life-long computer skills

i have been thinking about this for a while, without being very specific. as it turns out, Nielsen thought about the specifics before i got to it…

Life-Long Computer Skills (Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox)

Schools should teach deep, strategic computer insights that can’t be learned from reading a manual
…..
There is some value in teaching kids skills they
can apply immediately, while they’re still in school, but there’s more value in teaching them deeper concepts that will benefit them forever, regardless
of changes in specific applications
…..
[This will give] students insights that they’re unlikely to pick up on their own
…..
People will
learn how to use features on their own, when they need them — and thus have the motivation to hunt for them. It’s the conceptual things
that get endlessly deferred without the impetus of formal education.

Following are some general skills that I think we should teach in elementary
school.

here’s the short version of Nielsen’s list:

• search strategies
• information
  credibility
• information overload
• writing for online readers
• computerized presentation skills
• workspace
  ergonomics
• debugging
• user testing and other basic usability guidelines