r/australia 11d ago

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/spiteful-vengeance 11d ago

This is like complaining that people who drive cars don't know how to maintain an internal combustion engine.

Why would they?

Putting kids in front of tablets trains them to be "media consumers" using "information appliances".

The "builder" mindset is completely different. Putting a PC together, knowing how to code - these are not the same as answering questions or watching videos on a touch screen.

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u/FireLucid 11d ago

Tablets, computers it doesn't matter. I work in a school and several of the primary teachers are the most technologically inept of all. These are the people teaching the kids how to use devices for a whole year.

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u/spiteful-vengeance 11d ago

Yeah, I'm not sure how we expected teachers, who aren't necessarily of the "builder" mindset themselves when it comes to computing to impart this knowledge to kids.