Mastering technology is imperative to success in your child’s future. Computers are an essential part of everyday life, from the classroom to the workplace. Using computers is a learning process, and it’s important to understand certain basics of digital literacy as soon as possible in a student’s academic career. So join us as we dive into the most important computer skills to master in middle school.

Computer Skills Middle School Students Should to Master

By learning essential computer skills, your sixth, seventh, or either grader can be well-prepared to navigate their future in the most efficient way. Is your middle school student up-to-date with the latest technology?

Bolstering keyboarding skills

If you’ve ever witnessed a coworker or customer service representative who types with two fingers, you know, it’s a slow sight to behold. Consider this the most basic skill your middle school student can learn; a foundation that ties all other computer skills together.

Taking this basic step prevents bad habits from developing, ones that can become large problems in the future. Dedicate time each day to practicing typing; there are plenty of free online programs to help your student get up to the recommended speed of 15-25 words per minute. The less your student needs to stare at their keyboard while they learn a new concept, the more focus they can attribute to the matter at hand.

Understanding computer structure

Learning how a hard drive works means understanding where information lives on a computer. This is one of the most foundational, basic computer skills. Students should understand how to create and label folders, as well as file suffixes (.doc vs .pdf), using subfolders, external hard drives, and how to transfer and share files.

When your student understands how to keep their computer files organized, they learn to compartmentalize work in an efficient and easily accessible manner. Teaching them the basic functions of their desktop, documents folder, downloads, etc. will put them on the right path.

Navigating web browsers

The internet contains a vast collection of easily accessible knowledge, but your student cannot access any of it without the prior knowledge of using a browser. Teach your student how to use different browsers like Chrome or Firefox, as well as “bookmarking” websites. Students should also know the benefit of clearing their browser’s history, cache, and cookies when performance issues arise.

Conducting proper research

Using the internet to research subjects becomes a consistent skill for assignments, and students need to understand how to search in the most productive way. Understanding advanced search commands on a search engine and evaluating resources for accuracy and legitimacy is the difference between an A and a B on your student’s report.

Take this time to teach your student how to fact-check, which sources of information are considered viable resources for academia, how to cite online sources, and the realities of plagiarism. These skills transfer to high-level critical thinking, something your student will use throughout their life. Understanding how to verify resources and cite information enables your student to easier traverse concepts like plagiarism or even fake news.

Microsoft Office

Consider Microsoft Office the gold standard for academia and the professional world. Your student should have these programs down by the time they reach high school, positioning them for success in their last years of grade school and entering their professional lives.

Microsoft Word

Students should know how to create, edit, and maintain documents in Microsoft Word. Teach your student how to track changes, adjust margins and spacing, create headers and footers, and more by guiding them through the different functions Word has to offer.

Microsoft Excel

Although less common in middle school itself, excel becomes a versatile, invaluable skill throughout our professional lives. Understanding how to organize information with this program, as well as create charts and graphs practically makes your student hirable the moment they graduate.

Microsoft PowerPoint

This slide program is an imperative to your student’s academic career. Learning how to make an efficient, concise, and effective presentation on PowerPoint will translate well to students’ high school and professional careers (and make future projects a breeze). This is not a program to sleep on!

Encourage your middle school student to use the Microsoft Office training page to find tutorials for each of these incredible programs.

Crafting emails

Although a relatively simple concept, many of us learned to write an email with easily transferable knowledge about writing a letter. Gen Z is more likely to understand the format of basic texting, and that’s why it’s important to sit your student down and elaborate on what a proper email should look like. Include formal introductions, signatures, and any other basic information your teen wouldn’t think to use.

Monitoring safety and security

Since the moment we had the capability to connect online, princes from foreign countries have attempted to access our credit card information. Virtual students and all students need to learn internet safety before learning the hard way. The bad actors are getting smarter every day, and it’s time to teach your middle school student how to boost their internet security.

Teach your middle schooler to ask permission before signing up for anything, never click on ads, set privacy settings, and basic concepts like password creation and never handing out personal information. A lot of these come naturally to us, so don’t forget to be thorough. Your student might not recognize why certain websites are age-limited, and what a phishing scam looks like.

There are many free, online articles specific to internet safety to guide you in teaching your student basic security protocols.

Virtual learning at Laurel Springs School

Connecting your student to computer literacy via virtual education has many benefits. Consistent computer use prepares our students for an increasingly online world, instilling tech skills they will use in their daily lives and their future jobs. Laurel Springs School middle school students can also tap into higher-level digital concepts like our Computer Science and Coding or Digital Media Fundamentals courses, found in our Program of Study (Course Catalog).

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