Young people entering the workplace today not only don’t remember a world without the Internet, many of them don’t have a clear memory of the world before smartphones. These young people are often called “digital natives.” Smart tech is as familiar to them as radio and TV were to previous generations.
But all that familiarity does not necessarily come with the kind of tech skills you need to make it in the working world.
For example, many young people have little or no experience using printers and can often get flummoxed with tasks like printing off resumes, job applications, or other types of documentation.
They may lack experience with spreadsheets, word processors, and other basic tools of the workplace. Used to swiping on screens or pecking out text messages, many have no experience with QWERTY keyboarding techniques.
Google is hoping to addresses this issue by offering free lessons for both kids and adults to build up these skills with their Applied Digital Skills Project: https://applieddigitalskills.withgoogle.com/en/digital-training
When you arrive at the site, you can choose between lessons for middle and high school students or lessons aimed at adults.
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These lessons use Google’s free office suite apps. These apps are free. All you need to access them is a Gmail address. The first group of lessons for younger folks includes simple If-Then adventure stores, creating a resume, and planning a budget with a spreadsheet.
Each lesson shows the skills taught, the apps used, and the estimated amount of time to complete the lesson.
Just click to get started.
Adults will also find helpful lessons like Project Management.
If you have some young people in your life, this is a great tool for helping to make sure they have the tools they need. And it’s not a bad idea for you to improve your skills.
There are resources available for teachers who want to use these tools as part of the classroom as well.