Replying to LO16173 on LO16161 --
" The Gen Xer's are the first group that have been computer literate since
the first grade."
I agree that today's kids in the US have different challenges than I did
in growing up but I think this assumption (above) is one that many of us
make too easily. I just went to a discussion of workforce issues in
Virginia (the state where I currently live) and one of the legislative
initiatives is to require computer literacy by graduation from all the
state colleges and universities. Only one - a technology university VPI
-currently has such a program. This is not isolated to VA - there have
been similar discussions about increasing computer literacy among high
school and college students on a number of other media. My brother, at a
community college, says that many of their students have little or no
familiarity with PCs despite the fact that they are entering the
electronics and computer science programs.
I raise this issue because I think that what many of us assume about the
computer literacy of young workers and those soon to be entering the
workforce has an effect of our treatment and expectations for such
employees. This in turn creates added barriers for those who do not have
the advantage of such exposure at home and do not have the access to or
knowledge of public access points to computers, networks or the web.
(Debbie - this was not a slap at you. I think this issue is a larger,
more common assumption that most of us must address in our own mental
models. And I like your contributions.)
patria frame
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