What are some ways that computers may be used in education?
Computers have great promise for enriching education, but it seems to me that so far little use has been made of them. What I particularly like about the potential use of computers is the interactive possibilities, which would put the learner in charge.
Here are some thoughts I have on this.
One use that I like is for the student to create problems for testing. This is particularly easy for math problems.
There are some very good geometry programs like Geometer’s Sketchpad and the free Geogebra program. While these programs are great for exploration, it is not possible, so far as I can tell, for a teacher to give an assignment using these programs in such a way that it is easy to tell if the answer has been correctly arrived at.
The area of simulation offers all kinds of possibilities. Historical simulations provide an interesting viewpoint for historical events. Science simulations offer the possibility of doing through simulation experiments that would otherwise be costly, difficult to set up and potentially dangerous.
I am sure that I am just scratching the surface. What other things can be done?
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Computers can be used to teach research and evaluation of information and sources. This can help students learn to be more critical thinkers. Students can learn the ins and outs of copyright and fair use law and know how to use information ethically and according to the law. They can use sites such as Animoto, Prezi, or Wordle to build presentations.
Put a room in the school full of computers, all with high speed internet, and all without any of the stupid stupid stupid software they put on them. You know the software I mean, they put it on school computers so that students can’t: download, access the hard drive or control panels, read for disks, access certain sites, etc.
Why give kids computers if we are not going to let them use them?
Yes, some kids will look up porn, some will mess with the registy and destroy it, others will download viruses by accident. Fine, so be it. At least that way they have learned 1 more thing they should not do on computers. Better they mess up the school computer than mess up one of the ones on Wallstreet 15 years later.
Computers make you learn simply by having access. All you need to do is tell the students “ok, this is the on button, this is the off button, this is the internet button that takes you to google, if you have any questions or doubts just type it in to google and find out for your self. Ok, good luck, cya in an hour”
I am a student that takes classes through Virtual School, and for me it has worked wonders. I’m 13, and soon I’ll be able to start collage, I’ve been in virtual school since 6th grade. I’ve gotten all A’s, except one B, and because of my unusual sleep patterns, it’s really awesome. It provides an enviorment for students that can be considered easier than public school. There’s no teasing and no distractions and you can be comfterable while doing your work.
@Talkingcamara , Welcome to Fluther. I have not heard of Virtual School. Is there a Web site that you can point me to that talks about it?
1) Use of Wolfram Alpha and Mathematica ( These are great computational tools of almost all the human knowledge and there are many ready-to-use demonstrations and solutions for various fields)
2) Virtual Schools
3) Open Learning Resources for higher education are provided by many leading universities like MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley – They have recorded video lectures archived on their sites, Youtube channels and on iTunes.
4) Many tutorial websites of specialised topics are available; e.g. Digital Tutors for animation and graphic designing
Thinkwell Many courses in math, science etc
Grammarlogues
Khan Academy Amazing man who has put together tutorials and many different subjects but is math heavy.
A.L.I.C.E. A 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create animation
Digital Frog helping save hundreds of thousands of frogs from dissection
Quizlet On-line flashcard site with hundreds of previously saved flashcard sets
LibriVox acoustical liberation of books in the public domain
National Academies Press National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and the National Research Counsil
University of Nottingham A delightful series of videos about the periodic table
Ted Talks expand your mind
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