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I'm not surprised at all about the pathing things. I doubt there's any cohort in the last forty years who commonly had knowledge of "." and "..", though. But t

I'm not surprised at all about the pathing things. I doubt there's any cohort in the last forty years who commonly had knowledge of "." and "..", though. But the typing thing is disturbing to me. There's lots of hand-wringing over whether or not to make students learn cursive, but my daughter was expected to write timed essays on computers (in tiny web textareas, even!) without ever being given even basic typing instruction. She's a junior in high school now, but never once in all her years of being in classrooms with computers, doing computer labs, doing online standardized tests, and being required to submit papers in electronic format, has there been any opportunity, much less a requirement, to learn to type. Somehow, miraculously, she's a prolific writer (of fan fiction, original fiction, and humor articles for her school newspaper--along with multiple completions of NaNoWriMo, which she's gearing up for again this year), but she still types half by sight and almost all with her first two or three fingers. I realize this can work fine, but nothing helped my own computer usage more than being forced to muddle through a typing class in high school. I'm agog we don't invest in such a basic skill in our schools.

rjbwork 8y ago
He was specifically talking about kids interested in computers. I had knowledge of this things with my first IBM clone as a small child, maybe 3-5 years old. I knew how to insert my game discs, navigate between directories, list the contents, and execute commands I found there. It's not complicated if you use it for a while, but kids these days just aren't exposed much to real computers.
- sevensor 8y ago
  It's not complicated if, like you and me, you have to learn it as a child if you want to get your games to start. Many a career in technology was launched by CONFIG.SYS.
WoodenChair 8y ago
It's strange to single out macOS when the vast majority of these issues (as stated in the original article) stem from users not using traditional personal computers at all anymore as primary computing devices (i.e. growing up on Android/iOS).
qohen 8y ago
never once in all her years of being in classrooms with computers...has there been any opportunity to learn to type...I'm agog we don't invest in such a basic skill in our schools. I know typing used to be taught in typing classes at school, but, these days, is there really a need for that? Typing-tutors can be downloaded or used online (e.g. http://www.typing.com http://www.typing.com or, as mentioned by a commenter above, http://www.typingclub.com http://www.typingclub.com ) to develop typing skills on one's own time -- students just need to be encouraged/mandated to use them. Perhaps students should spend a few minutes in class trying them out to get exposed to them and then told that they'll need to demonstrate a certain basic proficiency by the end of the week -- I think some sites can save results for entire classes, schools, etc., so a teacher could just login and check results that way with a few in-class spot-checks to make sure students don't outsource the work to a ringer. The programs are already gamified, but you could add a bit more on top by doing competitions for a prize or certificate or something. And you could do things like this over the course of the year to make sure people are keeping their skills up. (Of course, if students don't have access to computers, then perhaps there should be a lab in school to give kids access, but, again, the programs can be run by the kids themselves during their free time or after school, etc.).
- cdoxsey 8y ago
  Typing is a skill that can be painful to learn, and so students take shortcuts, like looking at the keys instead of the screen. Just like with sports, a typing "coach" can be very helpful to correct these errors, particularly with children who may need help choosing short term pain for long term gain.
SamuelAdams 8y ago
It could also be assumed that students would learn this on their own time. You can see similarities in other areas - personal finance, taxes, and cooking are all essential skills, but are rarely taught in schools. One argument for this is that, because these skills have plenty of publicly accessible resources and are relatively simple, students can be expected to learn them on their own. More complex subjects (ie, calculus, biology, etc) should be reserved for school, as students are unlikely to learn those on their own time, without a teacher / mentor.

rjbwork 8y ago

He was specifically talking about kids interested in computers. I had knowledge of this things with my first IBM clone as a small child, maybe 3-5 years old. I knew how to insert my game discs, navigate between directories, list the contents, and execute commands I found there. It's not complicated if you use it for a while, but kids these days just aren't exposed much to real computers.

sevensor 8y ago
It's not complicated if, like you and me, you have to learn it as a child if you want to get your games to start. Many a career in technology was launched by CONFIG.SYS.

WoodenChair 8y ago

It's strange to single out macOS when the vast majority of these issues (as stated in the original article) stem from users not using traditional personal computers at all anymore as primary computing devices (i.e. growing up on Android/iOS).

qohen 8y ago

never once in all her years of being in classrooms with computers...has there been any opportunity to learn to type...I'm agog we don't invest in such a basic skill in our schools. I know typing used to be taught in typing classes at school, but, these days, is there really a need for that? Typing-tutors can be downloaded or used online (e.g. http://www.typing.com http://www.typing.com or, as mentioned by a commenter above, http://www.typingclub.com http://www.typingclub.com ) to develop typing skills on one's own time -- students just need to be encouraged/mandated to use them. Perhaps students should spend a few minutes in class trying them out to get exposed to them and then told that they'll need to demonstrate a certain basic proficiency by the end of the week -- I think some sites can save results for entire classes, schools, etc., so a teacher could just login and check results that way with a few in-class spot-checks to make sure students don't outsource the work to a ringer. The programs are already gamified, but you could add a bit more on top by doing competitions for a prize or certificate or something. And you could do things like this over the course of the year to make sure people are keeping their skills up. (Of course, if students don't have access to computers, then perhaps there should be a lab in school to give kids access, but, again, the programs can be run by the kids themselves during their free time or after school, etc.).

cdoxsey 8y ago
Typing is a skill that can be painful to learn, and so students take shortcuts, like looking at the keys instead of the screen. Just like with sports, a typing "coach" can be very helpful to correct these errors, particularly with children who may need help choosing short term pain for long term gain.

SamuelAdams 8y ago

It could also be assumed that students would learn this on their own time. You can see similarities in other areas - personal finance, taxes, and cooking are all essential skills, but are rarely taught in schools. One argument for this is that, because these skills have plenty of publicly accessible resources and are relatively simple, students can be expected to learn them on their own. More complex subjects (ie, calculus, biology, etc) should be reserved for school, as students are unlikely to learn those on their own time, without a teacher / mentor.