Any article, discussion, or concept that tries to teach people by using any method is bound to fail some people, because they do not learn that way.

Technology is no different. I agree that many people would learn better if they understood all the concepts. But at the same time, many people would be confused / overwhelmed by the concept, so teaching them the actual tools to do what they need to do works better.

But to use an analogy–imagine building a house. You have a guy who has never built anything, but wants to help. You need someone to hammer nails. Is it important to teach this person the concept behind hammering nails, how they hold the wood frame together, how this frame supports the walls, roof, etc. Or, is it important to teach him how to hit a nail, how to know it went into the other piece of wood, and where to hit the nails? Conceptual understanding is often over-rated…as a manager, not hiding conceptual information, but only providing enough for the person to do the job that needs to get done, is usually ideal.

In software / computers, the same logic applies. Yes, you can teach someone conceptually about all the functions in Word. You can teach mail merges, tracking changes, etc…but if all they want is to write a letter, why bother? I believe information overload is just as big a problem as not enough information–finding the right balance is the truly difficult part.

And this goes for teaching people about technology as well as any other subject.

It’s always been my biggest of pet peeves that our high schools teach people how to use computer programmes, like Word or Excel, and never teach the concepts behind them.

A well made lab and class would contain 1/2 Windows Machines (half of which would be using the newest version of Windows, half of which an older version), 1/4 Macs, and 1/4 some Linux/Unix system with a GUI.

Students would have to create their works, whether learning spreadsheets or anything else, on whatever computer they were at, after the lectures go over the concepts behind what’s going on.

But I’m just the Geek, and like red headed bastard step children, managers and administrators never want to hear from us, and like us locked up in the cages with the network switches and servers.