this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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Lack of computer literacy. When I was in school, we had computer classes that taught us how to use Word, Excel, even Photoshop and Illustrator, etc. And also things like proper netiquette. It seems like students nowadays are just expected to have computer literacy, and it's either not being taught anymore or is being taught in a severely diminished way. I'm extremely concerned by the number of younger students who don't know how to use Excel (or, frankly, anything that's not a social media website/app). Likewise, I believe the fact that young people are no longer taught to be wary of privacy on the internet (and are in fact encouraged to share their personal lives on the internet) is an oversight in education that will harm these people, as well as society, in the future
Friends of mine had IT classes but with a 60+ teacher, that told them that lcd screens are the new hot shit. I don't know what's worse, nothing or such outdated information in this rapidly changing environment.
Computers are dying out in the home. Phones and tablets replaced them.
PCs are the big clunky tablets that don't have Swype typing, and you have to use a mouse instead of just pressing what you want.
The age of computer literacy came and went. Give it another 10 years and kids great-grandparents will be teaching them to double click.
Hey I am old and I hate using a mouse, it's a waste of time. I just tab through everything, and when there is some missing shortcut and I have to grab the mouse for excel it extremely pisses me off.
why do you need to know how to use excel if you don't ever use it?
That's what you learn when you get a job. How to use the tools.
This is so naive and just so incorrect. You never get the job in the first place if you don't have skills (such as Excel) to put on your resume. And if you do, your employer is going to be pretty disappointed to find out that they need to teach you the most basic shit ever.
No. Just because you learned Excel in School doesn't mean it's useful to anyone.
If you apply to a welding job straight out of school your employer is still gonna teach you how to weld.
Excel is such a niche thing to know.
Electricians don't know shit about high voltage lines before they get the job. They learn it. Welders don't know how to weld. They learn it.
No employer is gonna be pissed because they have to train the trainee how to weld. No electrician is gonna be pissed because they have to explain how a voltage converter works.
Those are also basic things.
You are delusional if you think that more than 5% of all Jobs need Excel knowledge.
Adding onto that: Its so fricking easy. I can explain all you need in excel in 5 minutes.
Your are very ignorant of how professional work is conducted. Companies want to higher people that know how to do their job and have years of experience doing it. Some places do have entry level or junior positions where some training is expected. But in general, you will be hired for the skills you have (not because you have 'potential' and they would love to spend months teaching you).
For welding and electric work, that is often learned through an apprenticeship, which aren't easy to land either. That's how a lot of trades work. But most jobs do not just offer apprenticeships or 'free teaching'.
Also, have you ever heard of Trade School?
EDIT: If your argument was true I would just ask to be a brain surgeon and have the surgeons explain it to me.
Lol no. Most people get hired because there is a need for them.
Is a Starbucks Barista new-hire required to know what the difference between a 2 week old robusta and a 4 week old arabica is?
Does he need to kow how to use a POS System?
Nope. You just train them.
Does a straight out of School Sysadmin need to know what all the 7 Layers are for? Or how to use Wireshark? Or how to configure a Switch from Brand ? No. They learn that on the Job.
Sysadmins also don't have a trade or vocational school.
Does a new-hire junior programmer need to know the codebase for the program they are being paid to work on? No they get the codebase and learn along.
The last 2 examples were much, MUCH deeper than the amount of excel you realistically need.
Highschoolers do not learn cisco unless they choose to.
And Excel and word are not that deep that you need any knowlede in them. One is a sheet that you can learn in 5 minutes and the other is a word processor.
It is naive to talk about the downfall of computer literacy when everything is moving away from computers.
I manage my Staff from my phone or tablet at home.
I click where i wanna go and i put in what it wants from me.
I can teach this stuff to my 5 year old and the rules behind it to my 16 year old. Both have never touched word or excel.
Someone has never used any function more complex than =sum() in excel...
First of all i did. When i worked in a place that used Excel heavily. Didn't touch Excel before that and learned them all in minutes. You're not that cool.
And then: Why would i need to? I do not use Excel for my work anymore. Any of them actually. What Plumber uses =(getpivot on a regular basis and why would he need to know that before using it?
Did you just say everything is moving away from computers? Dunce.
Yeah. I can do most stuff on my phone.
https://kinsta.com/mobile-vs-desktop-market-share/
Everyone should learn how to use excel. Just because something might not be useful for your profession, doesn't mean it's not useful to you. Just like everyone should learn how to manage personal finances, (which Excel can be a great tool for) even if they are not in the finance sector.
You know school is there to prepare you for working life right?
Does School teach you welding? Does school teach you how to swim? Does school teach you thermodynamics? Does school teach you how water drainage systems are being kept in good condition?
Want me to go on?
School did teach me how to swim, yes. Public school. And welding was also an option for kids who decided to go to tech school instead of regular HS. As well as HVAC.
