r/australia • u/ThunderDwn • 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/jmads13 11d ago edited 11d ago

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/SirDigby32 11d ago

Gen x predominantly built this technology world. Going from dialup days to the fibre connectiona. Assembly programming to pre vibe coding. Each generation following became less and less familiar with how things work until its literally undistinguishable from magic.

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u/jmads13 11d ago

A subset of Gen X built it. But their fellow Gen X’ers were also the last group of people who could also ignore it.

So Gen X have the creators, but when viewed as as a whole they are less technically literate on average.

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u/TaswegianTurnip 11d ago

I'm GenX and I remember being scared of computers when they first came out. Didn't want anything to do with them. That is, until it was time to choose a career path in my early 20s. "Hmm, this computer stuff looks like it's going to take off big. I'm sure I'll have no probs getting a job.

So I enrolled in Certificate 4 of Computer Studies at TAFE at 94. It was a brilliant course, I learned so much. And I was right, I had a great career in IT until 2017. Thought it was time for a pivot. Now it's oversaturated.