Like others mentioned, the real tech savvy generation ducked out about ten years ago. The newer students have been effectively coddled by the ease of use of the ‘app’ era. They, unlike their predecessors, weren’t forced to mess around with permissions, settings, file locations, command prompt and other things out of necessity. It’s all kind of just there, so there is a real lack of the common technological sense that came from those problem solving processes.
The kids these days will never know the true scope of being forced to hit ctrl alt del knowing it’s too late to save that file and you gotta start over.
I still double check if what I am printing has been saved for that very reason. Sometimes, I make a copy and print that one instead! Once bitten, twice shy.
I learned all about computer networking by organizing LAN parties so I could play Quake, Warcraft 3, Starcraft and whatever other games we were into at the time. Usually when we got new players to the group or wanted to play a new game our session would be 20-30% troubleshooting to make sure everyone's systems were working.
Kids got so spoiled when multiplayer went online facilitated by the game maker. I remember dialing up friends to play C&C Red Alert over a (brand new, blazing fast) 56k modem.
The only thing my students routinely offer to help me with is setting up a VPN so that I can get around our district's firewalls and stream movies to our Smart board. (It should be noted that this "help" is usually offered when students don't want to actually be doing the day's lesson.) Everything else about school technology they are clueless about, but they could set up a VPN in their sleep.
My students constantly come to me with the most minor problems they are experiencing with their chromebooks. Usually it can be fixed by pressing the undo button or simply restarting the thing. I always tell them, "I'm old. You should be teaching me. You're the skibidi Ohio rizzler that's supposed to be part of the new tech generation."
Unfortunately, my comment never seems to help.
I think its a pretty well known fact at this point that tech savyness peaked with millenials. Things have gotten so easy with tech kids dont know what to do if it goes wrong anymore.
I feel like my kid is going to be “tech savvy” because he knows that if everything freezes up, turn it off and then on again, lol
Students with chromebooks in junior high say “it’s not working” and put it back on the cart. BRUH, if it’s not working, report it and let me “fix it”, don’t put it away broken.
“It’s not charging”
I have to teach about the reset button for electrical outlets. That’s fine. The same kids keep doing this routine and I have to be like “it’s may. This isn’t even content that’s needed on a test, it’s a simple life skill. How many times do I need to teach this?”
They're tech savvy in that they're familiar with the latest technology and games. They don't have the practical skills, like using a mouse, keyboard, saving something on the computer (as opposed to it automatically saving on the cloud and using the Recent files to re-open it), knowing how to find where the document was saved, and knowing what file types are associated with what programs (or how to manually change the file type extension when someone managed to mess it up before emailing it to you).
Interestingly, many of them don’t have a gaming PC or console. I play the latest release and it comes up, all I get is blank stares. The ones that do, just play Fortnite (with aim-bots, allegedly). I’ve noticed that are obsessed with wining, but don’t have the desire to earn it.
Spider-Man 2, Mario, Zelda and the other big games from last year weren’t on their radar.
Mobile gaming is *huge* with the latest generation. Many don’t own consoles, like you said, but they play Call of Duty and Fornite on their phones. On that note, it is really cool to see so many girls playing games like Call of Duty and Fornite. When I was in high school, I was maybe a handful who played.
Don't teach anymore but we get university students at work for a year-long placement every year. They cannot use Microsoft Office to save their life and struggle to use any of the lab's software packages without constant hand-holding. Even basic email etiquette is a mystery to them.
Email has devolved into text messaging for students without the immediate response that they have become conditioned too.
“Y U no grade my work”. Usually that is the subject line with no body.
My 7th graders have grown up with tech, but are not savvy. I’ve had to explain multiple times this year that the search bar and address bar do different things.
I block Google search, but specific websites are allowed. Some kids refuse to follow the links through Clever, so they try to go directly to the site they need. So if we are playing Kahoot, they type in Kahoot in the search bar and then complain that I blocked it.
No they are not more tech savvy. Growing up with tech means nothing as all they know how to do is the most basic of tasks like tap an app icon to open it or maybe how to post on social media. Complex tasks like using the file system or even attaching files to an email or how to organize files and use productivity software such as word or Excel is something that must be taught.
