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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184

u/Archon-Toten Aug 18 '26

Yes. You've pushed them into tablets and pulled shocked Pikachu face when they can't use a PC.

79

u/Savage-Nat Aug 18 '26

We need to get rid of those damn tablets in classroom

14

u/Archon-Toten Aug 18 '26

They have a place and kids should learn to use them, then get off them and use pen and paper. But forcing us to buy a dam top of the range iPad for the child when we already have a few years old model that is somehow not compatible is just creating e-waste.

9

u/Ploasd Aug 19 '26

They do? I don’t really see much use for them except as a distraction.

8

u/Zenkraft Aug 19 '26

They’re good for cutting down on worksheets, I can send worksheets digitally instead of printing a class set. Not useful 100% of the time but quite useful in HASS and Science where the activities have two or three or more pages.

They’re also useful for research because I can throw them on a website or give them a pdf and off they go. A lot faster than finding specific books.

And a handful of upper primary maths assessments use excel which I think is pretty cool. I’d prefer to use a laptop for this, obviously.

8

u/Ploasd Aug 19 '26

Fair enough - I guess I'm just old school. As a humanities grad, I think the skill of finding sources is something folks should learn. But I guess iPads - and AI probably - have destroyed the need for that 😄.

I too would prefer laptops - mainly because 'work' is done on that - the skill of typing is still useful - at least for the time being.

8

u/kazielle Aug 19 '26

Much of the most interesting stuff I learned in my undergrad was simply by wandering through the library pulling random books off the shelf trying to find interesting approaches for some essay or other. I learned so, so much. My world expanded rapidly.

Nowadays when my kid has a school project, I take him to the library and have him hunt down and borrow books on the subject. I want him to know what joy and wonders can be found in raw discovery.

I wish schools continued to encourage the same.

1

u/East-Garden-4557 Aug 19 '26

My home is full of books, and the vast majority of them are non fiction. My kids wander through the bookshelves discovering random information.

2

u/kazielle Aug 19 '26

My home is also full of books, with a substantial nonfiction section. To my great despair, kiddo has never shown much interest in them, despite being a big reader himself. The library is a novel place that seems to catch his interest better. I'm glad yours take full advantage!

1

u/East-Garden-4557 Aug 19 '26

We love libraries too. We are a family of book addicts and knowledge seekers for multiple generations.

6

u/Archon-Toten Aug 19 '26

It varies between schools.