Using computers as a teacher

As a current student myself I LOVE the idea of using a computer as a teacher for my students. Of course there is the possibility that I am simply lazy but I like to think that is not the case. I grew up right around the time computer usage was beginning to become popular in the classroom. I still remember my 5th grade classroom, which was the first to actually use a computer in the classroom itself. I remember having a computer lab, although I’m not certain if one was used in my school before 3rd grade or not. It was a long time ago after all. In my 5th grade classroom I remember the first five people to complete their homework would be allowed to play games and we would all rush to finish and be one of those five students. Obviously looking back I can see that was a probably a very bad idea, as I would imagine we often missed minor errors in our zeal to get to the computer.

That being said, I had a fantastic time in that elementary school computer lab. I played memory games that I remember to this day & still wonder if I could beat. I played the Oregon Trail and gained a tiny glimpse into the hardships they face, the difficult decisions they had to make. It gave me a wonderful insight into history, and I can honestly say partially influenced the love I have had for history my whole life long. When I was a child my father bought such games as Reader Rabbit and Carmen Sandiego, as well as Algebra Blaster and others. I still remember those games fondly and strongly believe they instilled me with a love of learning and a zealous desire to achieve.

Now for how this applies to my own future students. In my Spanish class now we are using a website that enables us to use the computer to practice the concepts we may struggle on. Computers have an ability to tailor to each student’s strengths that we as teachers naturally desire but can rarely accommodate due to time and other constraints. It can make things more real, more tangible for them than we are often able to do, much as we might like. As we all know from our own experiences, the more real something can become to us and our students, the longer we retain it in our minds. If a game can help a student to remember the causes of the French Revolution, why not? Isn’t our end goal to teach our students as much as we possibly can, whatever the method?