they couldn't fix much anyway. They probably know someone who can though, so it's a valid point and I'll certainly by trying this out with my own children when they're old enough. "I had to fix my own computer sonny, and walk 30 miles through the driving snow in bare feet to get a copy of Asteroids, then another 30 for the joystick, then it took a week to load!".
A hundred years ago, if you were lucky enough to own a car then you probably knew how to fix it
These days, everyone should know how to install and remove software, and everyone should know how to change a tyre. I get it. But I 'tyre' (sorry) or the analogy, it's wheely bad (okay, I'll stop now). Cars are probably the most recent, pervasive new technology that people can think of so they keep trying to liken computers to cars. The fact of the matter is that computers are almost everywhere, and will be everywhere else eventually. The need to understand them is greater. There's a computer in my car, there's not a car in my computer!
So, I think it's evident that there's a problem. The real question is, are we able to fix the problem, or has it got away from us? The last decade of rapid technological change and increasing ease of use, against a backdrop of ignorant educational philosophy has probably driven the wedge too far. I feel like we can stem the tide, but never turn it back. Not a wholly cheerful way to end, but probably the most realistic way.
