[GLLUG] Fw: [mdlug] OO.org in Mi schools

[Clay Dowling]

eric.hein at us.army.mil wrote:

> Related but off-topic opinion.  Many of the problems I see with people
> switching between different applications for similar tasks lie in a
> general lack of knowledge of computers in general.  These people learn
> each application as a monolithic study.  They are not aware that any of
> the principles learned in one application are indeed transferable to
> another.  If more people functions originate at the hardware, OS, and
> application levels, there would be much less confusioin.  I know people
> that I need to constantly remind that you may copy and paste in each new
> app they install.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this condition to change.  When I
was a management consultant we did a lot of work with hiring decisions. 
One thing that was obvious very quickly was that a certain mindset was
preferable for clerical tasks.  They excel when given a static set of
tools and tasks, and will easily outperform a person who is more suited to
a changing environment or task set.  Changing their tools or tasks causes
a great deal of frustration, essentially forcing them to relearn
significant portions of their job.  You also can't do much to change their
way of approaching the problem, any more than you could suppress your urge
to explore.

For the people who are going to need Word and Excel on their resume, the
people making the hiring decisions have this functional mindset, and
they're looking for somebody who has this same mindset.  So OOo experience
is going to be an issue, as Andy suggested.

Clay
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