Increasing computer skills

[chatterbox2]

My Thai, English speaking 15 year old daughter needs to increase her computer skills,that due to her fee paying school only devoting one hour per week to is essential skill. Individual coaching is way too expensive for me, so i'm rather hoping someone out there has knowledge of a class room experience that she can join in with outside of school hours. We live in SanSai.

I will be grateful for any advice..

[gamb00ler]

Computer skills is a pretty general description for a rather large field of knowledge.  Try to make a list of specific topics and then search on Youtube.  If she's self motivated she can learn the basics very easily on that site.

[SheungWan]

1. Suggest getting involved with the raspberry pi project in Thailand. There are a number of links to follow up and you may find a group in your area if lucky.

2. She might get involved in the Linux community in Thailand. Plenty of links. And give her a Windows laptop to convert.

 

[moontang]

Desktops are becoming more obsolete all the time..so I wouldn't spend much time on that.  Probably best to gain max knowledge in something like an Android tablet on wi-fi.  While some aspects of the field are well paid; many are not..stuff doubles in speed sand prices are cut in half every two years..it is a losing battle.  Take a look at google certification, for starters..the exam is only 10 usd.

[canthai55]

Does she have a smart fone ?

Newer tablets, and more and more laptops, are using the same format - it is all apps.

 

[scottiejohn]

22 minutes ago, moontang said:

Desktops are becoming more obsolete all the time..so I wouldn't spend much time on that.  Probably best to gain max knowledge in something like an Android tablet on wi-fi.  While some aspects of the field are well paid; many are not..stuff doubles in speed sand prices are cut in half every two years..it is a losing battle.  Take a look at google certification, for starters..the exam is only 10 usd.

You don't do major office work on an Android Tablet.  They are OK for social media etc but not for learning Industrial/work experience.

Edited February 24, 2019 by scottiejohn

[OneMoreFarang]

The first thing she needs is good English - at least listening and reading.

And then she needs a reasonable internet connection and a PC.

And then she needs interest in computers and motivation and she will find everything on the internet.

 

I do not recommend computer schools. Some might be good but I had a look at some of them and I was shocked. They had i.e. a school were pupils could come again and again to the same class. So they had total beginners sitting together with people who joined months ago. The teacher concentrated on the long time pupils so the new learners had often no chance to follow.

 

As others said computers and IT is a huge field. There are power users who know lots of details i.e. in Office, Photoshop, and other programs - but still "only" user knowledge. That will definitely help in future jobs and is a good place to start.

Then there are web designers and similar jobs which are more about presenting data and good design and not so much about programming.

Then there are program developer for lots of platforms: Windows, Mac, mobile devices, etc.

And many many other areas.

In my experience people develop their preferences over time. I.e. many years ago I learned all the bells and whistles from Ami Pro (the Lotus competitor to WinWord). Then I learned macro programming in Ami Pro. Then later I learned also Access and database development and Visual Basic, trained other people, etc. And then some hardware here and there.

She will learn what she likes. Give her the basic needs (see above) and let her find her own way.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

14 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

You don't do major office work on an Android Tablet.  They are OK for social media etc but not for learning Industrial/work experience.

And all the development work for phones and tablets is done on Desktop PCs.

[AlexRich]

It's useful to know how to use spreadsheet, word processing, database and presentation software. Not to mention basic programming ... and take it from there. 

 

 

 

 

 

[moontang]

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

You don't do major office work on an Android Tablet.  They are OK for social media etc but not for learning Industrial/work experience.

Most can do their job on a tablet, the people on the PCs are mostly very low level, and low paid.  PC sales speak for themselves, Windows means less and less.  The internet cafes are full of gamers, with a pretty dim earnings future.  I would try to get ahead of the curve.  If they even have access to a PC it is likely worth zero and has an outdated and illegal OS...Fat Client vs. Thin Client?  Kind of obvious to most what is practical.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, moontang said:

Most can do their job on a tablet, the people on the PCs are mostly very low level, and low paid.  PC sales speak for themselves, Windows means less and less.  The internet cafes are full of gamers, with a pretty dim earnings future.  I would try to get ahead of the curve.  If they even have access to a PC it is likely worth zero and has an outdated and illegal OS...Fat Client vs. Thin Client?  Kind of obvious to most what is practical.