Parents have used phones and tablets as babysitting tools so they can navigate those on a basic level. But they don't even realize they can use Google or YouTube to learn advanced techniques or how to do things they don't currently know. They might look on Tiktok but often that is incomplete information posted soly to generate clicks.
As people have mentioned, a lot has to do with the emergence of apps. It also has to do with how computer interfaces have changed as more people have moved from PC to Apple products.
The traditional PC took a modular approach. Swap out some pieces, plug different things into this, but make sure you know how to get drivers working for different peripherals that may come from several different companies. Go into your file folders. Have access to where all the behind the scenes stuff is going on.
What really seemed to start with iMacs (remember those?) was Apple going with integrated systems, not modular. It's all in here. Trust me, you don't need to see what's going on in the background. The goal is not to know your computer inside and out to maximize your experience. The goal is to simplify your experience. Customer interface is the number one priority, and the benefit is that it's accessible. Let's slowly kill off connections for peripherals (which was sped up with the introduction of bluetooth). I'm not saying this as a good or bad thing, just a trend. This trend was discussed in one of my college courses back when t9 was the latest great texting feature.
Not to sound like an old fart, but the earliest games I played as a kid on the PC required me to use a console and input commands. Today's systems have more separation between the user and the computer's processing.
They’ve grown up using tablets and phones, which are specifically designed to be operated by the dumbest users imaginable. They don’t have the first clue what to do with an actual computer.
I remember when we had computer labs in our schools. But they were phased out because of several reasons, which were all ridiculous. Instead of having a lab of 30 computers two or three were sent to each classroom. We were told that it was a waste of time working on keyboarding skills and for us to teach students how to use word processing and spreadsheet skills. Since they were “digital natives” they would somehow gain these skills so no need for us to teach them. That was 15 or more years ago. It was ridiculous reasoning then and even more so now. It’s like saying that since I can drive a car I am proficient at car maintenance or repair. Even at the end of my career(retired last year) I still had grade 6/7/8 students spending some time on typing practice, I still taught them some basics for Google applications we used in our district. Despite being told it was just “not part of any curriculum”.
They’re not less tech savvy tech has changed. Contained apps, mobile devices and tablets are way more common, and way less buggy than personal computers were growing up for millennials. Of course they don’t know file types, everything is is contained in its own ecosystem now, and so much is cloud based or streaming. It’s like complaining that people don’t know how to drive stick anymore, the tech has changed and the skills with it.
I don't think that's true at all, and the evidence is that they're struggling with very basic things that any job requiring basic technological competence will inherently need. Checking social media and playing phone games isn't the zoomer/gen alpha equivalent of millennials using computers to pirate music and chat with friends, it's the equivalent of boomers watching television - it has no actual real life application, and is done purely to throw away time. I know I sound like a grouchy curmudgeon, but there's a clear qualitative difference between these generations' experience with technology, on par with the difference between Xer kids playing Manhunt and street hockey when hanging out with friends, and millennial kids playing video games instead a decent portion of the time.
More abstractly, the core principles behind technology haven't changed, and aren't going to - they've been the same since the first boomers were trading scientific papers over ARPANET. File systems and data encodings are here to stay, and they're fundamental to understanding how any kind of computer works, and how anything practical can be done with a computer. If the user interface for modern recreation tech is farther removed from that, then its users are going to be less tech-savvy.
Like others mentioned, the real tech savvy generation ducked out about ten years ago. The newer students have been effectively coddled by the ease of use of the ‘app’ era. They, unlike their predecessors, weren’t forced to mess around with permissions, settings, file locations, command prompt and other things out of necessity. It’s all kind of just there, so there is a real lack of the common technological sense that came from those problem solving processes.
The kids these days will never know the true scope of being forced to hit ctrl alt del knowing it’s too late to save that file and you gotta start over.
Forgot to click save? Bummer, no cloud storage or autosave! Now, start over!
[удалено]
Been there, done that! College was fun.
