This is a really good read: http://www.coding2learn.org/blog/2013/07/29/kids-cant-use-computers/
Gareth
Kids Can’t Use Computers… And This Is Why It Should Worry You
by Gareth J Barnard -
Number of replies: 14
In reply to Gareth J Barnard
Re: Kids Can’t Use Computers… And This Is Why It Should Worry You
by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
This is excellent! Recommended reading for computer users and non-users of all categories.
And I wish, the author will write another blog about his "love-hate relationship" with Gove. (Remember, "Schools to be given freedom to run cutting-edge computer classes under plans for open source curriculum" https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193617 ?)
And I wish, the author will write another blog about his "love-hate relationship" with Gove. (Remember, "Schools to be given freedom to run cutting-edge computer classes under plans for open source curriculum" https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193617 ?)
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera
Re: Kids Can’t Use Computers… And This Is Why It Should Worry You
by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
The plus side is that UK now has the "Microsoft Word 2007 world champion": http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23601984 !
In the mean time it was revealed that the Microsoft school licenses in Switzerland were stolen: http://www.nzz.ch/aktuell/digital/microsoft-schweiz-educa-diraction-staatsanwaltschaft-zuerich-strafverfahren-1.18128948 (German). It is still unclear what to do with the knowledge created using stolen ware.
;-P
In the mean time it was revealed that the Microsoft school licenses in Switzerland were stolen: http://www.nzz.ch/aktuell/digital/microsoft-schweiz-educa-diraction-staatsanwaltschaft-zuerich-strafverfahren-1.18128948 (German). It is still unclear what to do with the knowledge created using stolen ware.
;-P
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera
Re: Kids Can’t Use Computers… And This Is Why It Should Worry You
by Matt Bury -
I read the article yesterday; yes, well said, I totally agree. I've done a fair amount of user group testing, whereby I have groups of learners in a computer lab, give them a task, and let them get on with it without any interference or help from me. I monitor their use of the software/system/activity to see how a range of "unsupervised" human beings behave with any particular learning interaction or course. It's fascinating. And yes, age doesn't seem to make a difference; people of all ages have varying levels of computer literacy.
I was surprised that there was very little push back against the claims made by proponents of the "digital natives" hypothesis. I'm sure the experiences of IT support staff and UI designers everywhere make it clear that it's just not true.
BTW, not advocating copyright infringement in any way, I don't agree that copyright infringement is theft. To me, theft implies depriving someone of a possession or a limited resource. Copyright infringement is merely making unauthorised copies of something and previously was only considered an offence if a plaintiff could provide evidence that it had done harm or cause loss of earnings for them. Nowadays, we have Disney suing primary schools when children paint murals of Disney characters on their walls. Perhaps we need to teach primary school children satire and irony so that they can parody Disney characters in order to avoid prosecution?
Hi Matt
Sorry for the side track about those fake MS licenses in Switzerland. I do not endorse the software licensing policy of Microsoft at all. In my second post above I wanted to highlight the irony on the whole thing. It's all in the sarcasm mode!
First one, the blog post has this chapter:
"When it became apparent that computers were going to be important, the UK Government recognised that ICT should probably become part of the core curriculum in schools. Being a bunch of IT illiterates themselves, the politicians and advisers turned to industry to ask what should be included in the new curriculum. At the time, there was only one industry and it was the Microsoft monopoly. Microsoft thought long and hard about what should be included in the curriculum and after careful deliberation they advised that students should really learn how to use office software. And so the curriculum was born. Schools naturally searched long and hard for appropriate office software to teach with, and after much care they chose Microsoft Office. So since 2000 schools have been teaching students Microsoft skills (Adobe skills were introduced a little later)."
No wonder the UK produced the world champion in Microsoft Word, in version 2007 to be exact.
Second one is the "company in a company" as reported in the Swiss press these days. Though the modus operandi is not disclosed yet, it looks like to me that a high ranking sales manager who was responsible for selling licenses to the public sector just generated the keys and pocketed the money! Part of those "stolen ware" went to the public schools and now there is a whole alumnus who aquired their ICT knowledge from stolen software! That's the question in the title.
