S Lyon's Technology Blogs

Computer Skills Testing

Beginning in the 8th grade since 1996, students have been required to take the Computer Skills Test.  This test is a graduation requirement.  Until I became the Testing Coordinator for my school and as a high school teacher, I wasn't aware of this test.  Originally the test was paper and pencil and had two parts, multiple choice and performance.  Now the test is completely online.  If students don't pass the test in the 8th grade, they are giving two chances each school year in high school to pass the test.

Here's the interesting part:  a lot of students are not being very succesful with this test...at least not at my school.  Last year, of all the students I tested, about half of them didn't pass.  From the outside, one would think that students are very technologically proficient and as a matter of fact, they think they are too, but not based on this test.  Students spend a lot of time surfing the Internet.  They know how to download music and videos.  They know how to use instant messenging lingo.  They know how to keep a blog on their facebook or myspace page.  But are those skills helpful in the 21st Century?

In some aspect maybe.  They do need to know how to communicate with people around the world.  But those skills aren't being tested.  They don't know about creating a spreadsheet, correctly typing a letter or resume, or creating graphs.  Why don't they think these skills are important?  Why, well probably because they live for the moment and not the future.  At the moment they don't need to create a graph for their friends and they certainly don't send them official letters anymore.  As a matter of fact, I had a student ask me how much a stamp cost!  Now granted, the price has changed a couple of times, but this kid had no idea how much it was.

Anyway, I think I digressed.  My point is this:  Students need to understand that to be proficient in the 21st Century skills needed for the "real world", they've got to know more than how to surf and blog.  This is where teachers come into play.  Teachers want to include more technology into the curriculum, which is a great idea of course.  But don't only include the things they already know how to do such as create a blog.  At least try to include, if possible, other skills they may need outside of school and their circle of friends.  But in order for teachers to do this, they need to be proficient as well.