Promoting the use of computer lab...

Salam...

The use of computer lab has somehow being neglected by some of the school, especially in Malaysian context. The lab was just being left as it is or just being used to avoid students from walking around. The teacher sometimes prohibit the students from touching the computer because he/she afraid that the students may damage the computer. Although this phenomenon is not happening in all schools, is it still apparent in most of the schools in Malaysia. The vision of the Ministry of Education which is to promote the computer literacy among school children will not be achieved if this unhealthy situation continues to happen. Although some may say that the reason why the teacher does not use the computer lab is because he/she prefers to control the students on their own in the classroom, refusing to use the computer lab at all will not be a good way either, since today’s world of technology demands both teacher and students to at least master the basic skills of computer. Why? This is because the conventional ‘chalk and talk’ way may be ineffective since the demands for a more creative and innovative way of teaching is very high in today’s world of education. It will be such a shame if the students’ mastery of computer skill is higher than the teacher. Hence, there is an urgent need for teachers to equip themselves with enough knowledge regarding computer use in education so that a balance, lively learning environment will be created.

What are some of the activities that can help to promote the use of computer lab? As a teacher, it is essential to know some of the activities that are suitable to be conducted in the computer lab, for instance online discussion. Online discussion can be an interesting, motivating part of a lesson, since all the students are able to actively participate in the conference, voicing out their opinions, comments or even give useful criticism to their friends’ opinions. This is very effective especially for introvert students, who sometimes feel shy to voice out their opinions in face to face discussion. In addition, online discussion can be quite entertaining in the sense that we can insert emoticons, audible, and jokes while discussing about something. However, teacher needs to always be in control since the element of entertainment may keep dragging on until the discussion is not in its right track. The discussion need to always be focus, so that it may produce something beneficial for students’ learning. Examples of online discussion are Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger and many others. By doing online discussion in schools, students are indirectly being taught to stand on their own feet in sharing their own opinion with others, and this will indirectly train them to think critically and creatively while sharing opinions.

Besides that, online games are another interesting activities that can be one of the way of promoting the use of computer lab. Young learners are very familiar with games and by integrating it in the classroom, students are given the opportunity to learn in a controlled, but motivating learning environment. The teacher also needs to play their role in choosing the appropriate games to be played by students in order to match it with the learning objective. This is because not all games are appropriate for teaching purpose in the classroom. Online games such as Freddy Fish require students to think critically to solve problem by using the clues given, and this is a good example of how teacher can sharpen the thinking skills of students by using games in the classroom.

In short, there are many others activities that can be used by the teacher to promote the use of computer lab, for instance blogging, creating e-book, scavenger hunt, and others. However, teacher needs to always be aware with some of the limitations, for instance the problem of computer shortage, the problem of internet access, the unreadiness of the students to explore the technology and many more.