[Oz-gifted] computer competition

[Lisa]

A couple of years ago, my son brought home the year 4 (I think) computer 
test. I found it a strange test. There is sooo much to know about 
computers, and the test seemed to cover several areas in a necessarily 
shallow way.

It had sections on hardware and software.
Now, my kids and I could be called computer literate, but there is 
literate and literate.
We could easily answer all the questions which fell within our 
experience. Then there were questions on software programmes we had 
never used, and arcane functionalities of a particular programme.

I vaguely remember a question which was asking about some function of MS 
Word, that I had maybe used *once* in years, in a complicated document, 
and the kids had never needed to learn about.

It is not stuff which is taught in school, it is not stuff that you 
'just know' because you can use a computer. IMO, you'd need to read the 
manual front-to-back to know the answers.

Lisa :)



Sandy Horne wrote:

>Alison wrote:
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>>none of the regular teachers at my school can pass it
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>This doesn't surprise me. In my experience (and I often deal with teachers
>in a professional capacity as well as through my children) teachers have
>generally appalling computer skills. We can now have the strange situation
>where a computer literate 12 year old student may well know more than most
>of her teachers.
>
>But what surprises me more is the attitude that I've heard from many
>teachers - that they are unwilling to learn about computers or frightened
>of them or, worse, that it's not necessary to know this stuff. Teachers
>expect their students to have open minds and be ready to learn new
>things yet have this unfortunate attitude when it comes to new technology.
>There are exceptions but, IME, the majority of teachers need to
>get with the times.
>
>Sandy
>horne at senet.com.au
>
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