Digital native students lack basic computer skills, education expert says

Primary school students using digital devices still lack computer skills, education expert says When Emily Lockwood was at primary school, she would sit in a computer lab and learn how to type on a keyboard, make a presentation or save a file. But for her two children, there are no such classes. "Kids don't have that these days," Ms Lockwood said. "Teachers are expected to weave digital learning throughout all of the subjects, so it might come up in History, Science, English, and that's a crazy ask to me." While her children have grown up around devices, when they first attempted typing on a computer, it did not come naturally. "It's pretty horrific to look at, it is like very slow, they're unfamiliar with where things go," she said. She compared it to being in the back seat of a car, rather than knowing how to drive. "People think they've grown up with this tech, they must be used to it, but it's not always the case." 'Keyboarding automaticity' Ms Lockwood's children can bring their own device to school starting in year 3, as part of the government's optional Bring Your Own Device program. But despite devices often being introduced to the classroom in the early years of primary school, research shows children still produce higher-quality writing by hand than when typing on a computer. Edith Cowan University senior education lecturer Anabela Malpique suggested this was because children had more experience writing by hand than typing on a computer. "If you don't develop your keyboarding automaticity to a point where you actually are not hunting and pecking the letters on a keyboard, you will end up in a position of not really focusing on your ideas," Ms Malpique said. To achieve this, explicit teaching of basic computer skills is required, just as with basic reading, writing and maths. "They need to be told and taught how to actually engage with the computer to compose a text as opposed to discovering it,"Ms Malpique said. However, when students reach year 5, they are expected to sit their NAPLAN tests on a computer. The tests were computerised for year 5, 7 and 9 in 2022, with year 3 students continuing to take written tests. 'Can't blame our teachers' Following the release of this year's results, NSW Minister for Education and Early Learning, Prue Car, said computerised testing may be impacting writing results. More than 77 per cent of year 3 students scored in the 'strong' or 'exceeding' categories for writing. However, that number dropped to 67 per cent in year 5 and continued to decline throughout high school. By year 9, just over 61 per cent of students were classified as 'strong' or 'exceeding' in writing. Ms Car said she asked the federal Department of Education to "have a look at" moving the writing element of NAPLAN back to pen and paper for all year levels. She said it might be influencing when schools choose to integrate technology, which was a decision left up to individual principals. "We can't blame our teachers for wanting to get our students prepared for that computer-based test by introducing computers earlier,"Ms Car said. But Ms Malpique said even if this was the case, teachers reported spending more time and attention teaching paper-based writing skills, according to two national surveys she conducted. "Teachers told us this happens either because they don't have enough training to teach computer-based writing, or they don't have the capacity in their schools to teach it," she said. Computer-based writing research The cognitive benefits of learning handwriting are strongly supported by evidence, with experts agreeing there is "something special" about using pen and paper. But Ms Malpique said research into what is best for children when engaging in computer-based writing was scarce. "There is a lack of developmental research, looking at the different stages of writing development," she said. For Ms Lockwood, it feels like there is a gap between the importance placed upon technology in her children's education and the informal way it is introduced to their learning. "We've decided this is really important and so there should be a dedicated space for it and a dedicated teacher for it."