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Effective Computer Education Strategies

Effective Computer Education Strategies. John Ashby, Phoebe Tollefson , Eric Whalen, Jesse Zager. The Community technology empowerment project. technologypower.org. Some questions. Who has taught computer skills in their classes before?

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Effective Computer Education Strategies

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  1. Effective Computer Education Strategies John Ashby, Phoebe Tollefson, Eric Whalen, Jesse Zager

  2. The Community technology empowerment project technologypower.org

  3. Some questions • Who has taught computer skills in their classes before? • Who has used computers to help teach another skill? • How do you plan to use technology in your classes? • What does it mean to be “digitally literate?”

  4. Introduction to the Project • Goal: To create a manual that will help new computer skills teachers prepare to teach. • Purpose:To be used by future CTEP members and organizations that have volunteer-led computer classes.

  5. What’s Inside the Manual • Discussions of popular teaching theories • Alist of teaching tips • Curriculum building • Classroom and teaching • Example lesson plans • Example curriculum outline • Considerations for starting a computer class • Resources for curriculum development

  6. Teacher interviews Some of the questions we asked were: • Do you use group work in your computer class? • What resources do you use in your class and how (a projector, paper handouts, online tools)? • What is one class that has been especially successful in your class? What made it successful? • Classroom logistics?

  7. Teaching Theories BACKWARDS DESIGN Start with a learning goal and work backwards using relevant sub-topics and skills.

  8. Teaching Theories Explicit Instruction Students learn best when their teachers make clear for them exactly what they are learning, why it matters and how to do it. *The ‘I-We-You framework’

  9. Teaching Theories CONSTRUCTIVISM Discovery-based learning. Students construct their own meaning of class content. Requires guided questioning and student input.

  10. Teaching Theories Adult Learning Theory Class content must be relevant to students’ needs.

  11. Selection of curriculum building and lesson planning tips • Use the “I do, we do, you do" structure for lesson planning. (Explicit Instruction) • Try to achieve a “discovery moment” through open-ended activities. (Constructivism) • Do not assume any prior knowledge. Find out what students know through questions and critical thinking exercises. • For beginning classes, focus each class on one primary objective with the support of other, secondary skills.

  12. Selection of classroom and teaching tips • Focus on vocabulary and do not dumb it down for new users. • Use repetition with new skills and vocabulary. • Ask a leading question instead of giving an answer. • Don’t take over the computer when problems arise. • Be explicit about why the lesson is relevant. • Encourage group and partner work.

  13. Step-by-step instruction • Pro: A list of step-by-step instructions on how to complete a task allows students to work independently and repeat those steps later • Con: Is this helping students be independent computer users? Do you use a computer based on a list of steps?

  14. Example Activity and Lesson Plans • Lessons developed and used by current teachers • Exhibit common concepts and themes from interviews and theories • activating prior knowledge (without assuming it) • focusing on tangible, relevant tasks • have few objectives though require support skills • follow a similar structure • Comments that reference tips and theories to support examples

  15. General Structure of the Lesson • Introduce Concepts • discussion questions and vocabulary review • exploratory time "can you find how to...?“ • Teacher exhibits an example "I do“ • Class works together to recreate a task "We do“ • An activity that allows independent or group learning "You do"

  16. Example Lesson Plan • Look at the example lesson plan on the second page of your handout. • What do you think will work well with this lesson? • What problems might arise during this lesson?

  17. Your Turn • Part One: Make a Goal Think of one computer skill or task you want to teach your students. What other computer skills might they need to know to be able to meet that goal? Be Detailed!

  18. Your turn • Example: Computer Skill: Enter a URL into an Internet browser Other Skills Necessary: • Know how to use an Internet browser • Open an application • Use important keys on the keyboard (punctuation and Enter) • Highlight words (to delete current website) • Be able to find the address window (as opposed to the search window) • Be accurate in typing

  19. Your turn • Part Two: How will you teach this skill? - Will you lead any discussion before explicitly teaching the skill? - Will you provide any materials to supplement the teaching of this skill? • How will you make this skill relevant to your students? • How could you make this lesson still interesting for students who have already used an Internet browser?

  20. Your turn • Example: Teaching how to enter a URL Discussion: What is the Internet? How does a browser help us use the Internet? What are some Internet browsers? Making it relevant: Bring in newspapers and magazines and have students find all the websites they see. For more advanced students: What is http://? What is the www? What is the .com? Are these always the same? Are they always necessary?

  21. Your turn • Part Three: Student Activity How will you help students practice this skill by giving them a real life situation, and without walking them through the steps of the process? Can you think of an exploratory exercise that will help students learn to do this skill independently?

  22. Your turn • Example: Entering a URL Create an “Internet Mad Libs”: One day _____ (1) went to the movies in _______ (2). The movie was about __________ (3). (And so on…) • Go to www.cnn.com and type the name of the first person you see. • Go to travel.nytimes.com and type the name of the first place you see. • Go to en.wikipedia.org and click on “Random Article.” Write down the name of the article you find.

  23. Your turn • Share your lesson plan with a group near you. Discuss any problems you might see with your lesson.

  24. Considerations for Computer Education Programming • Time, Space, and Consistency • Advertising • Curriculum • Teachers and Volunteers • Opportunities for Independent Learning

  25. Resources • Technology Literacy Collaborate Visit their website: http://tlc-mn.org/digital-inclusion/curriculum

  26. resources • Northstar Digital Literacy Assessments • www.digitalliteracyassessment.org

  27. resources • Saint Paul Community Literacy Consortium http://spclc.org/curricula/computer

  28. Resources • Goodwill Community Foundation www.gcflearnfree.org

  29. Classroom tools • Wikispaces (example: ieccomputerlab.wikispaces.com) Open Source Software: • Gimp (Photo Editing) • Scratch (Animation) • Seashore (Photo Editing) • Scribus (Desktop Publishing) • Audacity (Audio Recording and Editing)

  30. Download • To get a copy of the manual, visit: ecesmanual.wordpress.com

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