When people think about millennials they automatically think about one thing: our love of technology. Our generation grew up in the midst of the Dot-com boom and introduced the world to social media. Digital technology is irrevocably intertwined with our daily lives.
But even though parents and grandparents praise us over and over as we show them for the hundredth time how to upload photos to Facebook, what if our tech skills are actually lacking? What if our generation isn’t nearly as tech-savvy as we think we are?
Well, according to the Educational Testing Service, there seems to be pretty good reason to believe that that’s exactly the case.
Based on a study conducted by the Princeton-based service, young Americans scored in a four-way tie for last place out of twenty-two countries in a category defined as “problem-solving in technology-rich environments.” Essentially, while millennials are able to effectively use technology, they are not able to effectively apply it in real-world situations. This presents some problems as we enter a workforce filled with employers seeking applicants who have training or experience with IT skills like coding and graphic design.
The interview
Unfortunately, there are not many opportunities for students to learn these skills unless they seek out opportunities to do so on their own. I recently sat down with Molly McConaughey, the current president of Miami University’s Kode2Learn club, to discuss what her organization is doing to tackle our country’s digital literacy problem.
Could you tell me a little about you and your organization?
“Of course! So I am the president of Kode2Learn, and we teach weekly after-school coding clubs at six elementary schools in the area and one at Miami. The students we teach are in 3rd to 5th grade, and we try to do different things with them each semester. Our goal is to get them exposed to technology and coding early, and to get the students excited about it. A lot of schools do not have any coding education, so we want to be able to provide that to them.”
That’s awesome! Do you think there’s a lot of visibility and enthusiasm on campus for your organization?
“Yes, we have a lot of members, which is great. A lot are not Computer Science majors or Software Engineers. We have a lot of Education and Stats majors, so our club offers members the chance to learn coding also. We were founded 3 years ago and worked with one school and twenty kids, and now we work with several schools and about one hundred kids.”
A lot of your members aren’t trained in coding, which appears to be a growing trend among our generation. How can we ensure that students receive some basic education on these skills including coding, data analytics, graphic design, etc. and graduate with proficiency in them?
“Well early on, schools in the Oxford area have a STEM rotation teacher who rotates through all the elementary schools and teaches science and technology, which is a great way to get kids started and involved. Then other schools have their principals reach out to me to come in and teach. Also, lots of schools around the world use Code.org to find hour-long coding tutorials for students, which is great because they don’t need a formal curriculum to teach coding skills. I think more schools need to be proactive in seeking out educational opportunities for their students to learn computer skills early on. In college, most of the opportunities to learn these skills are ones that we need to find ourselves. There are lots of classes that are very basic, we can look for online tutorials, and there are also other coding and computer clubs that teach these skills. A lot of our members learn on the job, but we want to eventually host workshops for general Miami students as well.”
It sounds like you provide lots of resources for students to develop digital literacy skills, but generating interest seems to be half the battle. Is there any way you think we can do that?
“Getting people who are enthusiastic about coding around kids early on is so important. They need to teach kids that code is not scary which seems to be a stereotype surrounding code and computers. You don’t need a background to start. You can start whenever, and I think that it’s important to stress that to people of all ages. As you get older and more advanced, coding and design become exciting!”
Do you have any advice for people like me, who are intimidated by coding? Students who are entering the workforce and feel as though they are struggling with or scared of tech literacy?
“I would tell you to reach out to people you know to help you out. Research these skills yourself. There is plenty to learn online. People in the workforce can definitely pick it up if our 3rd graders can.”
Going forward
While organizations like Kode2Learn are working to integrate tech education into students’ lives earlier on, there’s still a lot of work to be done. The reality is that students simply aren’t graduating with all the skills they need to feel confident in our current economy.
Whether it be through on-campus organizations or through the use of online resources, it’s important that students get a jumpstart upping their tech skills.
Have something to add to this story? Comment below or join the discussion on Facebook.
Header image: Adobe Stock
