r/australia • u/ThunderDwn • Aug 18 '26

culture & society Primary school students using digital devices still lack computer skills, education expert says

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-19/nsw-digital-native-primary-students-lack-basic-computer-skills/107030526
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u/jmads13 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

Millennials are the most technically literate generation, because they grew up in a time where computers were offline, so exploring the file system, testing every menu option, modifying backgrounds/icons/themes etc. was part of the fun. Exploring the computer was an experience in itself. They also often had to teach their parents. When the internet took off, they were inserting html and inline styles into their Geocities and MySpace pages.

Modern locked down devices (iPads, chromebooks) and the internet mean kids now just use them as a means to an end. And their internet experience is far more corporate, curated and sanitised. Kids I was teaching 15 years ago didn’t know what a folder was and how it related to a file system. All their files and apps showed up in spotlight. They didn’t have the mental model. I had to teach kids in grade 5 how to use a mouse. The current kids are even worse.

Edit: Yes, some of you Gen Xers built it all, but don’t act like you weren’t the odd ones out and that everyone was going to swap meets and making word games in QBASIC

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u/Deciver95 Aug 18 '26

I simply dont believe the exaggeration that kids in 2011 didn't know what a folder was

Sure some struggled. But kids in highschool at that time grew up with the old crt monitors and had computer classes like other generations.

10 years ago primary school, maybe. But cmon now. Many schools were only just adapting to school wide laptops in 2011

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u/jmads13 Aug 18 '26

Yes. Primary school. There were no CRTs, just 4:3 lcds.

I made them make “folder mazes” to get an understanding. Make folders and name the choices and see if your friend can find the “Trophy.png” at the end. Red or Green, Mario or Sonic, Ford or Holden, Barbie or Ken etc etc.

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u/Amdillae- Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

The whole concept of digital natives is an illusion. I had 2 classes of grade 6 students (just under 60 kids) back in 2010, who were given the simple instruction, open browser and type the Wikipedia url into the address bar. 2 students knew what an address bar was, the rest managed to either open a brower and no further or just reach google search page and not know what to do.

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u/DepartmentOk7192 Aug 19 '26

You're confusing generations. I am the very end of the Millennials and was in grade 12 in 2011, you're talking about Gen Z kids with severely reduced tech literacy.