Tip:
A recent article by Jacob Nielson, an expert on the usability of the Internet, had some important things to say re: what we should be teaching students about technology. Rather than teaching specific software that will most likely be significantly changed by the time they are in the workforce, we should be teaching them life-long skills that they are unlikely to pick up on their own.
In Life-Long Computer Skills Nielson suggests that students need:
- Ability to evaluate online information
- Techniques for dealing with information overload
- Ability to write hyper-linked online text
- Ability to create presentations (and avoid bad habits!)
- Abiility to understand workplace ergonomics
- Ability to debug, the logical process of tracking down errors
- Usability basics, for making informed decisions on a product's ease of use
Submitted by:
Janice Friesen, Educator
janicef@jfriesen.net
Austin, TX
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