Give teachers new skills
Jul 08, 2008
EDITOR’S COMMENT<br><br>A recent conference for teachers at Standard High School in Zana discovered that many teachers lack basic computer skills. This might, at first impression, seem light, but its implications are far-reaching. It is now a cliche, saying that this is the computer age. This is
EDITOR’S COMMENT
A recent conference for teachers at Standard High School in Zana discovered that many teachers lack basic computer skills. This might, at first impression, seem light, but its implications are far-reaching. It is now a cliche, saying that this is the computer age. This is the very reason why any school worth its salt teaches computer science and information communication technology.
While there are trained Computer Science teachers, projects like School Net Uganda are ensuring that schools computerise most of their operations. Aspects like report making, grading of pupils’ work, attendance and so on are becoming computerised.
This necessitates that all teachers have more than just elementary computer knowledge, for them to benefit from these innovations.
Besides, a pupil who discovers that her/his teacher cannot handle a simple computer operation (like handling website pop-ups) will most probably lose confidence in that teacher, when she/he learns that the same will be computing the class’ marks using a more complex computer programme.
The Government and private school proprietors need to invest in giving teachers computer skills. Individual schools can also take time during vacations to offer their teachers in-service training on different professional aspects, including use of computers, as well as renewing their methodology.
A recent conference for teachers at Standard High School in Zana discovered that many teachers lack basic computer skills. This might, at first impression, seem light, but its implications are far-reaching. It is now a cliche, saying that this is the computer age. This is the very reason why any school worth its salt teaches computer science and information communication technology.
While there are trained Computer Science teachers, projects like School Net Uganda are ensuring that schools computerise most of their operations. Aspects like report making, grading of pupils’ work, attendance and so on are becoming computerised.
This necessitates that all teachers have more than just elementary computer knowledge, for them to benefit from these innovations.
Besides, a pupil who discovers that her/his teacher cannot handle a simple computer operation (like handling website pop-ups) will most probably lose confidence in that teacher, when she/he learns that the same will be computing the class’ marks using a more complex computer programme.
The Government and private school proprietors need to invest in giving teachers computer skills. Individual schools can also take time during vacations to offer their teachers in-service training on different professional aspects, including use of computers, as well as renewing their methodology.