Question: What is the best role for the classroom teacher when students use the computer lab?
The IT Guy says:
Many schools still have “computer teachers,†who are expected to teach students a variety of computer literacy skills that now extend well beyond simple keyboarding. Many classroom teachers are accustomed to this paradigm, and have not felt compelled to learn the computer skills themselves or expect them of their students because of it.The most beneficial role for the classroom teacher in the computer lab, however, is to be the principal facilitator of learning. Rather than staying out of the lab and letting a computer teacher or aide supervise the students in their computing tasks, the classroom teacher should be involved with a hands-on approach in designing and teaching lessons to students in the computer lab. The computer lab offers a unique time of day when a 1 to 1 correspondence between computing devices and students generally can exist. Optimally, teachers should (with the assistance of a campus technology integration specialist) design computer lab activities for students which are aligned with other curricular studies and objectives. The classroom teacher can explain the lesson and provide structure via one or more student template files, but spend the majority of time in the lab facilitating student work and assisting students as needed.
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