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I teach at a community college in the USA. Maybe 10 percent of them are what I would consider computer literate. 80% can get by but the other 10% are very compu

I teach at a community college in the USA. Maybe 10 percent of them are what I would consider computer literate. 80% can get by but the other 10% are very computer illiterate. On reddit I will sometimes see memes about tech illiterate professors but they only think that because they don't see the rest of their classmates try to use tech in front of them. I had typed up a list of things that I see students struggle with when they try to use computers but I don't want to make it seem like I am sitting around "look at these kids these days!" because in reality in a class or say 20 there will only be 1-2 that really struggle with computers. -- Of course this will make it a real shit show with all the schools at all levels going to "elearning" to deal with the Coronovirus.

Avamander 7y ago
I teach cybersecurity for middle school kids and organize events, I'd say the same, approximately 1% is actually competent. Though, I think one of the biggest obstacles for a regular student is their utter lack of knowledge how to actually use a keyboard, teaching that the shift key exists is new knowledge for so many. Thankfully it can be rapidly improved with very little teaching, and things like coding actually become much easier when they make fewer typos and waste less time typing. Telling middle school teachers that instead of Word, spend four lessons at the beginning actually teaching the tools they're using, is usually received with a lot of negativity, it's somehow considered outdated to learn how to type.
- jccalhoun 7y ago
  totally agree with the lack of experience with keyboards. The shift thing reminded me of a student last semester who I saw working and put the caps lock on to type a short acronym like APCA or something.
  - jeroenhd 7y ago
    I'm far from experienced with keyboards but I do that sometimes. I use shift for starting words or sentences with capitals but every now and then will use caps lock for upper case acronyms. The two extra key strokes to toggle caps lock are easier than keeping the shift key(s) down when typing, especially when typing acronyms I'm unfamiliar with. It's just a force of habit. People toggling caps for every capital letter will make me shudder though. I've seen them even in (introductory) programming classes. I suppose in an age where most typing is done on smart phones, it makes sense that people use the software-keyboard-style toggle instead of the "old-fashioned" shift keys. Then again, every day programmers learn about stuff like control+delete/backspace, shift+arrow keys and other keyboard navigation tricks common in almost any program these days. It's a set of tricks and tips that you need to happen to stumble across to learn about, and if the teacher doesn't know how to type properly an entire class of school children will suffer the same faith. You can easily spend your entire high school time using caps lock for capitalization without anyone even noticing or correcting you.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    Huh? Both ways of typing that are completely fine. Especially since the 'correct' way of using the opposite-hand shift key is probably the worst way to type an acronym by a significant margin, since it requires so much shuffling back and forth while coordinating chorded keys.
    - Avamander 7y ago
      Holding shift doesn't require any shuffling back and forth?
      - Dylan16807 7y ago
        Using the opposite-hand shift key, when pressing letters that go back and forth between sides, requires awkward shuffling.
        Avamander 7y ago
        You use your pinkies and there's barely any movement.
        Dylan16807 7y ago
        Just as much movement as hitting any other key. Plus slightly more because you have to keep it held during the next key. It's really easy to do, but it's still more than double the effort of hitting a single letter, and when you're hitting many keys per second that makes a difference. Shift, letter, unshift is great for a single capital letter, but if you're doing that several times in a row then capslock is a lot simpler. As is holding a single shift, if you're used to it.
- ihuman 7y ago
  Wait, do they not teach typing in elementary school anymore?
  - sgillen 7y ago
    My teacher had a vendetta against typing (or a hard on for cursive?) so we spent I think a few days (maybe three?) learning to type for an hour each day in the library, and then the rest of the year learning cursive. I am 25 btw, idk what might have changed, but that teacher is still there.
hinkley 7y ago
There was a period not too long ago where half of my friends were in the landscaping business. Volunteer work tends to introduce you to very different demographics. That is a lot of 20- and 30-somethings who are not at all enthused about technology, informatics in particular. Which pretty much killed my enthusiasm for a side project I had in mind.

Avamander 7y ago

I teach cybersecurity for middle school kids and organize events, I'd say the same, approximately 1% is actually competent. Though, I think one of the biggest obstacles for a regular student is their utter lack of knowledge how to actually use a keyboard, teaching that the shift key exists is new knowledge for so many. Thankfully it can be rapidly improved with very little teaching, and things like coding actually become much easier when they make fewer typos and waste less time typing. Telling middle school teachers that instead of Word, spend four lessons at the beginning actually teaching the tools they're using, is usually received with a lot of negativity, it's somehow considered outdated to learn how to type.

jccalhoun 7y ago
totally agree with the lack of experience with keyboards. The shift thing reminded me of a student last semester who I saw working and put the caps lock on to type a short acronym like APCA or something.
- jeroenhd 7y ago
  I'm far from experienced with keyboards but I do that sometimes. I use shift for starting words or sentences with capitals but every now and then will use caps lock for upper case acronyms. The two extra key strokes to toggle caps lock are easier than keeping the shift key(s) down when typing, especially when typing acronyms I'm unfamiliar with. It's just a force of habit. People toggling caps for every capital letter will make me shudder though. I've seen them even in (introductory) programming classes. I suppose in an age where most typing is done on smart phones, it makes sense that people use the software-keyboard-style toggle instead of the "old-fashioned" shift keys. Then again, every day programmers learn about stuff like control+delete/backspace, shift+arrow keys and other keyboard navigation tricks common in almost any program these days. It's a set of tricks and tips that you need to happen to stumble across to learn about, and if the teacher doesn't know how to type properly an entire class of school children will suffer the same faith. You can easily spend your entire high school time using caps lock for capitalization without anyone even noticing or correcting you.
- Dylan16807 7y ago
  Huh? Both ways of typing that are completely fine. Especially since the 'correct' way of using the opposite-hand shift key is probably the worst way to type an acronym by a significant margin, since it requires so much shuffling back and forth while coordinating chorded keys.
  - Avamander 7y ago
    Holding shift doesn't require any shuffling back and forth?
    - Dylan16807 7y ago
      Using the opposite-hand shift key, when pressing letters that go back and forth between sides, requires awkward shuffling.
      - Avamander 7y ago
        You use your pinkies and there's barely any movement.
        Dylan16807 7y ago
        Just as much movement as hitting any other key. Plus slightly more because you have to keep it held during the next key. It's really easy to do, but it's still more than double the effort of hitting a single letter, and when you're hitting many keys per second that makes a difference. Shift, letter, unshift is great for a single capital letter, but if you're doing that several times in a row then capslock is a lot simpler. As is holding a single shift, if you're used to it.
ihuman 7y ago
Wait, do they not teach typing in elementary school anymore?
- sgillen 7y ago
  My teacher had a vendetta against typing (or a hard on for cursive?) so we spent I think a few days (maybe three?) learning to type for an hour each day in the library, and then the rest of the year learning cursive. I am 25 btw, idk what might have changed, but that teacher is still there.

hinkley 7y ago

There was a period not too long ago where half of my friends were in the landscaping business. Volunteer work tends to introduce you to very different demographics. That is a lot of 20- and 30-somethings who are not at all enthused about technology, informatics in particular. Which pretty much killed my enthusiasm for a side project I had in mind.