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Should
we put the computers in the classroom or the computer lab?
This is a common question and it
really is a trick question. You would expect the answer to either be the lab or
the classroom. The answer is not which one, but both. They are both useful for
different purposes. So it is understandable that we often hear teachers who have
a few computers in the classroom arguing for a computer lab and the teachers who
only have access to a computer lab argue for a pod of computers in the classroom.
Both setups have a legitimate use. However, I will argue that one of them is
ultimately more useful than the other.
Introducing a new concept or
computer skill is most easily accomplished in the environment of a computer lab
when you want students to follow directions and all work on the same thing at
the same time. This can be made even more efficient if those students with
higher computer skills are evenly spaced throughout the lab so that peer
teaching can occur and competent students can assist struggling peers.
However, this will not be (and should not be) the most common way of
using computers. This approach
addresses some of the required skills of the Processes for Productivity in
the ICT Program of Studies. It does not begin to address the most important
category: Communication,
Inquiry, Decision Making and Problem Solving.
This diagram
from
the ICT program of studies illustrates the supporting role of Processes
for Productivity and Foundational Operations, Knowledge and Concepts.
These categories are important but they are a means to an end not
an end in themselves. The purpose of ICT is not just to teach students
about computers but to infuse required technology skills into basic core
subjects in such a way that computers provide an opportunity to enhance the way
students think about, manage, process and use information. The use of computers helps us see patterns and relationships in the data that we collect
and work with. It is a tool to help us communicate more efficiently with a
wider audience, inquire into the essence of the curriculum, make informed
decisions based on critical analysis of the data and solve real problems within
each of the core subject areas. This is the way that computers should be used
and this is not best achieved in a computer lab with all students doing the same
thing at the same time.
Since students do not come to
class with uniform abilities, experiences and talents it must be quite obvious
that we cannot effectively achieve a complex goal such as this in the context of
a computer lab where all students are working on the same task at the same time.
To attempt to do so would ensure that the learning activity would be
inappropriate for many students
Also, trying to modify
instruction to meet individual needs is more difficult in a computer lab where a
large number of students seem to need individual instruction simultaneously and
the teacher feels torn in a dozen different directions at once.
So this begs the question:
“How can we use computers when we only
have a pod of two or three computers in the classroom?” and the answer is not a
simple one because it may require that we change the way we
teach.
It is one of the ironies of life
that selecting what appears at first to be the simplest approach often turns out
to be the most difficult route while taking a more complex approach is often
easier to manage in the long run. This is true with deployment of computers in a
classroom. If we begin with the
inquiry approach we are dealing with more complexity than the direct teaching
approach, but the inquiry approach requires students to take responsibility for
their own learning process, and as they often progress at their own speed they
come to the point where using a computer is necessary and beneficial at a time
when other students in the class may not be ready to use it. Thus small groups
of students use the computer when they need it not just because they happen to
reach the time marked on the lab schedule, and the teacher can work with a few
students at the moment when instruction is most needed and most efficiently
learned. The need for a large number of computers is reduced when students
work in groups. It is not necessary for all students to do every step in the
process individually. Working in groups students can each take a different role
in making project contributions. During subsequent projects students may cycle
through other roles learning different skills. This approach permits students to
also learn many valuable social skills in the spirit of collaboration and
cooperation. A small group of computers in a
larger space make it easier for a number of students to collaborate much more
effectively.
At this point teachers often ask
...
That
is the beauty of the inquiry process. It requires a different kind of
teaching on your part, and a different kind of learning on the student's part. The teacher role changes from “sage
on the stage” to “guide on the side" . You begin by directly
teaching the whole group but as soon as is practical you shift paradigms from
direct instruction to facilitating learning. You begin by teaching all students the
inquiry process, but as they are progressing each at their own rate, you are
monitoring each student’s progress, interjecting to provide guidance for
individual students at the appropriate moment. Your efforts as a teacher are
directed towards teaching students to take responsibility for their own
learning, but you give them sufficient instruction and support at the
appropriate moment so they can become independent learners. When they falter or
get off track you guide them back making sure they have all the necessary
support to achieve the task.
Consequently
students are working at a their own pace, so they experience the
need for help and the need for technology at different times. This makes it very natural for you to be
teaching mini-lessons to small groups while the other groups are progressing
comfortably. The groups change as often as the mini-lesson topics which are
always determined by student needs at any given time. In
this environment it is the students' questions that determine the topics for the
mini-lessons rather than the teacher's questions.
This approach also means that as
a teacher you are not teaching them all about computers so that
they may remember the skills sometime in the future when they might need them.
You are teaching only the computer skills that a student needs to achieve the
present goal. This is often referred to as “just-in-time-learning”. When a skill is learned in a necessary context at the moment a student
needs it the learning is far deeper and more permanent than when they are taught
outside of the learning context, (often referred to as “just-in-case
learning”). Just-in-time learning is often transferable because it is
highly relevant to the students’ needs. Just-in-case
learning is a more traditional learning method but it is not effective without
a great deal of frequent practice, and even with practice the skill may not be
transferable to a new learning context
The following pages all support
these concepts:
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