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College Freshmen Struggle With Tech Literacy
snow_man writes to mention an article on the E-Commerce News site about techno-literacy problems with incoming college freshmen. Some schools, like CSU, are planning on including a technology comprehension test alongside their English and Math evaluations for new students. From the article: "Not all of Generation M can synthesize the loads of information they're accessing, educators say. 'They're geeky, but they don't know what to do with their geekdom,' said Barbara O'Connor, a Sacramento State communications studies professor involved in a nationwide effort to hone students' computer-research skills. On a recent nationwide test to measure their technological 'literacy' -- their ability to use the Internet to complete class assignments -- only 49 percent of the test-takers correctly evaluated a set of Web sites for objectivity, authority and timeliness. Only 35 percent could correctly narrow an overly broad Internet search."
I once worked in a campus computer lab, and was amazed at the lack of technical literacy among some students. I watched one girl struggle with Internet Explorer crashing, and I told her to try Safari (the lab had all Macs), and she acted surprised. "You mean that I can access the Web without using the Internet?"
:-)
Then I'd turn around and watch some middle-aged ladies (this was at a community college) whiz through Photoshop.
I don't know the stats for Australian universities but, in high school english for our final years the students don't study grammar but instead how to analyse film, book and newspapers. So while it means allot of Australians have only average grammar it would certainly benefit critical thinking.
In my state (Utah), you can not teach in a high school without a degree in the subject you are to teach. They have bent the rules, but in the past couple of years it has become much more strict. I understand that there is still some bending of the rules in small, rural schools, but it is still discouraged.
In Utah, if you major in education, you can teach grades 1-8. In practice (at least in my county) that doesn't include math. If you want to teach anything higher than Math 6 you have to go back to school and get an endorsement. Also, if you major in Special Education (usually dual major with Education) you can teach special classes K-12. Minors or emphases you take in college can count for something as well. For example, a Spanish minor might get you certified to teach up through grade 9 in Spanish, and a Math emphasis would certify you to teach Pre-Algebra (or maybe it's Algebra 1).
If you majored in Math or something like that and later decide to get a teaching certificate, you have to go back to school to take some Education classes. You learn about stuff like content area literacy, classroom management, and so forth.
So my point is that you already have what you want: CS majors are already teaching CS, etc., at least in secondary schools in Utah. I think implementing that sort of thing in elementary schools would be very difficult.
I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
I work at a university, and we recently came up with a "KnowIT Program.". This program teaches digital literacy (defined as: "helping students learn how to use multiple computer tools effectively), and has a specific set of goals: It's been surprisingly difficult to get students to attend anything that we offer; our hands-on sessions (Quick Classes), computer-based training (through Skillsoft CBT), and live orientation sessions, are all pretty much empty. Students simply just don't care about digital literacy. They think that they know everything that they need to know about computers, and/or just don't care about learning more.
...gives several examples on the first hit ;)
Perfecting the art of insanity since 1982
I had to read your comment four times before I understood it was sarcastic. I don't know how things work in Kansas, but my mother is a third-grade teacher in a less-affluent part of Toledo. In a class of more than 20 students, it's very rare that more than four or five parents bother attending parent-teacher conferences. Heck, it's pretty common for students to show up at the beginning of the year without so much as a pencil to their name. Parents have learned to abdicate way, way too much of their responsibilities in providing a future for their children.
Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
Finland, with its public schools, has one of the best literacy rates and most lauded school systems in the world. The problem is not the fact that it's the gummint that runs things. It's just how they run it. You can do things well or you can fsck it all up.
I'm sure Slashdot is one of them.
Using Firefox 2.0:
I went up to the address bar, typed "nissan", and hit enter. It immediately went to the Nissan USA website. Was it supposed to be harder?
Not all of Generation M can synthesize the loads of information they're accessing, educators say.
Even the complainant can't use tech words correctly. One suitable word would be assimilate.
Yeah, I know I'm a pedant, but educators should know which word to pick...