Taming technophobia

We've all heard allusions to "millennials" and the "net generation" ad nauseam. While it's certain that sweeping technological change has coincided with generational change, I am always wary of categorizing people and their needs simply according to their age.

Indeed, plenty of research has shown that students currently in university aren't necessarily technically skilled and that they don't even necessarily self-report competence with certain technologies. I've cited a few relevant articles at the end of this post, but these just scratch the surface of the literature on this topic.

Anecdotally, I frequently observe that many students are not-so-savvy in comparison with their peers. Numerous times, for example, students have asked me perfectly valid questions at the reference desk about how to find articles, but for some reason feel the need to apologize for asking in the first place, saying "sorry, I'm not very good with computers."

Like most public service librarians, I've given assistance with basic functions in Word and comforted panicked users who have accidentally turned on the "track changes" function for the first time. Students and faculty frequently show anxiety, even to the point of fear, at the prospect of setting up their computer to connect to the university's virtual private network in order to access library resources from off-campus. Our IT service provides straightforward instructions with screenshots for this fairly minor task, but the need to do something so "technical" itself puts up a barrier to many people.

So all this leads to a huge question that continues to be actively debated: is it librarians' responsibility to teach skills in using computer applications? I say "yes," in tandem with others including campus IT departments, course faculty, teaching & learning centres, and more.

Librarians teach how to use research tools, and it's clear that internet and software skills are essential to research today. The last decade (and more) has seen a convergence in the concepts of ICT literacy and information literacy, and in practice they are inextricably intertwined (to use the cliche). (As of January 17, 2010, the wikipedia article on "information literacy" includes a brief overview of these developments, with lots of links.)

My thoughts on this topic started flowing when I attended a great session at the EDUCAUSE conference in November called "Plug In and Play: Teaching Research to the 21st-Century Student." Ken Fujiuchi and Mark McBride, both librarians at Buffalo State College, presented on a three-credit “library” course that they taught for upper-level undergraduates. They found that many students had very low technical skills and needed tremendous guidance with things like using web browsers, installing plug-ins and software, and finding the file folders for a flash drive on their computer. So instead of concentrating on sources of information, they focused on research skills, with an emphasis on technology—and critical thinking about technology. Basic technology skills need to be mastered by all students before they could progress to more sophisticated research.

One goal of their course was to reduce students' fear of technology. They looked for free programs to teach to students to make the point that easy tools were available and also to give them things that they could continue to use after graduation. More specifically, they introduced students to portable apps (for running programs off of a flash drive), along with other free tools like Firefox, gmail and other Google applications, Stumble Upon, and Delicious. The presenters shared feedback from students who had taken the course, and they expressed much greater confidence in using technology in general, in finding and evaluating information, and in participating actively in other courses. Impressive.

Overall, the solution to some students' lack of technology skills is much larger than a single librarian or even a single library. But on the day-to-day level at the reference desk or in individual consultations, librarians can act as coaches and teachers. It's important to tell students that it's ok if they're not a computer whiz. After all, it's not uncommon or unreasonable to feel uncomfortable with applications that no one has taught you how to use. For students who lack confidence and technical abilities, knowing that it's all right to ask questions and that there is help out there is an important first step that can make all the difference later on. A little bit of self-efficacy can go a long way.

But still I wonder: has your institution found a balance for ensuring that students get the technology skills that they need to succeed?

Further reading:

Ben-Jacob, Marion. “Technophobia and the Effective Use of Library Resources at the College University Level.” Journal of Educational Technology Systems 38, no. 1 (2009): 35-38.

Bennett, Sue, Karl Maton, and Lisa Kervin. “The 'Digital Natives' Debate: A Critical Review of the Evidence.” British Journal of Educational Technology 39, no. 5 (2008): 775-786.

Smith, Shannon, Gail Salaway, and Judith Borreson Caruso, with an Introduction by Richard N. Katz. The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009 (Research Study, Vol. 6). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2009. http://www.educause.edu/Resources/TheECARStudyofUndergraduateStu/187215.

Stoerger, Sharon. “The Digital Melting Pot: Bridging the Digital Native–Immigrant Divide.” First Monday 14, no. 7 (July 6, 2009). http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2474/2243.