At this point of the school year I should not be surprised when a student does not understand how to properly use the computer; but I must admit at this point of the school year I am still taken back buy how much students don't know about computers.
I recently received a new student to my class and I assumed that the student understood terms such as font, bold, italicise, table, and clip art. I even assumed that when I said "open a word document", the student knew exactly what I was talking about. Well, I was sadly mistaken. I realized that I needed to give that student a one-on-one tour of the Microsoft Office applications as well as an overview of the home screen.
What I am noticing is many children do not know how to use the computer at all, they are not even familiar with the word processing and presentation tools. And when it comes to the internet, I have also noticed many children know how to search for information they "want" but not information they "need".
My goal as a Business Education teacher is not only to educate my students about how the business world functions and all the factors involved but to also have my students prepared to compete in a world of constant emerging technologies. I want my students know and understand all functions and applications of the computer.
You are to be commended for your dedication to teaching business education. It is because of you and others that our students will be successful and able to compete in a global marketplace. Teachers of business education help our people to understand computer use and how this tool will help us to get things done in an efficient manner. Your point is well taken that our students do what they want on the computer. It’s fun. I have observed that many feel that because our students have “grown up” with computers they know everything necessary to be productive in their work and play. Since some of the business courses are electives, there are those who will choose not to take them. Good practices include giving pretests to diagnose needs for computer use and screen identification exercises to build confidence in using application software.
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