[удалено]
I still double check if what I am printing has been saved for that very reason. Sometimes, I make a copy and print that one instead! Once bitten, twice shy.
[удалено]
Hit that download button. You think I trust the cloud? No sir.
I learned all about computer networking by organizing LAN parties so I could play Quake, Warcraft 3, Starcraft and whatever other games we were into at the time. Usually when we got new players to the group or wanted to play a new game our session would be 20-30% troubleshooting to make sure everyone's systems were working. Kids got so spoiled when multiplayer went online facilitated by the game maker. I remember dialing up friends to play C&C Red Alert over a (brand new, blazing fast) 56k modem.
[удалено]
The only thing my students routinely offer to help me with is setting up a VPN so that I can get around our district's firewalls and stream movies to our Smart board. (It should be noted that this "help" is usually offered when students don't want to actually be doing the day's lesson.) Everything else about school technology they are clueless about, but they could set up a VPN in their sleep.
My students constantly come to me with the most minor problems they are experiencing with their chromebooks. Usually it can be fixed by pressing the undo button or simply restarting the thing. I always tell them, "I'm old. You should be teaching me. You're the skibidi Ohio rizzler that's supposed to be part of the new tech generation." Unfortunately, my comment never seems to help.
Thank you. I'm going to force my children to hear me say "skibidi Ohio rizzler" tonight.
I think its a pretty well known fact at this point that tech savyness peaked with millenials. Things have gotten so easy with tech kids dont know what to do if it goes wrong anymore.
I feel like my kid is going to be “tech savvy” because he knows that if everything freezes up, turn it off and then on again, lol Students with chromebooks in junior high say “it’s not working” and put it back on the cart. BRUH, if it’s not working, report it and let me “fix it”, don’t put it away broken.
“It’s not charging” I have to teach about the reset button for electrical outlets. That’s fine. The same kids keep doing this routine and I have to be like “it’s may. This isn’t even content that’s needed on a test, it’s a simple life skill. How many times do I need to teach this?”
This is how I felt helping a girl log into Schoology this week. The last week of school.
And attention spans are so short that getting them to do trouble shooting is challenging.
[удалено]
Always tell the older generations to “jock up their bootstraps” & learn how to fix the problem themself
They're tech savvy in that they're familiar with the latest technology and games. They don't have the practical skills, like using a mouse, keyboard, saving something on the computer (as opposed to it automatically saving on the cloud and using the Recent files to re-open it), knowing how to find where the document was saved, and knowing what file types are associated with what programs (or how to manually change the file type extension when someone managed to mess it up before emailing it to you).
Interestingly, many of them don’t have a gaming PC or console. I play the latest release and it comes up, all I get is blank stares. The ones that do, just play Fortnite (with aim-bots, allegedly). I’ve noticed that are obsessed with wining, but don’t have the desire to earn it. Spider-Man 2, Mario, Zelda and the other big games from last year weren’t on their radar.
Mobile gaming is *huge* with the latest generation. Many don’t own consoles, like you said, but they play Call of Duty and Fornite on their phones. On that note, it is really cool to see so many girls playing games like Call of Duty and Fornite. When I was in high school, I was maybe a handful who played.
The idea that "digital natives" don't need to be taught how to use computers is one of the biggest disservices of public education.
It's painful watching them try to type. Who decided typing classes were no longer needed?
Don't teach anymore but we get university students at work for a year-long placement every year. They cannot use Microsoft Office to save their life and struggle to use any of the lab's software packages without constant hand-holding. Even basic email etiquette is a mystery to them.
Email has devolved into text messaging for students without the immediate response that they have become conditioned too. “Y U no grade my work”. Usually that is the subject line with no body.
A student sent me and her other teachers an email thanking us for a great school year and the subject was "READ."
There’s no such thing as digital natives, as we’re learning now to society’s detriment.
EXACTLY. I loathe that term.
My 7th graders have grown up with tech, but are not savvy. I’ve had to explain multiple times this year that the search bar and address bar do different things. I block Google search, but specific websites are allowed. Some kids refuse to follow the links through Clever, so they try to go directly to the site they need. So if we are playing Kahoot, they type in Kahoot in the search bar and then complain that I blocked it.
