On 3/8/06, Mixu Lauronen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Using office applications effectively isn't about learning the order of > menus and menu selections or keystrokes. It is about understanding the > basic principles of, say, Windows programs in general and the basics of > spreadsheeting and word processing - which apply to every single > application of that kind.
You say it "isn't about" memorizing keystrokes, etc. - you are wrong. That is what is it's about. That might not be what it *should be* about, but that's where it is. And I don't blame the teachers, at least not entirely, a lot of people don't want to learn "The basic principles" of anything. They just want to know "What do I need to do to create the reports I need to create?" I have a friend who works on computers 40 hours a week. He has a techie kind of job - he creates PDFs using Adobe Acrobat - organizes them according to a complex numbering system, places them on a secure server, and then updates the corporate website to reflect the changes he has made. He is a college graduate, and pretty smart. He's also young - 25 years old. Now - this guy doesn't know anything about MSO or Adobe or web design or servers beyond what he has to do for work. They did some upgrades from MSO XP to MSO 2003 in his office last year (yeah, they're a bit behind), and he couldn't stop talking about how much better 2003 was than XP. I asked him what was so improved about it. He stopped talking. After a pause he said "I really like the new color!" I wanted to cry. Here is an intelligent, educated, highly-paid (at least much more than me), young guy with a computer job - and he doesn't know jack about computers beyond what he has to know. I'd say he's pretty representative of the average corporate user. They know how to type reports, send emails, make a spreadsheet, surf the web, and shop on ebay - that's about it. Basic principles mean nothing to them. They just know if they click the blue "e" they can look at stuff online, and if they click the blue W they can type stuff. Maybe I should start training people in these issues... > Best of luck with that - but I doubt it will work, and here's a couple reasons why... CEOs don't want to pay for more training than they need to. Teaching basic principles will take longer and therefore cost more (because of teacher fees and loss of productivity from the trainees) than teaching keystrokes and menu orders. Workers don't want to learn more than they need to. People don't care about the why or how - they just care about do this to make this happen. Before someone starts on the "they need to think long term" stuff about how if you teach basic principles, you won't need to reteach every upgrade need to realize employees are expendable and interchangable. The staff I train with basic principles when we upgrade to 2003 won't be the same staff I have when I upgrade to 2007. Teach them how to do the job I need done right now - forget the rest. I wish people understood more about the basic principles, too. It would make my job a lot easier (web designer and only IT staff in my office). But from a CEOs stand point, or a board of directors, or shareholders - it doesn't make sense to train for that - just "teach the test" and move on. -- - Chad Smith http://www.gimpshop.net/ http://www.whatisopenoffice.org/ Because everyone loves free software!
