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Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=25499		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  pcernie [ Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn | TechRadar
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of- ... ls-1323263

I'm assuming these are older people?
Author:  timark_uk [ Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
pcernie wrote:
I'm assuming these are older people?
Bad assumption.
My job involves supporting people who use computers as a major party of their job, there's no demographic for ignorance.
Relating to the lack of Internet usage, it's quite possibly an age gap divide, but I know of at least one person who stays away from the 'net but has perfectly adequate computer usage skills to troubleshoot software issues they may experience.
I also think that there's a communication issue regards the Internet as well.
If people use apps on their phones, for example, the perception seems to be that they aren't using the 'net (I don't exactly know what they think they are using!).
It also amuses me when people confuse wi-fi and Internet use, but I digress.

Mark
Author:  big_D [ Tue Jun 14, 2016 8:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
It is the same here in Germany.

And no, it isn't mainly older people. Yes, many older people have never been exposed to computers, but there is a huge number of people who never used them at work and don't have an interest to buy them for private use.

At the company where I currently work, we've fitted out several businesses who, until they bought our software, have never had computers in the company. The employees in the office and on the production line have often never used a computer. Everything was captured by hand on paper and written up, maybe the accountant or the sales office transferred the most important information onto a PC to print invoices and do the accounts. The changing legislation and the requirements of retailers (especially the discounters, like Lidl and Aldi, and Supermarkets) mean that more and more information needs to be collected electronically and passed to the authorities or further down the supply chain, so they have to computerise.

We still get calls from employees complaining that the industrial PC they use won't boot, only to find out that there is a powercut in the complete production area!
Author:  hifidelity2 [ Tue Jun 14, 2016 8:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
SWMBO works with lots of nurses and it is scary the number of them that have zero computer skills

They are starting to have to do some mandatory training via e-learning and have to have the machine switched on for them and then taken into the lesson.
Author:  paulzolo [ Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
I know some people who are my age or younger who gleefully proclaim that they know nothing about computers. And it’s true - they don’t. As I remind them, this is the second decade of the 21st century. That is no longer a valid excuse, and certainly not a badge of honour.
Author:  l3v1ck [ Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
Too many adults (myself included) lack coding skills. It just wasn't taught back in the day.
Today coding should be taught, teaching kids how to use word and excel just isn't enough.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
l3v1ck wrote:
Too many adults (myself included) lack coding skills. It just wasn't taught back in the day.
Today coding should be taught, teaching kids how to use word and excel just isn't enough.

There simply aren't enough coding jobs to justify teaching every single child how to code. More importantly there aren't anywhere near enough teachers capable of teaching it for every child to be taught how to code. The justification for teaching coding can be applied to lots of other subjects - learning Chinese, for example.

It is probably a good idea for every child to understand how computers work in more details than 'it's a screen that has Word on it', I agree about that. I have always though we should be teaching children a general 'technology' class which equips them with a basic understanding of the mechanics of how all the things they may use - cars, planes, computers, mobile phones etc - operate. But specifically coding, in detail? For 90+% of the kids, it will be an utter waste of time.
Author:  paulzolo [ Thu Jun 16, 2016 10:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Too many UK adults lack basic computer skills, MPs warn
jonbwfc wrote:
l3v1ck wrote:
Too many adults (myself included) lack coding skills. It just wasn't taught back in the day.
Today coding should be taught, teaching kids how to use word and excel just isn't enough.

There simply aren't enough coding jobs to justify teaching every single child how to code. More importantly there aren't anywhere near enough teachers capable of teaching it for every child to be taught how to code. The justification for teaching coding can be applied to lots of other subjects - learning Chinese, for example.

It is probably a good idea for every child to understand how computers work in more details than 'it's a screen that has Word on it', I agree about that. I have always though we should be teaching children a general 'technology' class which equips them with a basic understanding of the mechanics of how all the things they may use - cars, planes, computers, mobile phones etc - operate. But specifically coding, in detail? For 90+% of the kids, it will be an utter waste of time.


I do a bit of coding teaching. I help with Code Club at my wife's school and it is a lot of fun. However, we get a drop off over the first term as new intake find out that it's harder than they think. By the time we hit the summer, we have a fraction of those who started (some decide to go to sports clubs in the summer term instead).

Not all kids have the patience to persevere. Some think that it's going to be way and that they will have written Minecraft after a few weeks. So they go. Yes, it's hard, but as I say it's not because they are stupid, it's just that it's different. (That's paraphrasing the writer of book on ObjC I bought once - I forget his name at the moment)

The ones who stick with it get a lot out if it. We have three who are really keen. One's a girl who has an imagination and the ability to see that through into a Scratch. I really hope she keeps it up when she leaves for big school. I think she has the wits to experiment, test and that's how she's succeeding.

That's three out of an intake of about 15 this year who have kept on. I'd like to see coding part of the curriculum in primary schools, but knowing teachers of that sector, they really aren't up to it.
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