Yes, school taught me thermodynamics because it was a course I needed for my major.
I'm not sure what point you think you're making here...? Have you never heard of technical school? Vocational School? College?
Yes, school taught me thermodynamics because it was a course I needed for my major.
That's not School, thats University and it's because you chose to take the course.
You chose to learn it.
It was not part of your regular Middle to Highschool curriculum.
Lucky you, that they taught you how to swim.
College is school. Early education teaches you skills to be a competent adult ...and so we don't have a population of mouth breathers.
College is a chosen path. You chose to learn it. It is not a required course for everyone.
Not everyone needs to know how thermodynamics work.
No Plumber needs to know how to configure firewalls.
No Secretary needs to know how to do plumbing.
So what is your argument then? "Not everyone needs to know Thermodynamics". Maybe that's why that is an advanced class in highschool. Do you just not like people getting a general, well-rounded education?
It looks like an English teacher never taught you how a paragraph is formatted, Mr. I-make-a-new-line-after-each-sentence.
Are you just here to agree with me?
Yes. Not everyone needs Excel. That's why you learn it when you need it.
That's why it's not on the curriculum and why it's not important. That's also why Excel and computer literate do not go with eachother.
"The new guy at work doesn't know how to use =(index ...)" is of no indication of anything. Just teach him.
Yes. Because Lemmy has a non-dynamic line width that everyone adheres to and a proper wordprocessor in its editor.
I use lines because it makes text more readable. This isnt Latex, i am not writing an Essay.
I am telling you people why Word and Excel are not life defining skills, that everyone needs to know.
Why do children not learn how to use Latex anymore. How are they ever gonna be technologically literate when they cannot even use Latex.
This is so stupid lol. Acting like Latex is used with anywhere near the same ubiquity of Excel. Good luck getting a job in any office in the US without basic Microsoft Office skills.
I don't know if maybe you're suggesting that shouldn't be the case, but either way: it is.
I hate to burst your bubble but you have to go to trade school to learn the basics of welding, then you can grab an apprenticeship to learn how to do it professionally.
You proved my point.
You go to trade school. That is when you have already decided to be a welder. Then you get an apprenticeship.
And both teach you how to when you need it.
Didnt need a schoolcourse on it.
But you said your job should teach you.
I'm saying that your not going to find a job that teaches you unless it is an apprenticeship (which is not a common thing outside of trades anyways)
There is not a single program, that every job has as a requirement.
None of my employees, unless they choose to, work with Excel.
We have no Excel sheets. Unless someone chooses to.
And if someone comes to me and has the technical skills required to do networking or low voltage work, then we teach him all the software we use.
And nobody that learns the trades that i employ for learns networking in school. They learn it when they need to learn it, which is when they have already decided that they wanna do the job.
No Starbucks Barista needs Excel
That's because random Joe office worker doesn't need to know networking to do their job. But they need to know basic Excel. I really don't think you understand just how common spreadsheets are in just about every profession that uses a computer.
That is called University/College
What university/college pays you a salary to attend? Or do you not understand the difference between "school," and "career"?
Sounds like you should have stayed in school
"Nuh uhhhh. No you!!!"
you won't get a job if you don't know the tools.
Here. I made it into meme Format so you understand it.
what do you think is important enough to be a general school subject, if not computer literacy?
English. Math. Whatever your Primary Language is. Chemistry, Physics and all other subjects that are already in every school curriculum.
School is not there to feed you everything you need to know for every possible Job.
Technological literacy might be a Subject worth talking about. But that does not have Excel and Word in it.
How do i find Information. How do i fact check information.
Not "how do i use Access and Excel to create a Form for filling out my Taxreport"
That is elitist circlejerk shit that only people in tech jobs say.
"Hurr durr that highschooler doesn't know how a master slave drive configuration works, nobody is computer literate anymore"
mate I get what you're saying, but doing simple calculations using functions in a spreadsheet is helpful in everyday life, it's really unfair to compare it to welding
Chemistry and physics are more useful than spreadsheets and basic computer literacy? I feel like at this point you've just dug yourself in too deep and can't just admit you said something stupid.
I say this as someone who deals with physics in their career: to suggest it's a more useful thing to teach all students (including the vast majority that will never use physics in their careers or ever again in their lives) than basic computer literacy is just patently absurd. Just on its face stupid.
You're calling people elitist for suggesting kids should be taught basic computer literacy in school, then trying to flex about the super impressive networking job you have. This whole thing is so strange.
Also that meme is cringe as fuck like for real. Are you upset that you don't know how Excel works or something? Just trying to figure out where this is coming from. You know there's always still time to learn.
You do know that Excel is used in every job right?
Lol no. When i go to a site and do networking i do not use excel. When i go to a site and pull miles of CAT7 cable i do not use Excel.
Not even my Tax guy uses Excel.
I do not use Excel apart from Eve online.