Computer Illiteracy There is a problem out there that haunts many troubled souls in our society.
It is powerful. It can strip the pimple-faced class whiz of all his sickening pride. It can make the intelligent person feel like a complete idiot. It can make the confident doubt themselves. To those who have this problem, it seeks to make their lives a living hell.
This beast is called computer illiteracy. The problems arising from computer literacy are becoming more evident as colleges and companies continually replace humans with computers. Those who suffer from computer illiteracy will find that college and their future careers will become a challenge unless they choose to do something to overcome their handicap. College is a place to learn.
People go to college to expand their knowledge in certain areas which will soon be their careers. But, to the computer illiterate, everyday brings new challenges in the vast, unknown realm of the computer. They ask, What is this thing called e-mail, and how does it work? What are they to do when a teacher assigns the students to send in all assignments by e-mail? Eventually, they will have to learn the basics of e-mail which, in turn, reveals even more problems with being computer illiterate. For an essay, the teacher requires that they go to the library to do research. The computer illiterate happily walks into the library to do their research. Imagine their surprise when they find out that the main tool of research is one of those darn computers.
The poor illiterates stare blankly at a computer screen while the monotone library aide goes through a boring speech about how to use the computer. Because they are computer illiterate, the research takes twice as long than that of those who know the basics of computers. The other day I watched as a student tried to master the challenge of using a mouse. Because he had not ever used one before, it was completely hilarious watching him become frustrated with a thing the computer literate call double-clicking .
After time, he eventually learned to use the mouse effectively. How is a college student to function without the simple knowledge of using a mouse? It can not be done. Computer illiteracy is definitely a handicap for any college student. Careers pose another great threat to those computer illiterates. More and more computers are being used to make jobs more effective and efficient. At my present workplace, United Blood Services, computers are the most vital tools we possess.
Everything depends on computers. They simply could not run efficiently as they do now without computers. The United Blood Services is only one of many companies that rely only on computers to get the job done. Without basic computer literacy, one might as well forget applying for a job at any major company.
The words computer skills required have become a familiar sight in the classifieds appearing at the end of almost every job advertisement. To many, those words eat away at every last one of their nerves. One could be just as smart and have gone to school just as long as any computer literate person has, but without computer literacy, it means nothing. Though, it is for good reason.
Without computer skills, employees just can not be of any help to the computer-ran business. To be an accountant, you need to know about spreadsheets. To become a lawyer, good word-processing skills will make the job seem easy. To become a broker, electronically keeping track of the markets through computers is a must. Computers are changing the way we operate; it is changing our way of life. The computer illiterate must choose to do something about their handicap or risk being left behind as technology surges forward.
Their college life and their career will be an unnecessary challenge unless they choose to spend time become more computer literate. Computers are here, and they are here to stay. There is no way around them. Computers have become part of our society and we simply can not function without them. Computer illiteracy is just an obstacle that one must overcome in order to smoothly float through life.
