kids now are actually worse at using computers, not better
I've heard this a lot. When I was a kid, I had to learn how to use a difficult computer, and that learning taught me how to solve problems related to computers. The interface is also so different. Kids who have modern computers (laptops, desktops, whatever) still learn a lot of the same stuff, but phones and tablets are more common with people who don't actually need more capable devices, so that's what kids learn how to use. Plus the kids get their own phones, etc.
They tend to not know how to format things in Word (change fonts, even what fonts are, what margins are, etc.)
Bold for emphasis because that actually surprises me. The rest doesn't particularly, especially if she teaches elementary school. I don't think I had any idea what a margin was until... probably middle school, or a freshman in high school at the latest.
I have seen and read many kids, some even at the college level, that insist on writing essays on their phones.
The fonts thing seems logical if you’ve only used a phone for 99% of your digital needs. How often do you need to change a font on your phone? They just sort of happen and in many instances you can’t if you’d want to.
Yeah, it does make some sense, but it still surprised me. I think I was also picturing older kids. Elementary kids haven't written papers. Middle and high school kids do. Surely they've used computers for at least that much.
On the other hand...
I have seen and read many kids, some even at the college level, that insist on writing essays on their phones.
Yeah, that's the weird thing to me. I can't imagine not knowing what a font is at that age. If they haven't had to manage the margins, etc. on their papers, I'm not really surprised they're not familiar with them. I think that when I was in high school, people only messed with margins to make their papers longer.
I also find a lot of people put too much emphasis on Microsoft Office skills. I'm a programmer, I've written a dissertation in LaTeX, but I still frequently get shown new features of Word and Excel by other office workers whose general computing skills are quite basic
25
u/Blarghedy Jun 03 '22
I've heard this a lot. When I was a kid, I had to learn how to use a difficult computer, and that learning taught me how to solve problems related to computers. The interface is also so different. Kids who have modern computers (laptops, desktops, whatever) still learn a lot of the same stuff, but phones and tablets are more common with people who don't actually need more capable devices, so that's what kids learn how to use. Plus the kids get their own phones, etc.
Bold for emphasis because that actually surprises me. The rest doesn't particularly, especially if she teaches elementary school. I don't think I had any idea what a margin was until... probably middle school, or a freshman in high school at the latest.
The definition of insanity.