Submission + - What tech skills do HS students need to know to be successful in HS and beyond?
heybiff writes: During summer months I deliver brief tech workshops to high school students as part of an enrichment program. Almost all of the students are average students pulled from non-magnet comprehensive high schools throughout our city. Make no mistakes — these are not the students who have a love of technology and coding, many were coerced by excited parents or guidance counselors. After doing this for almost 10 years, I have found students have become considerable more comfortable with technology, and confident in their use, especially with smartphones and tablets being ubiquitous. Unfortunately, I also see a lot of basic knowledge and tech skills all but nonexistent. Moreover, students seem unaware that the tech they use daily even has any usefulness ofr academic activities. So what I put to you fellow Slashdotters is: What do students today realistically have to know to be successful in school? Which tech skills are still important and necessary, and which are gone the way of the typewriter? What misconceptions or outright lies have become so ingrained in your people's use of technology that they need to be addressed? Finally, the program puts laptops in students hands, to give them a kickstart in being successful; what skills do they need to get the most out of the new hardware they were just given?
