Strategies to Enable More Independent Work at the Computer

1. Modeling software was mentioned frequently as a means of introducing students to a new application or a new technique which would then allow them to work on their own.
• Whole group demonstrations are best done with some means of presenting a larger view of the display, such as a projection device or television.
• The whole group format was considered very important in the primary setting. One teacher’s approach consisted of the following steps:
• the teacher demonstrates as the students watch;
• the teacher demonstrates again, talking through each step;
• the teacher demonstrates again as the students talk the teacher through the steps;
• as a students demonstrates, the teacher writes down the steps in their language;
• students work with partners using the directions as posted.
• Smaller scale modeling could involve the teacher demonstrating an application to a pair of students who show the next pair. Each pair demonstrates to the next, having a turn first as learners and then as teachers.

 
2. Scaffolding (Bruner, cited in Kahn, 1998) is a technique well-known to teachers. The idea is to start students off with simple projects and a lot of structure, allowing the students to build up a base of skills. Eventually, less guidance is needed and the supports can be gradually withdrawn.

 
3. An assessment of the students’ computer skills comes into play from a couple of perspectives.
• A baseline assessment at the beginning of the year and subsequent tests through the year will give an indication of growing computer literacy.
• Knowledge of what the students are capable of handling on the computer can assist the teacher in planning computer-based activities.
• It might also be useful in identifying class “experts” at the beginning of the year. However, it is stressed that all students be given the opportunity to serve as experts.
• Checklists, such as the ISTE's Profiles for Technology Literate Students which specifies performance indicators for different grade levels, can be found on-line and in books dealing with the integration of the computer in the classroom. Appendix D includes a sample checklist developed for use with my grade six class.

 
4. Templates (or stationery documents) can be used to guide an activity in which the students make the necessary additions or changes and then save the document as their own. Some could even be student created. Over the course of time, the teacher can accumulate a bank of such templates.

 
5. Activity cards can be used to guide an exercise. (see Appendix E for samples)

 
6. There are a variety of self-help aids which can be exploited:
• charts or posters displayed near the computer, either hand-drawn or done using screen capture;
• laminated instruction sheets in a binder or cards in a file box placed next to the computer, containing both general computer information and specific details about how different software applications work;
• a class computer glossary;
• student journals.

 
7. There are several means of arranging for assistants to help those working at the computer:
• peer tutors
• one means of using peer tutors is based on the modeling of software to a pair of students as outlined above;
• another is through the use of “software experts”, students who become responsible for providing assistance with a specific piece of software.
Teachers report this as a great esteem-builder, thus, it is important that all students have a turn as an expert and, while some emerge, others have to be specifically trained. Two experts seem to be preferable to one, so as to avoid complications in the case of an absence as well as to prevent students from being constantly interrupted from their own work.
The teacher can arrange to learn about a new piece of software in the company of a pair of students, the potential experts. Their reaction can serve as a gauge to how the rest of the class might react to the particular application. Moreover, this type of activity helps establish or further build upon rapport between teacher and students.
• volunteers — either parents, caregivers or other interested adults; this can serve as a good means of sharing with parents exactly what goes on in the classroom;
• older students, for instance grade six students working with primary children;
• work study  or co-op students.

 
8. Miscellaneous
• Several teachers employ the “ask three before me” rule, whereby students have to seek help from three others before interrupting the teacher.
• A number of sources suggested using a “trouble light”, such as red and green cups stuck together end-to-end. When everything is going fine, the device is placed green end up on top of the monitor or some other conspicuous place. If the computer users run into a problem, they turn the red side up so that the teacher, volunteer or student-expert can be alerted to their need for assistance.

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Created by: Jane Scaplen

last update January 29, 1999 | dernière mise à jour le 29 janvier 1999