Educational Awareness of the Computer and the Internet

It seems that persons presently in the workforce and those students who are now graduating college know less about the computer, its functions and the internet when compared to the younger generation. These days the children in elementary, middle and high school have more access to the computer and the internet than we did when we were younger. The internet has become the modern way of communication and research for the younger generation. The coming generation knows more about links, search engines, and "surfing the web". In this essay we will look at the following questions: what is happening with the younger generation and computers? what would happen if computers were being used in the classrooms? and, what would happen to the workforce with this lack of computer knowledge?

Many of the individual's who are in the workforce currently have to go back to school to get trained in computer use, to be able to remain in their work position and to compete with future (and recent) graduates. The current workers would most probably lose their jobs due to lack of training. Many workers would have to go back to school to learn about computers and its uses, in order to keep up with the ever moving technological advances. That is why there is so much of an increase in the computer workforce.

Jobs in computer field are opening left and right, training centers are growing widely, and almost every company small or large is looking for someone who has knowledge of the computer and the internet. Either to do networking, to set up webpages, or to do any other technical work needed to be done on a computer system. Most companies are setting up training programs in order for their workers to learn how to use the computer. An example is the nurses at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania (HUP). A computer system has been implemented there for inputting data and charts. The HUP nurses must learn to enter their notes and data into the computer system with ease and speed so that the hospital can run and flow easier.

With this increase in the computer workforce there is also an increase of computers being used in the classrooms. The article, "Teachers and Technology: Potential and Pitfalls", cites examples that there is a great increase of computers in schools today.