Effectively Using Computers in the Classroom

Although technology has clearly brought a large number of positive effects into education, technology has also brought considerable challenges.  I watched my 12 year old find one website and copy and paste the information she got off there for her research report! I asked her if she knew about plagiarism she said 'yes - of course - I am going to change the words around'.  I then asked her about researching other websites, finding other sources, and she maintained she had all the information she needed from the one website.  I found a great book Carolyn Thorsen- Techtactics: Technology for teachers.  The book focuses on the word processor, database, spreadsheet, Internet and hypermedia software tools that all classrooms with computers have.  Thorsen, (2006) discusses on how it is important to teach students how to acquire, process and present information better using the computer as a tool, rather than only teach computer skills.   She also mentions triangulation: finding three sources from different organisations to confirm the facts, (Thorsen, 2006).


Another great article was about the cut-and-paste culture by Jamie McKenzie (2008). He proposes that teachers eliminate those classroom practices that encourage and promote such lazy thinking as cutting and pasting information, and replace them with activities that are more challenging and more worthwhile. He further states that it is critical to encourage students make up their own minds and do their own thinking; to support students to build their own answers based on both research and their informed opinions. McKenzie (2008) proposes that questions should require “the collection and weighing of evidence to substantiate a well considered judgment. Such comparison challenges the student at the top of Bloom's Taxonomy - the skill of evaluation.” So rather than studying a particular person, students could look at four influential people and select who they consider the most influential and give evidence why, (McKenzie, 2008). This method of researching demands more from the students than the usual copy-and-paste method. Regardless of the additional work involved, students are much more likely to actually absorb the information efficiently, and ultimately use the skills learned in their everyday lives (McKenzie, 2008). For more in-depth information about what Jamie McKenzie writes please visit: From Now On 


I think for me one of the most important things have I learnt, is that as a teacher, it is imperative to pave the way for students to successfully use computers in the classroom.  With the knowledge I have gained, I feel a lot more confident that I will be able to use computers to enhance learning.  Aside from the usual publishing, I look forward to: setting up wiki's for students to work together in a cooperative manner; creating blogs - so that students can reflect on and record their learning; using podcasting to assist with reading and speeches; using Wordle as a another way to find out about students at the beginning of the year.  I have enjoyed the readings and found many books during the research I conducted that I will be able to refer to in the coming years. Thank you to Tony for making me aware of 'Digistore' on the TKI website (on the online tutorial).  I had a look and there is some great stuff on there.  The use of ICT in the classroom does appear to be time-consuming, however I believe that if expectations are set at start of the school year, and are purposeful, productive and progressive, the possibilities are endless.