Obviously it's nice to know how to (advanced) use a table and some phone apps.

But serious computer work on a tablet? I doubt it.

Managers write lots of emails, do spreadsheets, etc. and that is obviously serious work, but not really demanding computer power.

Lots of computer demanding work is still done on desktops and I can't imagine that will change anytime soon. Just the size of the screens is an indicator. 24" and 27" screens are normal these days, many desktop users use two screens on one PC. That makes certain work so much easier compared to small tablets.

[Gumballl]

16 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Obviously it's nice to know how to (advanced) use a table and some phone apps.

But serious computer work on a tablet? I doubt it.

Managers write lots of emails, do spreadsheets, etc. and that is obviously serious work, but not really demanding computer power.

Lots of computer demanding work is still done on desktops and I can't imagine that will change anytime soon. Just the size of the screens is an indicator. 24" and 27" screens are normal these days, many desktop users use two screens on one PC. That makes certain work so much easier compared to small tablets.

For my job, I use an Dell laptop with a 15" screen. The system has an I7 CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and a 500 GB SSD. It runs Windows 10 and a CentOS 7 VM. When I am at my desk, I have a docking station and 2 external monitors.

 

Hardly nobody uses a desktop anymore. People are always on the move (whether to meetings, or to telework). A laptop is the system of choice.

 

P.S. At home, I only have one external monitor.

Edited February 24, 2019 by Gumballl

[MickeyMaow]

6 hours ago, SheungWan said:

1. Suggest getting involved with the raspberry pi project in Thailand. There are a number of links to follow up and you may find a group in your area if lucky.

2. She might get involved in the Linux community in Thailand. Plenty of links. And give her a Windows laptop to convert.

 

I’d be interested in getting involved in raspberry pi project. Where are they going on?

[orang37]

Speaking as someone who actively mentors other programmers (volunteer work, C# language on Windows) via the internet, and as someone who had an unexpectedly successful second career as a programmer, once ran a computer program for older children at a bilingual school in the US, and taught introductory computer science to adults ...

 

You need to clarify what your goals for your daughter are, and the extent those goals are congruent with your child's ideas, motivation. Does your child enjoy, or express interest in, math/geometry ?

 

Distinguish between becoming a "power user," and programming. By the way, I think learning how to use a spreadsheet is an excellent task that both results in marketable skills, and, imho, "primes the pump" for learning programming.

 

There are lots of tech books available in Thai for whatever. I suggest, when your goals are in focus, then think about hardware form-factor and such.

 

Check out the innovative educational facilities at (link) Khan Academy ... then explore these (link) other sites for children to learn programming

 

cheers, ~o:37;

[Lacessit]

Introduce her to Microsoft Excel, or LibreOffice if she is on freeware. Learning to create documents, Power Point presentations, spreadsheets and how to use macros gives her marketable skills.

[MickeyMaow]

To the op. Go check out ECDL course I think you can do it online.

 

http://ecdl.org/videos?i=2812

[gamb00ler]

1 hour ago, MickeyMaow said:

To the op. Go check out ECDL course I think you can do it online.

 

http://ecdl.org/videos?i=2812

Thanks for posting that link.  It looks like a very good source for updating/improving my 25+ years lapsed software engineer skills.

[MickeyMaow]

9 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

Thanks for posting that link.  It looks like a very good source for updating/improving my 25+ years lapsed software engineer skills.

Are you the OP?

[chatterbox2]

Hi everyone who has posted on this subject. I'm absolutely amazed and so very grateful for all the replies, also the abundance of information in such a short time. You've done your bit,(but if there's more i'll be pleased to receive it) now it's up to my 15 year old daughter and i to consume, understand and act. I doubt there's many more dumb than i when it comes to this subject, whereas my daughter is as keen as mustard, a good scholar(science is her strong subject), wants to learn but needs guidance. Your posts i'm sure will aid that. Just to add she has recently been given a laptop(windows 10) and uses a smartphone(i think she'll leave home if she didn't). The long summer holiday starts soon, so an ideal time to get going on her understanding of this complex subject.. Once again many, many thanks for your help.