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The problem as I see it is that systems today are so complex that there is a great disparity between learning how to use a system (being "tech savvy") and under

The problem as I see it is that systems today are so complex that there is a great disparity between learning how to use a system (being "tech savvy") and understanding a system. Many schools teach the first. Kids are taught how to use computers, how to make websites etc. The second type is the focus of those Logo/turtle type curricula I keep hearing anecdotally. But in both cases the gap remains and true understanding of the systems our lives depend on today remain out of reach. I'm not saying that everyone needs to fully understand operating systems or graphics pipelines. But there's a huge gap from for loops and if conditions to a desktop environment. And so the things we use on a daily basis still feel like magic to most

watwut 5y ago
> Kids are taught how to use computers, how to make websites etc. This is good thing. Unless parents actively taught kids to use computer, they don't know how to do it. Many kids don't even have all that much access to computer before having classes in school. Household have one, but it is occupied either by parents or by older sibling. Even kids of IT people can easily end up not knowing how to open file, edit it, view website copy it or do anything else simple. If schools skip the step of teaching kids to use computer, those kids don't stand a chance in classes that assume that knowledge.
- atonse 5y ago
  Totally agree here. I got closer to my now closest friends from the time we spent in computer club in middle school. And even though we all learned the same thing (karel the robot, quick basic), for each of us it was a gateway drug to something different. Two of my friends took that knowledge and started playing with making animations and animated text in quickbasic. I used it to write music with the play command. I eventually learned HTML and my first website was about stealth aircraft. (SR-71, F-117A) We all ended up doing different things. Our passions still dictated what we did with our programming knowledge. It’s the exposure and creating the spark that’s key.

watwut 5y ago

> Kids are taught how to use computers, how to make websites etc. This is good thing. Unless parents actively taught kids to use computer, they don't know how to do it. Many kids don't even have all that much access to computer before having classes in school. Household have one, but it is occupied either by parents or by older sibling. Even kids of IT people can easily end up not knowing how to open file, edit it, view website copy it or do anything else simple. If schools skip the step of teaching kids to use computer, those kids don't stand a chance in classes that assume that knowledge.

atonse 5y ago
Totally agree here. I got closer to my now closest friends from the time we spent in computer club in middle school. And even though we all learned the same thing (karel the robot, quick basic), for each of us it was a gateway drug to something different. Two of my friends took that knowledge and started playing with making animations and animated text in quickbasic. I used it to write music with the play command. I eventually learned HTML and my first website was about stealth aircraft. (SR-71, F-117A) We all ended up doing different things. Our passions still dictated what we did with our programming knowledge. It’s the exposure and creating the spark that’s key.