Girls "more skilfull" than boys......

[pyan]

....at using computers....

Girls 'more skilled on computers'

Girls are more confident than boys about using a computer, a survey of more than 1,000 children suggests.

The research by the Tesco Computers for Schools programme found girls were more likely than boys to be able to perform key tasks, such as creating documents.

BBC NEWS | UK | Girls 'more skilled on computers'


Well, well....this'll ruffle a few feathers....

[Overread]

cough cough

Among the girls in both groups only 6% said they lacked confidence using a computer, compared with 10% of boys.

no - girls just suffer the delusion that they are more confidant
and the rest of the results are combind genders - if anything this though:

More than half (57%) of parents said they relied on their children for advice on how to use their computer and the internet, and only 40% of parents thought they were the most proficient computer user in their household.

is worrying - over half of modern parents can't use a computer and rely on thier childrens advice - thats a big area (internets) that parents cannot moniter and safeguard for thier children!

[Ursa major]

I've heard it said that the bell curve for male ability is broader than that for female ability; this is often given as a reason for more male "high achievers" (and "low achievers", for that matter).

Could this be enough to explain the discrepancy? (It would have been helpful if more data had been included in the (BBC) report.)

[Lenny]

to perform key tasks, such as creating documents.

I'm sorry? This is a key task? Damn, I must be living in the world of the superfluous...

It also showed the level of skills among teenagers meant 70% could confidently create a social networking profile, 59% could download music and more than a third (35%) were able to edit and manipulate photography.

The only part that impresses me slightly is the fact that about 35% can edit and manipulate photography... but it's greatly weakened by the fact that they don't tell us how.

"Lookit, mummy! I made this photograph bigger! Oooh! Oooh! Now it's a negative! Ain't I a jeeenius? "

---

You might have guessed that I don't agree with this study. Just because I can create a Myspace profile, edit a document, use a search engine, and double click the little W icon on my dekstop to create a new document doesn't mean I'm skilled.

To be skilled, one must have or show skill, be proficient - "having or marked by an advanced degree of competence".

Show those 1000 a typical computer problem (say the computer is host to a trojan), and I'd put money on a single figure of the sample being able to solve it, with the majority of that single figure being lads. I'm not being sexist (I'd have said all of them would be lads, otherwise), but rather stating a truth - apart from Leisha, I know not one person of the female persuasion who is competent enough with a computer to tackle most of the problems that people are faced with.

Here's a question - how many of that 1000 can defragment their computer, or restore it to a previous restore point? Or even install an operating system?

[Overread]

defreagment - thats not much of a challenge in skills - more of a challenge in patience though

[Lenny]

The thing is, knowing how to defrag your computer is a Godly power to these people. Oh lookit, I can click Start, go to Programs, navigate to Accessories, open the System Tools folder and start defragging my computer. That's right, puny mortals. Bow down and give me cake!

I honestly wonder how the mundane use computers daily without knowing how to do [what I think are] the simplest, but necessary, tasks needed to keep a computer in top shape.

My dad seems to bring computers and laptops homes daily, from people at work who havea problem with it - the majority of the time the problem is that they've been using it for the six months since he last had a look at it without doing anything; defragmenting, clearing cookies, history and temp, hell, they don't even empty the recycle bin!

It's a very... [biased isn't really the right word...] arrogant [might be better] opinion, I know, but it's true. We're doomed if, and I'll go back to it, creating a new document is a key skill.

My feathers are ruffled.

[Overread]

I can't find the vista temp folder - or at least if I want ot empty it I have to hunt for it -- and recycle bin took a while to find (hiding it they did!)
also -- can the emu notice that its only a survey of 1000 tescos shoppers - hardly definative results

[Lenny]

C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Local\Temp

or

Start > Run > "%temp%"

---

can the emu notice that its only a survey of 1000 tescos shoppers - hardly definative results

Well, carried out by the Tesco Computers for Schools scheme... if it was 1000 Tesco shoppers, then it wouldn't be wrong to expect similar results - the computer literate would be ordering their shopping online.

[Overread]

error in help -- show hidden files and folders (I knew there was something I was forgetting!)

and don't forget that many who are computer savey don't order online - there are many reasons - some don't like using cards and prefer cash; other like to ensure that they get good tasting grapes and not the sharp ones; some people prefer to shop in shops and not online (I have to say I prefer walking to shops and walking home with somthing than waiting for it in the post -- because I have bought it, but have to wait for it!)

[Parson]

Any survey which is based on self reporting is immediately suspect. As to what a key task is, perhaps they meant any task that didn't relate to a virtual war or a virtual life. I.E. any task above gaming.

Most of the people I know who work with computers use them as a glorified typewriter and never scratch the surface of what a "Word Processor" can do.

[Just to show my bias, I have Word loaded on my computer but use it only to deal with attachments in Word. When I want to work I go to the old war horse who will let me do things the way I want; WORD PERFECT! WP FOREVER! {sigh} Unless it goes belly up with the care Corel is giving the Mother Ship.]

[Leisha]

Originally Posted by Lenny

Show those 1000 a typical computer problem (say the computer is host to a trojan), and I'd put money on a single figure of the sample being able to solve it, with the majority of that single figure being lads. I'm not being sexist (I'd have said all of them would be lads, otherwise), but rather stating a truth - apart from Leisha, I know not one person of the female persuasion who is competent enough with a computer to tackle most of the problems that people are faced with.

Here's a question - how many of that 1000 can defragment their computer, or restore it to a previous restore point? Or even install an operating system?

Well, I'm certainly not taking offense. When I signed up to do an iTEC hardware and Upgrading computing course (which I later dropped out of), out of the fourteen applicants accepted, I was the only girl. However, I was not the only girl doing an IT training scheme in the building - in the Microsoft Office training course I think 99% of people were girls (and what a boring course to study!).

I got used to computing being a male-dominated area. That's why I'm surprised at the results.

And Lenny, you can access the Windows temp folder by not typing in the % around temp. In Vista it will work by Start > Run > temp (so it goes to a different temp folder, not the C:\Users\[Your Username]\AppData\Local\Temp one). That takes you to C:\Windows\Temp, which can also be cleaned out (Windows will restrict deleteion of any files it needs, or which it's using).

[Overread]

vista has two temps??

oh only 1064 files to dump in there! (at only 500mb ) I should house clean more often!

[Leisha]

Well, the good thing about Vista is that it will not let you delete important, needed Windows files. I think XP did a similar thing... I can't remember now...


One temp folder houses files you as a user use, such as auto recovery files from office programs and art packages and the like, and also installation temp files from programs; the other stores temp files from Windows.


And hello!

[Overread]

yah - there was over a GB in the other temp folder!

[Leisha]

Heh. Windows tends to hog useless files.


I should probably point out, to any who are not computer savvy, that if Windows says a file is in use or cannot be deleted, you should not delete the file, nor should you try again later (for it will likely still be in use). If you're using Vista, press the "Skip" button if the dialogue box poops up.


Poops up???


Uhhh... I think I'm still in the land of nod. Did I actually wake up, or am I imagining this?