Public school computer literacy is failing us :P

[sloggerkhan]

So we've entered an era where knowing or finding out anything about computers, networks, or the internet at large, is a danger to the ignorant people who use them without having the least clue. Remember: Learning is evil. If you know anything, you might possibly put it to criminal use, so it's better for all if we remain stupid. That's America for ya. And it begins in the classroom. (And this perspective applies to pretty much everything, not just computers.)

[Lostincyberspace]

School teachers have no technology experience even the technology ones. My school shot down a teacher trying to teach php because it wasn't in the curriculum even though it had all been finished.

[wana10]

i had a class in high school and the teacher had booked the computer lab for a week. i finished early and had to come up with some way to amuse myself, and this back when i was first starting to mess around with linux, so i brought my knoppix cd to school. i booted into knoppix and was having a jolly old time when all of a sudden the it guy for the school was behind me, breathing heavily, asking me what the hell i thought i was doing. i said i was teaching myself the bash shell commands and he flipped out, started ranting and raving about destroying school property, etc etc. so in an attempt to calm him down i rebooted and removed the knoppix cd. sure enough it boot right back into windows but then i had to sit there while he checked everything on the computer and ran scan after scan to make sure i hadn't messed everything up...i brought a book to class the next day.

[EdThaSlayer]

My school is very computer literate...when it comes to Windows.

[Spike-X]

I remember a while ago, I was in my local library using one of their computers, and I wanted to use telnet to access my shell account. So I opened the CLI, and the librarian was straight over, accusing me of being about to do some wicked hacker-cracker stuff and threatening to ban me from library computers for the rest of my life!

Even after I explained what I had intended to do, the librarian was sullen and suspicious. I don't think she even knew what "telnet into a shell account" meant!

Idiots will always feel threatened by people who actually know a damn thing. They're like the angry villagers with the burning torches and the pitchforks and those weird rake things climbing the mountain to attack the lair of the 'evil' scientist.

[dnns123]

The computer teachers in my school are also obsessed with "Windows" and "Microsoft." Actually 2 people in my school that use Linux, with one being my sister.

You're lucky! I'm the only one who uses linux I know, i surveyed the whole school,part of a thesis,, not one said "yes" of using linux. about 4% only knew it exsisted and all of them think that it's a hacking tool. wth...

[dnns123]

My school is absolutely obsessed with Microsoft. If a piece of software doesn't have the word "Microsoft" in front of its name, then it's an evil spawn from hell and "nobody uses it", but if it does, then we are a step closer to world peace. The district website even has one of those "Download Internet Explorer 7" buttons on the page. The school doesn't make computer decisions based on what IT tells them. Instead the school board votes on it rather than listening to the person they hired to work with computers in the first place. Thus you have a bunch of 70 year old geezers that can't even use a mouse voting down all efforts to get OpenOffice and Firefox on school computers. They probably believe that Windows Genuine Advantage is good for them. And holy cow, you better not get them started on this creepy "free software" or "open source" voodo. After all, if we let our students use FOSS, next thing you know they'll want to marry their goat and America will turn communist!

I've tried several times to promote FOSS and while all the computer teachers and IT guys agree with me, the school turns us down. Whenever I'm dealing with these people, they remind me of Peter's father... http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001...2056.2147.html

Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?

BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called "xenix", which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install "lunix" on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional.

If you see the word "LILO" during your windows startup (just after you turn the machine on), your son has installed lunix. In order to get rid of it, you will have to send your computer back to the manufacturer, and have them fit a new hard drive. Lunix is extremely dangerous software, and cannot be removed without destroying part of your hard disk surface.

OMG!! WTF! and LOL!!! where did he get this? uncyclopedia.com? hahahaha I thought he researched well...

Oh wait, this post was made under "computer idiocity". damn I was fooled.

[Darkhack]

so i brought my knoppix cd to school. i booted into knoppix and was having a jolly old time when all of a sudden the it guy for the school was behind me, breathing heavily, asking me what the hell i thought i was doing.

Although my school district thinks Microsoft software is the equivalent to the second coming, individual teachers and our IT people are really awesome. I remember brining a LiveCD to school and was showing it to a friend before class started. My computer teacher even let us open up hardware and install different operating systems and all sorts of fun stuff. The IT people were very cool too. They often gave students the admin password in case we were blocked out from doing legitimate school work by the filters and such. Of course they only gave it to a select few and those who obviously knew something about computers. They're really fun people to talk to.

[stoodleysnow]

Sigh. If only my college had a clue.
According to the IT Technicians here at Calderdale College, Mozilla Firefox is a virus, Linux is used to spread it and Microsoft is God.
Seriously, they said as much in a reply to a complaint I recently made to them

[MerlinX420]

COLLEGE!!?!?! I expect suchattituides from high scholl level idiots!! BIUT WTF!!?!
Back when I went to High School I had the "reputation" as a hacker.
I sat outside by the phone and Redboxed calls for people so I could get their quarters instead of ma bell. The CIS teachers were hesitaint to even let me into class but when I started teaching the class things that they had no clue about they let it go. I got kicked out thou once they learned I knew how to bypass the security software on the macs. I told a couple people. They told some more, etc., etc. They basicly pulled me into the office and threatened to press charges and such but I told them they had no proof that I EVER did anything wrong on the school computers. They kept me in that office for hours grilling me one after another. I was "too" smart for high school. I made a deal that I'd quite and never come back. I still remember that they thought someone taught me how to do these things. nope. I learned all by myself. I basicly told them to take those degree's on the wall and burn them becuse they didnt know more then a poor white kid from the ghetto.I'm still mad about it after all these years! these posts brought back memories.