None of us are digital natives.
Today’s focus is not specifically about coding or problem solving but about the importance of building confidence in technology use to take an individual beyond the shallow level of experience and expertise that many students, parents and teachers now have.
Assertion #1: While smartphones and tablets have offered greater access to digital services the support and training required to use these services effectively has not been consistent. As a result confidence is low.
In late 2017 a European Commission conference in Brussels revealed that 37% of the workforce had no basic digital skills and that many companies lacked the skills to harness digital technologies effectively. Initiatives such as ALL DIGITAL attempt to build citizens’ digital skills in order to help them find work, access online services, etc. I’m personally really interested in their work with older adults who find that as more councils, banks and agencies move from traditional services to digital they are being marginalised.
Related initiatives in the UK include the fantastic Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (idea.org.uk) which provides self-learning modules to aid students and young adults in improving their knowledge of computer systems and processes as well as their digital skills.
Assertion #2: The teaching of Computer Science at certificate level in schools, colleges and universities can potentially prepare learners to create their ideas digitally but it does not fully prepare them to interact with a digital world.
I’ve had the privilege to experience teaching in different education systems over the past three or four years in state, independent and international schools. In each system the concepts that are categorised as “Computer Science” differ. One system teaches boolean algebra and logic gates, the other focuses on how a website is designed and coded. One system relies upon the student learning the intricate process of tracing an assembly language program, the other challenges the students to understand what a web graph is and how to construct a search engine.
You could argue that none of these concepts would help someone set up a regular payment with their bank or transfer their phone contacts to the cloud. However there is a misconception that those who study computer science are instantly fully computer literate. What these students will have (hopefully) is a reduced fear of failure when using technology and an interest in exploring new digital applications without the need for as much support. Just as a student with National 5 English will not (always) immediately publish their first novel but will instead have an increased ability to access a variety of media confidently.
There is a clear need for digital literacy to be a core component of education alongside traditional literacy and numeracy and for this to be provided as a separate subject to Computer Science at the age and stage when these life skills are going to be useful – and this call isn’t new. Schools which make use of Chromebooks, iPad or other devices cannot assume that students will absorb digital competency by osmosis just as businesses cannot assume that they will have the skills they need when entering the workforce. No one is a digital native. We all need a network of support, time and straight-talking guidance as to why a particular digital skill is worth learning in order to improve.
Try this:
- Spend fifteen minutes in the SETTINGS app on your smartphone. Try to change something you’ve never changed before, then wait ten minutes and try to change it back.
- Spend thirty minutes really exploring a website that you might need to use every so often, but not every day. For example the library service – get yourself a login; try and reserve a book; reissue those books you haven’t yet read.
- Spend an hour completing modules that interest you on the Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award website.
With thanks to Mark Hay and Jean Forsyth for timely conversations.
Hackable Classroom 