Personal Computers in the Classroom

J

J030

Résumé, summary

The students freely used the computers in the classroom. Beside using the computers in the classroom, the students did not have any computer experiences at school. Although the students used the computers freely, they had to face many problem solving situations. For example, the students discussed how they can use the computer in order to send a letter to other students, how they can cooperatively use the computer with other class students, how they can teach their peers the use of the software, and so on. Even 1st grade students tried to solve these problems. This learning opportunity helps the students to be familiar with the computers and to develop their knowledge and skills of using the computers. The students are motivated to solve several problems relating to the computers. The teacher tried not to teach anything relating to the computers in the classroom. For example, he did not say anything even if the students used the computer roughly. However, the teacher gave some advice only if the students asked. Since the teacher gave the students the permission of using the computers freely, the students were not afraid of using them.

Discipline, subject :

japanes arts japanese language japonais

Public :

primaire Primarschule primary school primario

Contacts :

Nakagawa, Hitoshi

Japan Association for Promotion of Educational Technology, 6-35-1 Kagurazaka, Shinjyuku-ku
J-162
TOKYO(JAPAN)

Tel : 03-3269-5231
Mail :
Fax : 03-3269-5232

Pédagogie, pedagogy :

The students freely used the computers in the classroom. Beside using the computers in the classroom, the students did not have any computer experience at school. Although the students used the computers freely, they had to face many problem solving situations. For example, the students discussed how they could use the computer in order to send a letter to other students, how they could cooperatively use the computer with other classmates, how they could teach their peers the use of the software, and so on. Even 1st grade students tried to solve these problems.

Apprentissage, learning :

This learning opportunity helps the students to be familiar with the computers and to develop their knowledge and skills using the computers. The students are motivated to solve several problems relating to the computers.

Enseignement, teaching :

The teacher tried not to teach anything relating to the computers in the classroom. For example, he did not say anything even if the students used the computer roughly. However, the teacher gave advice only if the students asked. Since the teacher gave the students permission to use the computers freely, the students were not afraid of using them.

Technique :

We used 6 Macintosh computers for the activity. The students freely used any applications such as Kid Pix, Hyper Card, and so on. Since the students learned the skill of using the computer by themselves, the teacher did not need to have any knowledge about the computer.

Société, society :

Since there were only 6 computers in the classroom, the students needed to use the computers cooperatively. They tried to solve many problems relating to the computers together.

Culture :

Institution :

The teacher brought 6 Macintosh computers to his classroom. These computers were located in several areas of the classroom. Only one computer was connected to the printer. The students could freely use the computers between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM and at break time between class periods.

Logistique :

The teacher does not need to have any knowledge about computers. The teacher needs the attitude of not teaching anything relating to the computers.

Remarques, remarks :

The teacher brought 6 Macintosh computers to his classroom. The students did not have any previous computer experience at school. The teacher tried not to teach anything relating to the computers. The teacher became a learner rather than the instructor in the classroom. The students freely used the computers in the classroom; therefore, they did not take the computers as special things. Since the students took the responsibility of using the computers, they tried to solve several problems relating to the computers by themselves. For example, The students discussed how they could use the computer in order to send a letter to other students, how they could cooperatively use the computer with other classmates, how they could teach their peers the use of the software, and so on. The students developed a positive relationship with their peers in the classroom and with their family through the computer activity. They also developed a friendship with students in other schools using the computer mail activity.