Gen X graphic designer here. I did not properly learn how to type on a QWERTY keyboard, but have been exposed to it for many years so I know how to type on it. Hasn’t ever been a problem not typing fast.
Despite tech-savvy reputation, Gen Z falls behind in keyboard typing skills
Submitted 1 week ago by neme@lemm.ee to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.techspot.com/news/104623-think-gen-z-good-typing-think-again.html
Comments
ricecooker@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
modifier@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
That just means they are probably less relevant skills.
Pacattack57@lemmy.world 1 week ago
typing isn’t as useful a skill as it use to be. Not many jobs need it.
Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
I’m pretty sure most jobs involve typing on a computer in some capacity
Pacattack57@lemmy.world 1 week ago
You’re confusing the action of typing with the skill of typing.
StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
As a younger millennial it surprises me how little others seem to get the generation divide here. Personal computers and keyboards were very common for millennials to grow up with in the house, but I think more and more people these days don’t use desktops or laptops that often most people stick with tablets and smartphones. Gen z probably doesn’t have the same keyboard skills as millennials because of that, but on average they are definitely better with tech than we are. Their typing skills are just on phone keyboards lol. Just my 2 cents
Ilandar@aussie.zone 1 week ago
but on average they are definitely better with tech than we are.
Are they? What are you basing this assessment on?
StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
Just my experience, I work in tech as a millennial with some boomers many gen X many millennials and now some Gen Z. From all those people it seems to me the gen Z people are the most proficient with technology.
Why you got some kinda stat that’s gonna blow my mind?
TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz 1 week ago
Don’t you love throwing a whole bunch of people with different backgrounds into one bucket? 🙄
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 week ago
Test their typing skills on a smartphone.
Ilandar@aussie.zone 1 week ago
Test their typing skills on a smartphone without autocorrect.
BreadstickNinja@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I’d be faster without autocorrect than with. I feel like it chooses the wrong word more often than not.
Honestly, I miss the real keyboard from my 2009 Blackberry. No substitute for haptic feedback.
ralakus@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Gonna defend gen z a bit here. Unlike older generations, gen z was raised in a large part only on locked down, touch screen interface devices like smartphones and tablets. These devices are designed to not be tampered with, designed and streamlined to “just work” for certain tasks without any hassle.
If you only have a smartphone or tablet, how are you supposed to learn how to use a desktop os? How are you supposed to learn how to use a file system? How are you supposed to learn how to install programs outside of a central app store? How are you supposed to learn to type on a physical keyboard if you do not own one?
I worked as a public school technician for a while and we used Chromebooks at my school system. Chromebooks are just as locked down if not more locked down than a smartphone due to school restrictions imposed via Google’s management interface. Sure they have a physical keyboard and “files” but many interfaces nowadays are point and click rather than typing. The filesystem (at least on the ones I worked with) were locked down to just the Downloads, Documents, Pictures, etc. directories with everything else locked down and inaccessible.
Schools (at least the ones I went to and worked at) don’t teach typing classes anymore. They don’t teach cursive classes. They don’t teach any classes on how to use technology outside of a few Microsoft certification programs that students have to chose to be in (and are awfully dull and will put you to sleep).
Gen Z does not have these technology skills because they largely do not have access to anything that they can use to learn these skills and they aren’t taught them by anyone. Gen Z is just expected to know these skills from being exposed to technology but that’s not how it works in the real world.
These people aren’t dumb as rocks either like so many older people say they are. It’s a bell curve, you’ll have the people dumb as rocks, the average person, and the Albert Einsteins. Most people here on lemmy fall closer to the “Albert Einstein” end of the tech savvy curve so there’s a lot of bias here. But I’ve had so many cases where I’ve met Boomers, Gen X, and Millennial who just can’t grasp technology at all.
Also, before someone says “they can just look it up on the internet”, they have no reason to. What’s the point of looking up these skills if they cannot practice them anywhere? Sure, you’ll have a few that are curious and interested in it but a vast majority of people have interests that lie outside of tech skills.
Tl;dr Gen Z is just expected to know technology and thus aren’t taught how to use it or even have access to non-locked down devices.
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 week ago
My class never had typing classes in school. Our IT lessons were very limited.
My current style is a hybrid of sort of blind typing based on pc gaming (you cant hunt for keys in a match) and looking for keys using about 4-8 fingers.FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 week ago
yeah… i am typing this with my two pointer fingers by poking each key. typing the “right” way feels weird to me. i used a computer long before any kind of handheld device and i’ve always typed this way. i only learned there was a “correct” way from a 1 week lesson in my 9th grade tech class years ago, but i never really saw a point if i’m getting the words to the screen regardless.
roguetrick@lemmy.world 1 week ago
They are adept at what they need to achieve whatever goal they’re trying to achieve. Gen Z are much better at using proxies to get around content blockers than millennials are.
njordomir@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Millennial here. In high school we used to tape the latest proxy URLs to the bottom of the computer lab keyboards… allegedly. Organized resistance. I remember almost getting in trouble for making IT cry because I made fun of them for accidentally blocking their own website.
Noodle07@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Still waiting for AI text prediction keyboards to correct me missing the right letter slightly
p8v8x716ln@endlesstalk.org 1 week ago
We should ask rookie, because programming skills also sucks lol
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 week ago
[deleted]Sakychu@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Downloading random PDFs from strangers is probably a good idea. I’m guessing you accidentally posted that, if not may you explain how “calculating the flexural strength of members subject to simple bending about one principal axis.” is releated to gen-z not typing fast on psychical keyboards?
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Ooops. Posted that the wrong place!
lvxferre@mander.xyz 1 week ago
As others highlighted this is not surprising given that Gen Z uses phones a lot more than computers, and writing in one is completely different than in the other.
[Discussion from multiple comments ITT] It’s also damn slower to write in a phone screen, simply because it’s smaller - you need a bit more precision to hit the keys, and there’s no room to use all the fingers (unlike in a physical keyboard).
Swiping helps, but it brings up its own problems - the keyboard application needs to “guess” what you’re typing, and correcting mistakes consumes time; you need to look at the word being “guessed” instead of either the keyboard or the text being written, so your accuracy goes down (increasing the odds of wrong “guesses”); and eventually you need to tap write a few words anyway, so you’re basically required to type well two ways instead of just one to get any semblance of speed.