There's a huge population of people who simply cannot effectively use a computer. Can we fix that first? Otherwise we're leaving them behind and that's not right.
Often times, when people say "computer literacy", they mean popular software competency. It often means ad-hoc comfort with specific software interfaces and solutions.
So if I've learned the steps necessary to attach files into Gmail, browse in Safari, download and remove apps, use Dropbox, and so on, then I'm considered computer literate. At one time, employees were expected to type in DOS commands. Now command line is considered hacker territory.
Almost everyone in the world is living very high away from computer science, and instead they are living in the world of corporate designers. They are living in a world where people at Apple build app experiences called "Mail", "Calendar", "Reminders", and you swipe left to delete. Soon you'll be asking Cortana or Siri to do things for you.
In that designer world of proprietary software and aesthetic trends, what does computer literacy mean? It sounds like a class on Microsoft Word or Outlook. It sounds like a class on how to use the App Store.
I know MD's who have no love or interest in computers at all. No interest in becoming "computer literate" as defined by people like us. These are not dinosaurs. Yet, some of them live in a world where pen-and-paper are more efficient and safer than paging through text boxes in a shitty UI on an equally shitty medical data entry program.
Some of them couldn't scan-and-email a document if their lives depended on it. They screw-up sending links to websites and have crap spread all over their computers rather than organized in a sensible way within a directory structure.
This is either a case of literacy or one where computers and UI design still have a lot to be desired before any human being can walk-up to a computer and get things done. And, BTW, this isn't a Mac vs. PC issue as these people are equally clueless regardless of platform.
I know music teachers who can barely send email and school teachers who get flustered within anything more complex than an iPad.
None of these people are stupid.
And, to some extent, I am not sure anyone needs to actively pursue a "solution". Most of this will resolve itself with generations of people who grew up with computers. Sad to put it that way, but I think there might be a degree of truth in that.
I've made this comment multiple times: I told my son that his generation is likely to be the last to actually drive a car. It is almost guaranteed that his kids will have no need to drive a car and will, instead, use fully automated vehicles. A human driving a car might become a recreational activity. Two hundred years ago nobody would have though of running or jogging as a recreational activity. Today we do.
The point is, things change, some are left behind and some adapt.
Well then we should speed it up somehow. People die due to shoddy writing and missing/unindexed/unsearchable paperwork by MDs. Revoke the licenses of those who refuse to join the 21st century.
I think that being a med school student today probably means osmosis of cultural information from other med students, including student solutions like Google Drive and Dropbox, as well as Tinder. Along the way, that probably means comfort with email, chat, downloading apps and files, browsing, buying, PDF reading, and so on.
This is only "CS for All" Harvey Mudd students; I don't think real computer illiteracy problem there.
> There's a huge population of people who simply cannot effectively use a computer. Can we fix that first?
If you mean to shift topic from what "CS for All" means in the title to "CS for All in the world", obviously, that inherently requires solving Computer Literacy for all. So, yes, we can solve that first, if we can solve either at all.
If you mean "CS for All" in the sense actually used in the title, then, demonstrably, no. Since the source linked from the title is the solution to "CS for All" in the sense used in the title, and yet, as you note, Computer Literacy for all (in the broader sense of "all" that you wish it solved for) is not solved.
Teach touch-typing!
How did I actually learn to touch-type? AOL Instant Messenger.
My form was not perfect before taking the class. I would often do something slightly weird with my right hand where my it would "walk" to slightly incorrect positions to reach keys that my other hand should be hitting.
My typing teacher put covers over the keyboard so we couldn't see our hands and then had us do typing drills. She would strictly enforce that we maintain our hands on the correct home-row position, wrist positioning, etc.
After a semester of this class, despite an initial drop in my speed, I can now touch type correctly and my speed is now faster than ever.
I work with professional programmers who hunt and peck and it drives me crazy. For something that you interact with daily and is the instrument of your profession, taking an hour a day for a few months is a no brainer to perfect your form.
I don't think it mattered in programming classes that I could touch type, just meant I could multi task distractions easier like being on IRC during lectures and appearing to be paying attention.
That made me laugh out loud. Then it made me sad again.
Look, I get we can't all know everything. I mean, we can't all be mechanics, right? But every driver should know how to check their fluids, air, etc. Maybe change a tire.
Same with computers. I don't think everyone should have to learn to code. I think that's not an ideal scenario. But I do think everyone should be computer literate for some basic definition of computer literate.
We've changed our policy where we don't provide instructional services anymore, only tech support, because it would take up so much of our time trying to teach basic concepts.
I see no reason that they can't be tackled concurrently!
A huge proportion of the population does not know how to manage a few acres of crops, raise chicken and cows for milk and eggs, etc.
How about we try to solve them simultaneously?
In fact, I think we are trying to solve them simultaneously.