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UK Computing Teachers Concerned That Pupils Know More Than Them
mikejuk (1801200) writes A survey of UK schools carried out by Microsoft and Computing at School reveals some worrying statistics that are probably more widely applicable. The survey revealed that (68%) of primary and secondary teachers are concerned that their pupils have a better understanding of computing than they do. Moreover, the pupils reinforced this finding with 47% claiming that their teachers need more training. Again to push the point home, 41% of pupils admitted to regularly helping their teachers with technology. This isn't all due to the teachers being new at the task — 76% had taught computing before the new curriculum was introduced. It seems that switching from an approach that emphasised computer literacy to one that actually wants students to do more difficult things is the reason for the problem.
If it makes you feel any better, today you would have been expelled & possibly arrested for terroristic threats or some other bullshit.
There is a war going on for your mind.
While working at the help desk call center at Google in 2008, I had to walk software engineers through the process of turning on their PC by pressing the power button. Unlike college computer labs, no one was going to turn the PC on inside their cubicle for them. They're getting paid big bucks to do something at Google. Learning how to turn on a PC was a good start.
*THIS* The other thing I wondered about is the different expectations. If your instructor still thinks myspace is where the cool kids hangout, does that mean the instructor knows less? From a student's point of view, yeah, it does, because the instructor doesn't know what the students think is important. Which is where to get the good porn on tumblr (or whatever the kids use these days). And the instructors might even feel the same way. The good teachers who know there stuff and care about the kids may undervalue their abilities because they don't think they can reach the kids on their level because the teacher is still on facebook and the kids are on to the latest. Why, those teachers may still think email is relevant. To a 15 year old, email might as well be the telegraph.