Classroom time is a precious commodity: so many minutes for settling in, writing poetry or solving math problems, scanning the chemistry text, or discussing an ethical dilemma. It takes time to browse the shelves of a library paperback spinner; to chat with a student about the book they have just read, to find another one that is "just right".
Classroom activities can be enhanced with the aid of computers, but why bother if the lesson and learning takes place just fine without it? Students and teacher-librarians need to connect face-to-face. "Facebook" or even blog book discussions pale by comparison. Computers suck up time other-wise applied to the downtime, integration and reflection needed for learning and mental health.
Why have a screen "lens", like the image, above, between a child and reality? There are already plenty of screens in a child's day; television, cellphones, ipods, calculators for example.
A computer screen filters out the acrid inhale of a science experiment and the take anywhere intimacy of a paper volume. It reduces a warm summer day to a flat live-streamed facsimile; and the spiritual resonance a live loon to a mechanical replication.
We have a myriad of teaching strategies; integrating online computers into a class or school library is just one of them.
photo:mantasmagorical@morguefile
When exactly is the computer the perfect tool for learning?
When is the computer a hindrance to learning?
What the BC Ministry of Education says.
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