What "old skills" students have lost

[secundem_artem]

Tell time by looking at their wrist. 

Prepare popcorn or bacon without using a microwave oven.

[mahagonny]

Whoa, Nellie

My name is not "Nellie."

M.

OK, I'm sorry. It's Mamselle from now on. Hey, remember I'm the one who listens to Ella Fitzgerald. Ella Mae Morse, Rachmaninoff. I'm no square.

[Clarino1]

Mamselle--you are right on!  After teaching music at the post-secondary level for 45 years (music history and trumpet) and playing professionally in symphony orchestras, I have to say I agree 100%.  I made my living in graduate school as a manuscript copyist, but in 1993 I had to buy a computer, laser printer, and Finale, because I could no longer find the proper manuscript paper, pens, and Fount India ink to do the MSS by hand.  I will say, though, that it is no quicker to typeset music on computer than it was to copy the parts by hand.  The real timesaver is that once you've got the score typeset, extracting the parts is just a matter or a keystroke--a tremendous saving to time and energy!

[mamselle]

Thanks. You're right, the software can be just as demanding and time-consuming.

The most difficult I've done so far was stemless noteheads for early music pieces before the "standard" software, like Finale and Sibelius, caught on.

Gregoire had been taken off-line, and Meinrad wasn't licensed for my area (although I knew one of the people that developed it, and she sent me a font file to work from, but it was developed overseas and something about it wasn't compatible with my US system).

I had to create the melody lines in Finale, export them to a visual file, then take that to an Adobe workshop space, where I did overlays, using a staff on one layer, the stemless noteheads on the next, and the text over that, all guided by the underlying Finale layer.

They also had to be spaced so that three or four compared lines of chant fell in the right alignment to make the correspondences obvious.

After the first draft was all done, we then found out the publisher had a high dpi standard, too, so I had to take them all back and intensify them.

So, yeah.

Computers make our lives easier.....

M.

P.S., And at least MuseScore has an accordion function. I'm setting up the fugue for two accordions that I did a very long time ago (as my freshman comp final project) now.... - M.

 

[jerseyjay]

My guess is that they cannot type on a manual typewriter or make stencils for a mimeograph machine.

They cannot adjust a reel-to-feel film.

They cannot use a text-only internet browser such as Lynx.

They probably cannot use a dial-up modem to check their ​email (You've got mail!)

They cannot  make change using the pre-decimal British currency or any of the pre-euro currencies. 

They do not have the skill of determining which newspaper articles are most important based on the layout (front page left column, above the fold, below the fold, inside articles, etc) because they do not actually read physical newspapers. (And now the NYT has retired the term op-ed because such columns are no longer opposite the editorial page.)

Most cannot darn socks or for that matter fix shoes or other clothing because, well, it is cheaper to just buy it new.

I am nostalgic for some of these, and not for others. I am not sure if students today are worse off because they cannot do any of these things. 

[mamselle]

Mmmm....I always thought "op-ed" meant a reader's "opinion" as opposed to an informed/researched editorial.

Interesting.

Something new every day!

M.

[jerseyjay]

I am now wondering if alphabetizing is a skill they do not have. I am reading term papers (on the screen, not printed out) and a large number do not alphabetize their sources. I have no idea how they are ordering their works cited; maybe by color of the book?

[apl68]

I am now wondering if alphabetizing is a skill they do not have. I am reading term papers (on the screen, not printed out) and a large number do not alphabetize their sources. I have no idea how they are ordering their works cited; maybe by color of the book?

Now there's a skill that's needed!

Flipping the page to see whether there's something on the other side is another useful skill that I've found can no longer be taken for granted.

[Parasaurolophus]

I am now wondering if alphabetizing is a skill they do not have. I am reading term papers (on the screen, not printed out) and a large number do not alphabetize their sources. I have no idea how they are ordering their works cited; maybe by color of the book?

Wait, they've actually listed their sources? 0_o

[Hibush]

I am now wondering if alphabetizing is a skill they do not have. I am reading term papers (on the screen, not printed out) and a large number do not alphabetize their sources. I have no idea how they are ordering their works cited; maybe by color of the book?

Books have color?

[AvidReader]

I am now wondering if alphabetizing is a skill they do not have. I am reading term papers (on the screen, not printed out) and a large number do not alphabetize their sources. I have no idea how they are ordering their works cited; maybe by color of the book?

Mine often appear in the sequence in which the sources (first) appear in the paper (or sometimes the opposite sequence if they add new entries at the top). I try to show them the auto-alphabetization button in Word early on and remind them with every essay.

AR.

[Vkw10]

I am now wondering if alphabetizing is a skill they do not have. I am reading term papers (on the screen, not printed out) and a large number do not alphabetize their sources. I have no idea how they are ordering their works cited; maybe by color of the book?

Many don't know the alphabet song or what alphabetical order means or that you alphabetize people by surname. I encourage my students to use the first two videos below to learn alphabetical order, but I also point out that there are many tools like the third one listed to alphabetize a list for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75p-N9YKqNo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjE6lP_V8jc

https://www.textfixer.com/tools/alphabetical-order.php

Apparently alphabetical order isn't on standardized tests, so it often doesn't get taught.

[pgher]

I am now wondering if alphabetizing is a skill they do not have. I am reading term papers (on the screen, not printed out) and a large number do not alphabetize their sources. I have no idea how they are ordering their works cited; maybe by color of the book?

Many don't know the alphabet song or what alphabetical order means or that you alphabetize people by surname. I encourage my students to use the first two videos below to learn alphabetical order, but I also point out that there are many tools like the third one listed to alphabetize a list for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75p-N9YKqNo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjE6lP_V8jc

https://www.textfixer.com/tools/alphabetical-order.php

Apparently alphabetical order isn't on standardized tests, so it often doesn't get taught.

Alphabetized by surname? Tell Canvas. Aggravating as hell to get students listed by first name.

[teach_write_research]

Alphabetized by surname? Tell Canvas. Aggravating as hell to get students listed by first name.

Sidebar comment:
If their Canvas username starts with their first name, this works in the Gradebook - Grades > Student Name column 3-dot menu > Sort by > Type - Login ID. Not an option in SpeedGrader though.

[arcturus]

Alphabetized by surname? Tell Canvas. Aggravating as hell to get students listed by first name.

Sidebar comment:
If their Canvas username starts with their first name, this works in the Gradebook - Grades > Student Name column 3-dot menu > Sort by > Type - Login ID. Not an option in SpeedGrader though.

Students are sorted by last name in Canvas at my school. SpeedGrader gives me the option of alphabetized (last name) or time of submission. We usually grade sorted by time of submission, as those who work together (permitted) usually submit at approximately the same time, so it is easy to see if they have copied directly from each other (not permitted).