What About Technology?
A cyber friend asked for input on what computer skills she needed to teach her 11 year old daughter. What follows is part of my reply to her:
We use computer a good bit in our school AND in our lives. There is a lot of debate among technology educators as to what needs to be taught - specifically. Remember, when your 11 year old daughter is in college or the working world, who knows what operating systems she will choose from, what the "best" word processing application will be, or even if all of that will be made irrelevant by the internet, and what role "voice technology" will play in all this. With that in mind:
I would include keyboarding. This is a basic skill that will be needed to type papers for high school, college, work, etc. Speed will develop as she gains proficiency with correct placement of her hands on the keyboard (that's the bottom line, really.) I wouldn't go nuts with speed standards with your child. If you are consistent with computer use for what I cover in this essay, she will gain in speed over time. Be sure and point out to her that when her hands are on the home position correctly, she will feel a little nubby under her index fingers (on a PC), or under her middle fingers (on a MAC.)
Go to WalMart, or Sams for inexpensive software, or go to ARCAMAX, teacherfreebies.com, or ZDNET and look for demos, or freebie (plus postage and handling) typing or word processing software. I got a copy of Mavis Beacon from ARCAMAX not too long ago. Or go to EasyType to find a free online typing course you can use. We use Appleworks and Word here at our school for word processing, so that is what our high schooler knows how to use. We have touched on some basic skills in our elementary grades, but will save true typing for when spelling has progressed some more.
Spreadsheets are also important. If you have Excel, Works, or Appleworks/Clarisworks on your computer, they have spreadsheets. Also, Star Office is available as a FREE download (it's big, so plan to do this at night if you use a modem) for a word processing/spreadsheet program. Click here to read how to get it. It has everything you need and is available for all platforms and will run on older machines, also.
You'll see alot of blather about "web publlishing." Go to any one of tons of places that give free space (including Yahoo/Geocities) and let her do a web page. It can either incorporate her studies (build a site with information about Charlemagne) or it can be delight directed (she could choose to build one about recipes for chicken, if that's what she is in to.)
There is debate about whether she should be taught HTML code, or just use the page builders provided at the sites. Coming on the horizon is XTML, and after that, who knows?
Many "edtech's" would ask what is the purpose of computer instruction? To me, and many others, it is to provide a level of comfort for an educated person when using ANY computer and ANY application, to be able to have a short learning curve when confronting something new. Lifetime learning for sure!
So, I would start with the page builders. When she sees the limitations of them with what she wants to do and what she sees OTHERS doing on the web, she may want to progress to HTML. Let her do this in a few years (or months, depending on the child.) There are lots of resources for this on the web itself and some good books...but watch out with books, they are out of date almost as soon as they come out (see my bookmarks in the High School section, computers and technology file for some web sites.) This is another example of what I am saying about what the purpose of this instruction is.
If she is happy with the page builder, then FINE. She is still doing the job. My goodness--that's what the bottom line is, right? Have her lay out her page on paper first. What is she trying to accomplish? Who is she targeting her page to? Will she want pictures, or just text? Look at some other pages on the web with her topic (use a good search engine like www.mamma.com or www.dogpile.com) She can put pictures on her site using a scanner or digital camera, or she can put them into her computer from a floppy disk or other transfer media. She can use various fonts and sizes to bring attention to her topics. There is so much to learn and do here. You will find opportunities for discussions on plagarism, intellectual property, etc.
This is word processing. So is e-mailing. So is writing a letter, making a list, research papers, newsletters for the family, doing "copywork" on the computer (not in place OF, but in addition to - for keyboarding practice.) The type of output you ask of her just steadily gets more complex, and requires more of HER thinking; the computer is just the DEVICE she delivers it on.
As far as spreadsheets, all that is is another way of looking at information. She can survey the family on a topic (what is their favorite food) and compile a spreadsheet of the results. Progress from there. She can compile a spreadsheet of all of her books, or her CD's, etc. As she studies things in science that lend themselves, have her put her info on a spreadsheet (weather observations, boiling points of liquids, etc.) Go through the spreadsheet program you have chosen looking at the various functions that it has and just use it over time. There are people who use Excel for years and STILL don't understand or use all of it. Most people learn what they need to do the job, so just keep coming up with NEW jobs for her to do and she will progress. That's what the schools are doing.
Microsoft has a CD rom you can purchase called "Teaching and Learning with Microsoft" that was developed for K-12 educators. It costs about $5 and is 2 CD's that run on Windows and MAC. If you have Word, Excel or Powerpoint applications, you can use the templates, tools, and lesson plans provided to enhance teaching and learning. I wouldn't get the CD unless you at least have Word or Excel.
I would NOT do computer at the expense of living books, narration, copywork, etc. I would do it once a week for the same short lesson time. (As she gets oldrer you may have to increase the time somewhat, but I wouldn't go overboard...high schoolers may want to use some of their "delight directed" time to work on their web pages.)
What you want is an intelligent, thinking human being who just HAPPENS to be able to use a computer to deliver information. Remember to be sure to teach the correct ergonomic ways to sit, position her hands, etc. to avoid injury. You can find this information here.
Another plus for homeschoolers is that samples of this work are great for portfolios, if you have to provide those in your state.