The generation born in the early 2000s, often labeled as ‘digital natives’ due to their exposure to smart devices from a young age, is unexpectedly experiencing a decline in computer literacy. This trend is posing disruptions within various educational environments. With an increasing number of students facing challenges in utilizing computers, a phenomenon termed ‘PC phobia’ is surfacing, transcending age groups. 
 The ‘PC phobia’ phenomenon combines the ‘PC’ (meaning personal computer) and ‘Phobia’ (meaning fear) and refers to the fear of using computers. This phenomenon is because students, the digital native generation, have been familiar with touch-based mobile devices such as smartphones rather than PCs, so they did not feel much need to use PCs. As a result, students did not even have a proper opportunity to learn the basic capabilities of using computers. Furthermore, even basic PC education in elementary schools is being replaced by software education, meaning students have fewer opportunities to learn computer literacy.
 Cases of ‘PC phobia’ are occurring across generations. Elementary school student Kim said that most of her friends use the ‘Hunt and Peck’ typing style, and middle school student Kim said, “I often cannot keep up with coding classes due to my lack of computer literacy.” In addition, a high school student, Choi, said, “When I do my PPT assignments, there is a big difference in skills between my friends who have made PPTs before.” A university student surnamed Park said, “Many students are not familiar with PCs and do not know how to rename files or use shortcuts.” These problems lead to a disruption of academic and work progress.
 The educational environment is also changing to improve these problems. For students who have difficulty using computers, there are tutoring programs and after-school classes that teach basic PC skills. In addition, more and more classes are offering handwritten homework assignments and links to research materials on mobile phones.

Jeong Hee-yeon 다른기사 보기