The Wired Campus: In Downturn, More Return to College Without Basic Computer Skills

The Wired Campus November 3, 2010

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/in-downturn-more-return-to-college-without-basic-computer-skills/28007

Orlando, Fla.— Online education can help laid-off workers learn new skills. But before they can even dream about getting a degree, some must clear a much more basic hurdle: learning how to use a computer.

This lack of basic computer knowledge is an increasingly common predicament as community colleges accommodate workers displaced by the economic downturn, according to one speaker at today’s Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning, which is taking place here this week.

Colleges are trying to bring people up to speed with basic computing classes that focus on material as simple as explaining the function of a mouse, says Saundra W. Williams, senior vice president and chief of technology and workforce development for the North Carolina Community College System.

During a talk on emerging trends in online learning at community colleges, Ms. Williams told the story of one laid-off worker who had spent 27 years with the same company—working the same job. She only had a high-school diploma.

“How many of you can imagine what her skill level would be to move into something different?” Ms. Williams asked. She added, “Some people will come in—they don’t know how to turn the computer on. They never had to. Their jobs never required it.”

The Wired Campus: In Downturn, More Return to College Without Basic Computer Skills