Teaching fundamentals is rarely a waste of time (if it is, then my fellow
historians and I are going to be up the creek without a paddle!). And I
assure you that applications like spreadsheets are not going anywhere
anytime soon as long as there are accountants, statisticians, social
scientists, or anyone else working with referential data or calculations.
The tools may become more robust but the basics are still going to be the
same.
I am of the opinion that we need to combine the education of the tool (word
processing, spreadsheets, databases) with the use of the tool (writing
skills, data analysis and manipulation, information management). In other
words, theory has to be part of practice. All too often, I encounter young
business professionals and students who are quite adept at using some
whiz-bang tools but can't format a professional document or do data analysis
because they don't know how to use the tools designed for those jobs.
By some estimates, the average computer user utilizes less than 30% of the
capability of the standard desktop. In part it is because we are only now
getting to the point of integrating technology in the classroom. As future
professionals become more adept at marrying theory to toolsets, people like
yourself will actually become MORE important, not less. Someone has to show
them how to use the tools to manage more and more information and the basic
applications are the fundamental tools.
Just my two cents.
TJ
On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 1:09 PM, Keith E Gatling <kgatling@mph.net> wrote:
> As I consider what I should be teaching in the coming years, I've been
> wondering, with all the neat stuff people have been doing with podcasts,
> wikis, blogs, and other forms of interactive media, is there really any
> point in my continuing to teach such nuts and bolts stuff as word
> processing
> and spreadsheet use? I keep hearing about how the 7th grader of today won't
> be using any of these "old fashioned" tools by the time they're in college,
> and so I wonder if continuing to teach them now is just a waste of
> everyone's time.
> --
> keg
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Keith E Gatling - Computer Instructor
> Manlius Pebble Hill School
> 5300 Jamesville Rd
> DeWitt, NY 13214
> 315.446.2452
> http://www.gatling.us/keith
>
> Some teachers teach subjects. Others teach students.
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
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--
TJ Rainsford
E: tjrainsford@gmail.com
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