Catch them young and make them IT-literates
by Lionel Wijesiri
Computers have become a common and needed part of life in today's
society, making computer education imperative for children.
Young children will typically begin to show an interest in the home
PC by their toddler years. While it may be a good idea to begin
introducing your toddler to the computer in very short sessions, most
children can begin to learn and understand acomputer's functionality by
preschool age.Many researchers do not recommend that children under
three use computers.
 Computers simply do not match their learning style. Children under
three learn through their bodies:their eyes, ears, mouths, hands, and
legs. Although they may return over and over again to an activity, they
are full of movement, changing focus frequently. Computers are not a
good choice for the developmental skills these children are learning to
master: crawling, walking, talking, and making friends. Children three
and four years of age are developmentally ready to explore computers,
and most early childhood educators see the computer centre as a valuable
activity centre for learning.
Timing is crucial. Children need plenty of time to experiment and
explore. Young children are comfortable clicking various options to see
what is going to happen next. Parents may want to intervene when
children appear frustrated or when nothing seems to be happening.
Frequently, just a quick word or two, even from across the room, reminds
children what they need to do next to reach their desired goal.
Providing children with minimal help teaches them they can operate
the computer successfully. In addition, by observing what children are
doing, the parent can ask probing questions or propose problems to
enhance and expand children's computer experiences.
Memory
As children enter kindergarten and the primary grades, it is
important that they continue to have access to a computer with a library
of developmentally appropriate software. Children need opportunities to
make choices about some of their computer experiences. In addition,
kindergarten or primary-grade teachers will want to use the computer for
more directed activities that match their learning objectives.
Through exploring computer experiences, these children build memory
skills, learn how to seek out information, use knowledge until they have
a clear understanding from multiple sources, and integrate their
knowledge of how each ecosystem functions. In the process, they learn to
delegate responsibility, interact with others, solve problems, and
cooperate to reach a goal.
But at the same time it is indispensably true to keep in mind,
however, that computer software cannot teach a child concepts that
he/she is not developmentally ready for. Computers should always be
considered as a supplement to other, more concrete learning activities
such as completing puzzles, building with Lego and blocks, reading
books, creating art projects and playing on the playground.
It is universally true keeping the database analysis in view out of
the day.
Education
The computer is no doubt a friendly machine.
A tool to accommodate all the probable queries of an individual with
the aid of the software but at the same time the umbrella has to be
therein order to have what is required rather than to have all
non-relevant items.
One must pay much attention to highlighting good content as to
restricting banned content. Remember that overzealous watchdog policies
may inhibit Internet opportunities for students, whose only access to
the Internet is through school.
Take for example the many parents who take a balanced approach to the
Internet.
Both at home and at school, set rules and limits on Internet use, but
also guide children to good Internet contents.Quality education is the
need of the hour and with the result, at the same time the boards of
education and learning must develop a plan to help schools, teachers and
parents educate children about safe, responsible use of the Internet.
Personal information
For example, encourage schools and families to place computers in
rooms that are shared (such as family rooms, dining rooms, offices or
libraries), where children can use the Internet with others around them.
And teach children never to share personal information (name, address,
telephone, or credit card number) online. This may go a long way in
making this a success.
The day-to-day activities at the school and the home education will
provide a healthy liking for the computer and this is required to foster
appropriate use of the Internet among preschoolers and other young
children.
It is also a fact that despite the increasing use of computers in
elementary schools, there hasn't been a decrease in the formal teaching
of penmanship. The children use just as much paper as they did before
computers became a classroom standard. Hence one has to keep in mind
that writing with a pencil involves an equally important set of skills
as typing on a keyboard.
Exposure to the Internet can help preschoolers and children in the
early elementary grades master literacy and other cognitive skills and
also can spur integration of these skills early in their development.
Parents and school leaders who look for online opportunities for
younger children can be guided to engaging, age-appropriate content.
The Internet can reinforce everyday learning opportunities and be a
powerful tool for fostering interaction among adults and young children.
It takes much to conduct the new tool of knowledge in this regard. The
teaching gentry must ponder in regard to computing of this sort, they
must help teachers, parents, and children use the Internet more
effectively for learning. For example, they ought to suggest
education-related websites for parents and children to visit together -
and give them learning activities to do once they get there.
Offer education-related help for students online, such as
after-school tutoring. We must provide teachers with professional
development opportunities to help them model effective use of the
Internet as a tool for students' learning, including integrating
Internet learning with regular classroom learning.
If teacher training takes place outside regular school hours, offer
teachers incentives to participate when possible. If teacher training
pulls teachers out of the classroom, parents should be made to know why
it is important to support this professional development. The usage of
the Internet to communicate more effectively with parents and students
goes a long way to generate interest for all.
Communication
We must encourage teachers, parents and students to communicate
through email, make their email IDs and even communicate off-line with
that reference only for generating pulses of craze and interest of being
a netizen. And finally, engage the community.
This can be very easily done through holding computer and Internet
training classes for parents or hosting convenient opportunities for
parents, community leaders, librarians, teachers, and others to talk
together about children's use of the Internet. Schools may want to
collaborate with libraries, community computing centers, local colleges
and universities, and other places that offer alternative access to
computers.
Educators and parents have been quite concerned over the years about
possible negative effects of computers and Internet on children's desire
to interact with others.
Unlike television, however, the more interactive, child-controlled
nature of some computer software can be conductive to sharing, taking
turns and playing games together. Also the fact lies to the versatile
saying that the familiarity and comfort with computers is certainly
useful for daily survival, both in and out of school.
The risk associated with this myth comes from placing too much
emphasis on the computer as a "must" for children’s future welfare.
It's better to regard computer use as simply one with more experience
or a tool that can support the development of the good old-fashioned
learning skills such as being able to read and write, think logically,
and solve and analyse problems.
It can also enhance the learning process by allowing children to have
experiences not possible without a computer. Ultimately out of the study
it capsules more of the truth to have this machine as a tool rather than
an aid for all times.
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