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Teach
computer software during non-computer related lessons
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One of the major tasks of "IT in education" is to equip our students with appropriate IT skills. How can we do that? Generally, most schools will teach students IT skills in computer lesson e.g., students may learn how to use "Word" or "Excel" there. But will they really know how to use "Word" or "Excel" in the end? And will they gain higher marks in the software skill tests? Does high marks represent high level of skill or the ability to apply it to daily life? One possible solution is to integrate IT skills into taught subjects. This was done in a particular college last year. During an English lesson, the teacher taught students how to use "Word" and then students had to write a composition and send it to the teacher for marking via email. Students had a better grasp of "Word" because they had a distinct task to complete. As for Excel students can use it in the Mathematics lesson. It could be used to plot different types of graphs. And maybe at the end of the lesson, textbook homework can be done using Excel and submission can be via email. Students may choose to do it by hands if they so desire. Eventually all students will hand in work via email. Computer software can also be used in social subjects too. Teachers can teach students different search engines and search methods to obtain information from the Internet. Again work can be done using Word or similar software. But there are also problems too. There might be less time for teaching subject matter because more time would be spent on teaching IT skills. When teachers lag behind in the IT skills lessons, they might have to book computer room or the MMLC lab outside school hours. This might cause inconvenience to both students and staff and it could increase the workload for teachers. These problems are only short term as once students are used to the IT in teaching and learning they will be minimized and IT will hopefully help facilitate and support teaching and learning. |
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