We Can’t Assume They Know

In my first, full-time semester teaching, I assumed that 20-something-year-old students would be much more tech savvy than I am. Alas, not so much. That makes sense because my generation grew up constantly troubleshooting tech, including hardware. Today’s students are fortunate that they have grown up with tech “just working.” Click and go!

But Microsoft Office apps aren’t designed that way. To realize all the functions that Microsoft offers, one must be willing to click around and explore. Tinker. Younger students are afraid to go outside the most obvious button and to click around. That, “why doesn’t it just work,” mentality is holding them back.

I’m offering a tech bootcamp, to get them through some of the more basic and the more intricate (and extremely helpful) features in Word, Excel, and Acrobat. It should be “fun.”