Ubuntu vs Freespire

[Peter Garrett]

On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 13:15:39 +0200
Alain Muls <alain.muls at telenet.be> wrote:

> Personally I do not think this is a proper education for a 15 year old, but I 
> cannot change the program.

I know it is obvious - but the problem here is that kids are not being
taught *computing* - they are being taught Microsoft clicking.

Often I suspect that it is not so much the teachers who are at fault as
the curriculum writers.

Unfortunately, this is creating a generation of people who don't have much
idea what a computer actually is, and does. i base this opinion on a very
limited exposure to computers at university long ago ( 70s). Because
modern computing is so "high level", it is (sadly) possible for people to
equate the buttons with the functions. That is not good education.

I'm not suggesting that everyone should become a programming guru. I am
not a programmer myself - but at least Linux has taught me some
understanding of the different levels and functions of an operating
system.  (I admit that a bit of Fortran and basic assembly
language way-back-when also helped, because I at least knew that the pretty
interfaces were merely superficial).

How teaching children to click the right menus and icons is educational
completely escapes me. This is one area where Richard Stallman ( love him
or hate him ) has a strong argument for Free Software.

Since I am not personally a parent, this is not something that I have been
directly involved with - but I feel parents should point out the flaws in
their childrens' educational curriculum to the relevant people,  if at all
possible.

Peter