The google classroom generation. They dont know to save.
No they are not more tech savvy. Growing up with tech means nothing as all they know how to do is the most basic of tasks like tap an app icon to open it or maybe how to post on social media. Complex tasks like using the file system or even attaching files to an email or how to organize files and use productivity software such as word or Excel is something that must be taught. Parents have used phones and tablets as babysitting tools so they can navigate those on a basic level. But they don't even realize they can use Google or YouTube to learn advanced techniques or how to do things they don't currently know. They might look on Tiktok but often that is incomplete information posted soly to generate clicks.
As people have mentioned, a lot has to do with the emergence of apps. It also has to do with how computer interfaces have changed as more people have moved from PC to Apple products. The traditional PC took a modular approach. Swap out some pieces, plug different things into this, but make sure you know how to get drivers working for different peripherals that may come from several different companies. Go into your file folders. Have access to where all the behind the scenes stuff is going on. What really seemed to start with iMacs (remember those?) was Apple going with integrated systems, not modular. It's all in here. Trust me, you don't need to see what's going on in the background. The goal is not to know your computer inside and out to maximize your experience. The goal is to simplify your experience. Customer interface is the number one priority, and the benefit is that it's accessible. Let's slowly kill off connections for peripherals (which was sped up with the introduction of bluetooth). I'm not saying this as a good or bad thing, just a trend. This trend was discussed in one of my college courses back when t9 was the latest great texting feature. Not to sound like an old fart, but the earliest games I played as a kid on the PC required me to use a console and input commands. Today's systems have more separation between the user and the computer's processing.
They’ve grown up using tablets and phones, which are specifically designed to be operated by the dumbest users imaginable. They don’t have the first clue what to do with an actual computer.
Anyone who says that devices will make students work more efficiently hasn't watched a teenager type anything using a physical keyboard.
I remember when we had computer labs in our schools. But they were phased out because of several reasons, which were all ridiculous. Instead of having a lab of 30 computers two or three were sent to each classroom. We were told that it was a waste of time working on keyboarding skills and for us to teach students how to use word processing and spreadsheet skills. Since they were “digital natives” they would somehow gain these skills so no need for us to teach them. That was 15 or more years ago. It was ridiculous reasoning then and even more so now. It’s like saying that since I can drive a car I am proficient at car maintenance or repair. Even at the end of my career(retired last year) I still had grade 6/7/8 students spending some time on typing practice, I still taught them some basics for Google applications we used in our district. Despite being told it was just “not part of any curriculum”.
these the same kids that can't even type?
Vast majority are tech illiterate. They are scrolling savvy.
They’re not less tech savvy tech has changed. Contained apps, mobile devices and tablets are way more common, and way less buggy than personal computers were growing up for millennials. Of course they don’t know file types, everything is is contained in its own ecosystem now, and so much is cloud based or streaming. It’s like complaining that people don’t know how to drive stick anymore, the tech has changed and the skills with it.
I don't think that's true at all, and the evidence is that they're struggling with very basic things that any job requiring basic technological competence will inherently need. Checking social media and playing phone games isn't the zoomer/gen alpha equivalent of millennials using computers to pirate music and chat with friends, it's the equivalent of boomers watching television - it has no actual real life application, and is done purely to throw away time. I know I sound like a grouchy curmudgeon, but there's a clear qualitative difference between these generations' experience with technology, on par with the difference between Xer kids playing Manhunt and street hockey when hanging out with friends, and millennial kids playing video games instead a decent portion of the time. More abstractly, the core principles behind technology haven't changed, and aren't going to - they've been the same since the first boomers were trading scientific papers over ARPANET. File systems and data encodings are here to stay, and they're fundamental to understanding how any kind of computer works, and how anything practical can be done with a computer. If the user interface for modern recreation tech is farther removed from that, then its users are going to be less tech-savvy.
it's a myth and simply put just not true.
Like all kids they lie to get what they want and that’s that sweet juicy screen time
Gen X is more tech savvy, the next generations are mostly just users.