"Hey, where's the thingy that does the thing?"

[SZF2001]

I can't take it anymore. I am a Teacher's Assistant (TA) for our school's computer classes, and the kids only learn really basic stuff - like Word processing, and using FrontPage to make websites, pretty much MS stuff.

Every day, I hear something utterly retarded. Like, for example, my title, or:

"Is it illegal to publish a website?"

"I unplugged my mouse, why can't I move the cursor?"

"This computer is being gay/retarded/stupid" (they don't realise it's their own fault)

"Copy and paste? But... I don't have any sissors (sp)!" (haven't had to spell that word in a long time...)

"I broke the Internet!"

I'm not sure what it is - rather our schools don't want to teach kids anything about the basics of computers (I'm almost 18, and I've had to teach myself everything I know, including Linux, Windows, and Mac), MS makes things WAY to easy for the user, or... Hell, I don't know what, exactly.

I don't like the looks of our next generation. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose...

(BTW, this is all in America - I'm pretty sure in any other country your kid is smarter than me and all the other students combined)

[Quillz]

Microsoft makes things way too easy for the user? I thought the whole appeal of Ubuntu was that it made Linux easy for the user?

And no, what country this took place is irrelevant.

[SZF2001]

Forget I said that. Duh on my part.

It should be relevant... I mean, come on, look at America's youth. I'm moving FAR AWAY FROM HERE as soon as possible, probably London or Paris (even if I don't like the French), because the last thing I'd want to do is raise my child in an American Public School.

[Quillz]

Forget I said that. Duh on my part.

It should be relevant... I mean, come on, look at America's youth. I'm moving FAR AWAY FROM HERE as soon as possible, probably London or Paris (even if I don't like the French), because the last thing I'd want to do is raise my child in an American Public School.
You're making quite a generalization. Yes, perhaps our education is not quite up to par with other nations, but the majority of Americans are smart and well educated, like in any other developed nation.

[tbroderick]

because the last thing I'd want to do is raise my child in an American Public School.

The last thing I'd want is you in my kids classroom.

[jfinkels]

The last thing I'd want is you in my kids classroom.

I agree, you've got a lot of anger toward your students. Negative words never help :(.

Turn it into something constructive! Insist on teaching a new course, only in Unix! Or at least just teach the kids what you can (and don't blame them, they're at school to learn :D ).

[Dale61]

SZF, you say you are a TA, but you don't know how to spell scissors, then you say
the last thing I'd want to do is raise my child in an American Public School.

Sorry, but that is one of the funniest things I've read in a long time.

[adam.tropics]

... I mean, come on, look at America's youth. I'm moving FAR AWAY FROM HERE as soon as possible, probably London or Paris (even if I don't like the French), because the last thing I'd want to do is raise my child in an American Public School.

Move to London, they don't like the French either!

Every generation seems to see the educational standards of the 'current crop' as somehow inferior to their own. I am not sure if this really is the case, but it seems to me that you are ideally placed to help fix a problem you see as relevant. So fix it. Don't run half way round the world in the hope that there someone has fixed it for you.


edit:
"I broke the Internet!"

I like that...and have heard it all too often! (ps On behalf of my daughter if anyone knows how to do this in limited fashion, could they please apply those skills to MySpace...I'd appreciate it!!)

[aysiu]

When you see the uneducated, especially when you are a teacher or a teacher's assistant, your job is teach them, not make fun of them.

Meanwhile, they can teach you how to spell scissors. We all have things to learn from each other.

[Polygon]

think as it a wonderful chance to cram as much computer knowledge into them as you can, they are most likely are not going to learn much on their own after your class (referring to their current knowledge of all things computers...)

[Ocxic]

considering I just saw a news video of U.S. citsens bing asked to name a country that starts with U, wich no-one could answer, exept for one guy that said Utah, i think US education is far from stadard

[Quillz]

considering I just saw a news video of U.S. citsens bing asked to name a country that starts with U, wich no-one could answer, exept for one guy that said Utah, i think US education is far from stadard
Some of your spelling was a bit off... Also, it was a news video. Ever heard of spin and bias?

