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Re: Who's keeping history alive?? How do we get younger people interested??
Author: Steve Sloan
Date: 05-25-2007 - 08:50
Regarding young people and computer skills:
As a person who teaches young people computer skills at a major bay area university I have to burst this bubble. Young people, in general, APPEAR to have computer skills because they use computers often. But, if you look at HOW they are using computers, they are mostly using them to IM, or to access social media sites like youtube, myspace and facebook. Very few of them are actually producing media of any sophistication. Most (well over 90%) do not know how to edit a photo in Photoshop or create a simple web page. We think young people can create great content, but from what I see the ability to create content is much less age specific thn folks think. In fact, the young folks I see are much less computer literate than we think. So, if you think recruiting young folks is the secret to keeping your train club's Website up to date, I am sorry to disappoint you.
~Steve Sloan
San Jose, CA
As a person who teaches young people computer skills at a major bay area university I have to burst this bubble. Young people, in general, APPEAR to have computer skills because they use computers often. But, if you look at HOW they are using computers, they are mostly using them to IM, or to access social media sites like youtube, myspace and facebook. Very few of them are actually producing media of any sophistication. Most (well over 90%) do not know how to edit a photo in Photoshop or create a simple web page. We think young people can create great content, but from what I see the ability to create content is much less age specific thn folks think. In fact, the young folks I see are much less computer literate than we think. So, if you think recruiting young folks is the secret to keeping your train club's Website up to date, I am sorry to disappoint you.
~Steve Sloan
San Jose, CA