Sorry for the side track about those fake MS licenses in Switzerland. I do not endorse the software licensing policy of Microsoft at all. In my second post above I wanted to highlight the irony on the whole thing. It's all in the sarcasm mode!
First one, the blog post has this chapter:
"When it became apparent that computers were going to be important, the UK Government recognised that ICT should probably become part of the core curriculum in schools. Being a bunch of IT illiterates themselves, the politicians and advisers turned to industry to ask what should be included in the new curriculum. At the time, there was only one industry and it was the Microsoft monopoly. Microsoft thought long and hard about what should be included in the curriculum and after careful deliberation they advised that students should really learn how to use office software. And so the curriculum was born. Schools naturally searched long and hard for appropriate office software to teach with, and after much care they chose Microsoft Office. So since 2000 schools have been teaching students Microsoft skills (Adobe skills were introduced a little later)."
No wonder the UK produced the world champion in Microsoft Word, in version 2007 to be exact.
Second one is the "company in a company" as reported in the Swiss press these days. Though the modus operandi is not disclosed yet, it looks like to me that a high ranking sales manager who was responsible for selling licenses to the public sector just generated the keys and pocketed the money! Part of those "stolen ware" went to the public schools and now there is a whole alumnus who aquired their ICT knowledge from stolen software! That's the question in the title.
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Matt Bury -
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Sam Thing -
Knowledge can't be stolen only kept secret or shared which is why it's a shame so many people can't use computers. Knowledge about computers almost disseminates itself, especially when there's enthusiastic nerds driving it on.
I think the article just reflects the attitude towards technology when things go slightly wrong. It's like plumbing and fixing a dripping tap. The basics of fixing technology are easy enough to pick up, they just need to be desired in the first place. So often they are perceived as being 'un-cool' and 'geek'. That knowing how to fix technology will cause embarrassment at dinner parties. So it is left to those who know how technology works because they have learnt through desire and the need to make a living to repeatedly fix the basics. A little understanding goes a long way .
I hate the words 'geek' and 'nerd' they are more often than not used in a derogatory manner to demean the person who understands technology in order to hide the fact that the person saying it is embarrassed that they don't know more. They are a means of dismissing somebody else as 'less' of a person because they have that knowledge. I would rather we all be called 'technologists' and 'engineers'.
In reply to Gareth J Barnard
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Hi Gareth
When you say:
> I hate the words 'geek' and 'nerd' they are more often than not used in a derogatory manner [...] . I would rather we all be called 'technologists' and 'engineers'.
You don't mean 'technologists' and 'engineers' as substitutes for 'geek' and 'nerd'? But then that would discriminate a whole heraldry from technophiles to gadgetists.
When you say:
> I hate the words 'geek' and 'nerd' they are more often than not used in a derogatory manner [...] . I would rather we all be called 'technologists' and 'engineers'.
You don't mean 'technologists' and 'engineers' as substitutes for 'geek' and 'nerd'? But then that would discriminate a whole heraldry from technophiles to gadgetists.
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Sam Thing -
I have 'Moodle Boffin' at the bottom of my email sig.
How about:
- Moodle Guru
- Moodleist
- Edutainer
- Techmoodler
- Moodleginer
- eLearnginer
- Moodleology
?
G
In reply to Gareth J Barnard
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Marcus Green -
Moodlista
Dougiamista
In reply to Marcus Green
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Gareth J Barnard -
Moodleologist ?
In reply to Gareth J Barnard
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
How about Moodlionniste, with the bitter sweet taste of L'illusionniste http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0775489/ ?
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera
Re: Is knowlege aquired from stolen goods, ... stolen?
by Gareth J Barnard -
Hi Visvanath,
No! - I mean that people should not be derogatory in the first place. That they should use the replacement words in a positive manner not substitute one negative word for another. Not use words as a means of hiding their own embarrassment because they don't understand something.
Gareth