[use a name]

Oh well, I've asked these questions as well. ;) At school in computershops... It's just fun. Of course they know better.

[rolando2424]

Just a question, what is the age of the students?

[bunabattoir]

Take heart, things will get better. (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/030512/12pol.htm)

[DoctorMO]

the lack of critical skills is a worry but what most people forget about children is that they need unwavering patience and direct and concise answers which explain the rational for things.

But most adults don't have much patience for anything and desribe most things as 'well I never really found out and couldn't be bothered'

[picpak]

considering I just saw a news video of U.S. citsens bing asked to name a country that starts with U, wich no-one could answer, exept for one guy that said Utah, i think US education is far from stadard

I'll be honest, the first one I thought of was Uganda.

Come to Canada, in our CompSci we always outsmart the teacher. :lolflag:

[Lord Illidan]

I've heard this too, and I am not American.

I think it's just basic computing ignorance on the part of the student, and I was like that too. I used to blame the pc as having a virus when it didn't work...ok I was like 7 years old at the time, now I am 17, I know better.

[Arisna]

I'll be honest, the first one I thought of was Uganda.

Same here. Then I thought of Ukraine. Then finally the real humor of that post set in. :)

[DrOlaf]

Same here. Then I thought of Ukraine. Then finally the real humor of that post set in. :)

Funny...the first one I thought of was Uruguay. There's more of them than you think :)

[rolando2424]

I think it's just basic computing ignorance on the part of the student, and I was like that too. I used to blame the pc as having a virus when it didn't work...ok I was like 7 years old at the time, now I am 17, I know better.

Well, you use Ubuntu/GNU/Linux now :D

[Lord Illidan]

Well, you use Ubuntu/GNU/Linux now :D

Haha, yes, that's true...

But I still wish I knew more :)

[picpak]

Funny...the first one I thought of was Uruguay. There's more of them than you think :)

There's also the United Arab Emirates, and the UK.

[DrOlaf]

There's also the United Arab Emirates, and the UK.

UK...dammit, you'd think I'd have thought of THAT.

There's also USA, which was the point of the test in the first place.

Lastly, how about Burkina Faso? It used to be called Upper Volta when I first did Geography.

[X-626]

In my classes, anytime we are in a room full of computers, I always have to help someone. I have to help my teachers and the other people in the class. It may be for simple problems, or even harder problems. However, I love doing it (I especially like it when a computer teacher asks me for help). Like today, I went all around the room fixing problems (though, they weren't errors of the people, it was how our computers are set up that caused it). I had to fix many virtual memory issues, too. I don't get many of those "stupid" questions some people seem to get, though.

Still, people's ignorance when it comes to computers does get on my nerves from time to time. Sometimes I wonder.....what would it be like in those classes if someone wasn't in there that knows a lot about computers...

[afljafa]

Forget I said that. Duh on my part.

It should be relevant... I mean, come on, look at America's youth. I'm moving FAR AWAY FROM HERE as soon as possible, probably London or Paris (even if I don't like the French), because the last thing I'd want to do is raise my child in an American Public School.

Well - I was just in at one of the High Schools here (West Australia) repairing some vandelised data points and quite frankly I was blown away by how badly behaved these kids are.

We where no saints when I was in school a few years back but this is getting ridiculous.

[SZF2001]

I want to address a few things.

Yes, I do make spelling errors, I couldn't spell "scissors" (I still probably got it wrong), but at least I have the common courtesy (probably another spelling error) to type out what I have to say and think, with some decent (error) puncuation (another error), a comma here or there, full words, etc. .

I don't type like them, for example:

hey guiz gues wat i did 2 dai ???? well lolz brian fel doawn and i laffed my asssss offa lolollz

At least I try to please your eyes and the others around you!

