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Since this is probably the most useful skill someone in the workforce can have, why isn't it taught in schools from the time kids learn basic math? I'm amazed at the number of otherwise very well educated young people who graduate with no experience using spreadsheets to analyze data and generate reports.
Accounting I and II.
Advanced/College Accounting (level III in some schools)
Biology/Chemistry/Physics
Foundations of Technology
Computer Applications II
AP Macro Economics
AP Micro Economics
Computer class is typically an elective, not a core class.
When you say "computer class"' do you mean specifically use of spreadsheets and if so why isn't it integrated into the math curriculum as are TI calculators? Nobody I work with has touched a TI calculator since leaving school.
The TI calculator is used to speed calculations that students learn to do the hard way (by hand). They use the TI during the test, which allows more problems to be solved in specific amount of time.
Sure Excel could be used too - but it requires a computer. And in most schools most kids don't have a laptop of their own to carry to class.
I question the statement in the original post "Since this is probably the most useful skill someone in the workforce can have" completely. I use Excel everyday and have for years. But most of the people I have worked with for over 35 years only need Excel occasionally. For many people Word is far more important.
I question the statement in the original post "Since this is probably the most useful skill someone in the workforce can have" completely. I use Excel everyday and have for years. But most of the people I have worked with for over 35 years only need Excel occasionally. For many people Word is far more important.
That's changing now that everything is more data driven. Most people I work with (in IT) rarely use Word and instead type text directly into Outlook or instant messages.
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I suspect that if you tested teachers up through high school you would find that 99% of them are at the beginner level at Excel, and probably never heard of a pivot table or CSV file. They are teachers, not business people, and have no need to use Excel. If it is to be taught they would have to hire someone that knows it and limit it to an elective class or business class.
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