Jakob Nielsen: schools should teach lifelong computer skills, not specific applications

This February 2007 piece by usability expert Jakob Nielsen hits the nail on the head. Excerpt:

"Teaching life-long computer skills in our schools offers further benefit in that it gives students insights that they're unlikely to pick up on their own. In contrast, as software gets steadily easier to use, anyone will be able to figure out how to draw a pie chart. People will learn how to use features on their own, when they need them -- and thus have the motivation to hunt for them. It's the conceptual things that get endlessly deferred without the impetus of formal education."

Comments

[DonaldHTaylor]

Seb

Thanks for this. A great article. The only thing I would add (in addition to everything that Nielsen points out) is that kids need to learn about information sharing. When it is a good idea, not a good, who needs to know it, and how to distribute it.

Come to think of it, some adults could do with this training, too.

Don Taylor