[Mr Wrath]

I do believe that the teachers that are getting hired do need to be a little more qualified before getting hired to a certain position. Computers, in general, seem to be one of the most common that I have noticed. My wife and I taught our AutoCAD teachers in High School and my wife then had to teach her professor in college. ????what the....???? I decided that if she went to college and there was no change in the teacher not knowing the part...why waste the money. I hope my flight instructor knows what he is doing...:lolflag:

[Mr Wrath]

...this was not a direct knock on you SZF...just making a comment. Somewhat hated my teachers for not challenging me more. Dang school system...it does need to be redeveloped.

[sonny]

Well... something we do have to agree is that in terms of technology it seems that people is more open in its use, but not in the know-how. I think it's because of many factors, MS making its OS "stupid proof", Mac OSX don't letting you see the ins and outs, also less and less people is willing to learn how some gadget works (PC's, Ipod's, TV's, Radios, Washing-machines, irons, blenders, etc).

In the mind of the user things just have to work, even if it's a "work of the devil" or some "magical gadget", things just have to work. Technology is dispossable, the only problem I see is that in a not-so-distant future there's not going to be one soul that knows how to create a pice of software, or a car, or a washing machine (it's an exageration, but you get the point).

[happy-and-lost]

I know exactly what you mean. At my school, most of my peers got A*-B (Pass) in ICT GCSE, but they still have to come running to me whenever the internet "breaks" or there's no sound etc. Computer education in schools is a joke. Kids should be learning, maybe, simple Python programming or troubleshooting, not how to analyse a simple spreadsheet.

[SZF2001]

I know exactly what you mean. At my school, most of my peers got A*-B (Pass) in ICT GCSE, but they still have to come running to me whenever the internet "breaks" or there's no sound etc. Computer education in schools is a joke. Kids should be learning, maybe, simple Python programming or troubleshooting, not how to analyse a simple spreadsheet.

Someone finally gets it. Thank you, kind sir!

[finferflu]

I broke the internet!

I'm gonna say this everywhere... maybe I should put it in my signature... I cannot even think about that with a straight face :D

[Zuuswa]

I remember in my high school BIT class, I had to teach my teacher how to make power points . . . and after that I was made the 'TA' as well . . . I was in the same position as you were, and I remember having to repeatedly tell students how to do simple things like save documents and how to use search engines! I remember the teacher held a contest for who could find the answer to some arbitrary questions on the internet the fastest, with the answer being chocolate bars . . . I was disqualified after the 2nd question, as I just entered her exact words into google and came up with the answer right after she was done asking the question. Afterwards it took students almost 5 minutes to find a webpage for it. And, while it does seem that these students are 'ignorant' or what-have-you, I dont necessarily believe that computing skills are necessary to life. Why aren't cooking classes mandatory in high school? I have lived with 6 differant roomates in college and not a single one of them knew how to do anything more than boil water or fry an egg. They couldnt even follow the directions on the box of instant mashed potatoes!

[TBOL3]

Cooking is like computing in this sense, you should be able to do it, or at least follow directions. And from what I've seen basic cooking classes were mandatory. After one five minute lecture, and watching people cook for an hour or two, cooking shouldn't be that hard to do (with a recipe)

However this is coming from the guy who killed macaroni and cheese. :lolflag:

[PartisanEntity]

My colleagure complained the other day that the mouse was not working even though she had plugged it in. So I pulled the usb plug out of the ethernet socket and plugged it into the usb socket and the mouse worked :)

[Motoxrdude]

Lmao. Kids always find ways of doing things that they want to do. For example, getting on myspace at school. We have a really nice server at our school and the school spends $$$ on people to manage the server and block inappropriate sites and sites that are meant for socializing. I mean, it took me a week to figure out how to bipass the "blocked" list [as called by the principal(lol)]. I had to make my own proxy at home and get administrative powers (windows sucks at security btw) just to get past the "blocked" list. Whereas most of the kids at my school have gotten past it aswell, but most of these kids don't even know what a modem is.

[TBOL3]

I broke the internet!


O no, not again. :lolsign:, I just hate those days when a acknowledgeable windows user breaks those linux-apache servers, even though those days are, well as far as I know, never. :lolsign:

[fenian]

I broke the internet!

