A shaky start with computers inspired me to help a nonprofit that runs after-school tech clubs for kids
By Sheri Qualters
When I went to college, there was a lot of buzz about personal computers and a growing realization of the power of computing, so I decided to start my higher education journey by learning how to use them.
Because I was busy with other types of elective courses in high school, I had never even turned on a computer. Against that backdrop, the school’s Intro to Computing class seemed like the best way to get my feet wet. I signed up and soon found myself wrestling with programming languages, using computers for coding projects that I didn’t fully understand, and struggling with unfamiliar logic concepts. As I muddled through a course designed as an introductory class for engineering majors, I soon discovered that I had another problem with computers.
When September faded into October, term paper deadlines began piling up, and I realized that what I really needed to learn was how to use a Macintosh computer. My liberal arts college had helpfully installed dozens of the — then very expensive — machines in a 24-hour student computer center. They stood ready for us to boot up and start banging out the pile of term papers we were expected to churn out each semester. By this point, I could figure out where to find the “on” button on an unfamiliar machine, but, after that, I faced a blinking cursor on a white screen.
Somehow, through trial-and-error and copious (and probably repetitive) questions to the ever-patient students who did learn about computers in high school and had jobs in the computer center, I managed to learn enough to produce documents. A friend tells me I then taught her how to use a Macintosh, which still amazes me. Although I gained a halting proficiency, I wasn’t the least bit prepared for the process. Nothing in my educational background gave me a foundation for learning what I needed to know, and there was no way to get comprehensive, step-by-step training in the basic concepts.
I thought of those experiences, and some of my later digital fumblings, when I decided to volunteer with Kids in Tech, Inc., a Lowell, Massachusetts based nonprofit that runs after-school tech clubs for kids. After college and a couple of trial careers, I became a reporter and then business journalist. I’m now working on communications and content marketing projects, so I’m helping the organization with writing, editing and social media, not teaching kids tech skills. But I hope that my support will help Kids in Tech, and free up its founder, Olu Ibrahim, to focus on the organization’s core mission of preparing kids for future technology careers.
I see parallels between the unchartered territory my generation navigated when computer expertise was relatively rare and the upcoming generation’s need to adapt to constant technological changes and advancements.
There’s one key difference, though. My peers and I had time to figure things out as we went along, largely because other people, and businesses of all sizes, were on similar learning trajectories. Today’s kids, in contrast, are expected to have a baseline of specific expertise and enough understanding of how technology works to equip them to keep up with the flood of changes.
Another anecdote illustrates the primitive state of technology knowledge during the early years of the World Wide Web and the latitude and support companies gave workers to help them get up to speed. About five years after my baptism by fire in my college’s computer lab, I was working at a mutual fund company.
I remember a training program the company set up because some employees didn’t know how to navigate through computer screens. We sat in a conference room and learned how to select among options by clicking the appropriate radio button. Although I didn’t need that level of granular instruction by then, many people did, and the business world was willing to invest the time to teach employees basic computer skills.
Current jobs usually require entry level applicants to know a laundry list of technology skills. And the list of “standard” software programs is always growing.
A report the Brookings Institution prepared (for the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity) last year, Innovation and Technology to Accelerate Progress in Education, explains the scope of the problem. The Washington, D.C.-based think tank reports that although more than 90 percent of the world’s primary school aged children attend school, there’s mounting evidence that too few are learning skills they’ll need in the future.
While today’s students need the same foundational skills as children in past generations, including how to use words and numbers and knowledge of academic subjects, that’s not nearly enough, the report argues. According to the researchers, children also need to learn information literacy, flexibility and problem-solving. The report also warns that “massive skills gaps” are jeopardizing students’ progress and prospects for success and that not all school systems are equipped to teach children how to be lifelong learners.
Here in the technologically-advanced U.S., where municipalities and states set many standards, and income inequity affects who learns what and how well, it’s clear that most young people have some exposure to computers and video games. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 84 percent of U.S. households reported computer ownership in 2013 and 74 percent reported internet use.
But learning how to click through screens and be a passive user isn’t enough in a world where artificial intelligence and robots are infiltrating the business world and everyday life. Organizations like Kids in Tech are bridging that gap by giving children comprehensive knowledge to help them face unknown technology changes. In organization’s after-school tech clubs, children aged eight to 14 learn a range of skills, including typing, advanced coding and how to build an app, from trained STEM professionals and educators. The clubs support a vital and massive mission — grooming the next generation of tech innovators in mid-sized cities. Such cities, including Kids in Tech’s Lowell, Mass. home base are breeding grounds for opportunities. By 2024, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the Lowell area will see double-digit percentage growth in computer and information systems managers, computer systems analysts and similar job titles.
In our fast-changing world, no can be certain what aptitudes teens will need for success in the job market, let alone eight-year-olds. But it’s clear that kids need knowledge and deep passion for technology to adapt to new advances on a continual basis. Even though I’ve been a consumer and user — and not a designer or maker — of technology, I’m committed to doing my part to help.
Sheri Qualters is a writer and communications professional with experience in business and legal journalism, content creation and social media.