Congratulations come here (http://www.soulaquarium.net/error.htm)to collect your prize.

[Lord Illidan]

I know exactly what you mean. At my school, most of my peers got A*-B (Pass) in ICT GCSE, but they still have to come running to me whenever the internet "breaks" or there's no sound etc. Computer education in schools is a joke. Kids should be learning, maybe, simple Python programming or troubleshooting, not how to analyse a simple spreadsheet.

I agree with you 100%. Also, some people tend to think they are computer whizzes when all they know is how to use Windows for specific things like spreadsheets, docs, etc. Through programming you get a real feel of how to use and abuse a computer.


I remember in my high school BIT class, I had to teach my teacher how to make power points . . . and after that I was made the 'TA' as well . . . I was in the same position as you were, and I remember having to repeatedly tell students how to do simple things like save documents and how to use search engines! I remember the teacher held a contest for who could find the answer to some arbitrary questions on the internet the fastest, with the answer being chocolate bars . . . I was disqualified after the 2nd question, as I just entered her exact words into google and came up with the answer right after she was done asking the question. Afterwards it took students almost 5 minutes to find a webpage for it. And, while it does seem that these students are 'ignorant' or what-have-you, I dont necessarily believe that computing skills are necessary to life. Why aren't cooking classes mandatory in high school? I have lived with 6 differant roomates in college and not a single one of them knew how to do anything more than boil water or fry an egg. They couldnt even follow the directions on the box of instant mashed potatoes!

I think that in these days computing skills are necessary. And governments are going the wrong way about it. In Europe there is the ECDL certification. Been there, done that, learned nothing except how to use Microsoft applications...yeah, I could have just followed the online help instead of taking the expensive course. Yet, I need it to enter University, even though I am taking Computer Science at Advanced Level!!


Lmao. Kids always find ways of doing things that they want to do. For example, getting on myspace at school. We have a really nice server at our school and the school spends $$$ on people to manage the server and block inappropriate sites and sites that are meant for socializing. I mean, it took me a week to figure out how to bipass the "blocked" list [as called by the principal(lol)]. I had to make my own proxy at home and get administrative powers (windows sucks at security btw) just to get past the "blocked" list. Whereas most of the kids at my school have gotten past it aswell, but most of these kids don't even know what a modem is.

Same here. I just installed Tor on my linux system together with proxify, and installed Torpark on my friends' windows system :) The teacher liked it and started using it too...:lolflag:

I also heard the "I broke the Internet" more than once..

Also, I remember when I set up linux at a computer at my school to dualboot. Ubuntu was default (my mistake, I know), and there was a grub menu which lasted for 10 seconds.

I thought that people would be able to understand the Grub menu, and chose Windows...no, they couldn't. A guy I knew kept staring at it while it booted to Ubuntu, and didn't know what to do, so he pressed the power button and started again, and again until he gave up and moved to another computer in the lab. Probably he thought it was some crazy app...or he had been "schooled" to never interfere with a computer for fear that he would break it...

Internet Stupidity needs to be resolved, and soon.

[happy-and-lost]

Someone finally gets it. Thank you, kind sir!

It's madam, actually. The fact that it's an all-girls school probably explains my problem quite well ;)

[diskotek]

there many schools that don't have computer.. think about that you may forgeyt about thinking it, or you may get more depressed

[beercz]

I broke the internet!

I'm gonna say this everywhere... maybe I should put it in my signature... I cannot even think about that with a straight face :D
My boss told me once that he owned the internet!!!!

As his IT Director I had to explain that no one owns the internet, he just simply rents a connection to it, whilst trying to keep a straight face.

[SZF2001]

It's madam, actually. The fact that it's an all-girls school probably explains my problem quite well ;)
A girl on a Linux forum? *gasp*

Just kidding. That's probably the mindset of the late 90's, anyway.

Sorry I didn't see or recognized you as a girl. I only assumed, which is rude of me. Hats off to you!