I NEED Word Processor

Hi Dear,

Remember I told you in my earlier blog how anxious I am becoming for my students? Well, adhering to blogging etiquette, I had to cease my discussion on the importance of exposing students to Word Processing as early as possible. Allow me to present a typical case for this pertinent concern.

Home Management CSEC SBA: Students were required to design and make a brochure for removing a mud stain on a pair of trousers; and prepare and serve 2 dishes; and clean and decorate a room for a specific occasion and prepare and display a recycled item in 2⅓ hrs. It was obvious that it was taken for granted that these students were advanced, competent Word Processing experts. Just think about all the technological skills required to complete a brochure, from the typing of the necessary/appropriate information in a succinct manner to putting your mark on it to show ownership and printing it (with information back and front).

One student didn’t even know how to use a flash drive with confidence and she panicked during the examination. Thank God, the Moderator was sympathetic and allowed me to calm the student down and when I was guiding her along, believe it or not, the child knew how to use the flash but because using a flash was not habitual, she panicked. Hence, this is just another plug for the need to expose students as early as possible to the technologies on a regular basis. It should become part of them. They still get overly excited when they have to go to the Computer Lab. About 15 minutes of critical teaching time is wasted settling them down in the presence of the technologies.

I don’t have to tell you, most of them did not complete the assignment. I am panicking for my students next CSEC.

EQUALITY AND EQUITY?

Looking at the Ministry of Education (MoE) call for equality and equity in education, I am seriously becoming anxious for my students. With the renaissance taking place with even the term ‘Literacy’ to ‘Literacies’, the literacies skills required of students going forward into a highly digital world; into a fast-pacing technologically driven society/workplace; is so much different from what was required many years ago. I am seeing the digital divide getting wider and wider and the possibility of our students leaving our shores to live and study elsewhere in the world is as real as real can be. Yet, schools are not fully equipped with computers; teachers are not all trained in the use of Web 2.0 technologies. Are we cheating our students’ in terms of their technological literacy?

Take for instance, the basic skills necessary for accessing the World Wide Web or for engaging with Word Processing: opening up a document; typing using touch-typing skills; editing; saving and storing; navigating the web; organizing into files/folders; using graphics; importing photos/diagrams; rearranging information on a page; importing information from the web; and I can go on and on.

Are we truthfully equipping students with the necessary skills to face the high-tech world with confidence? How many of our students can we say we have been influential in ensuring that they are equipped with these basic skills? Is the MoE/Are we taking our children’s lives/future for granted? How close is the MoE in providing support to all school, for all students, in terms of access to technology? Shouldn’t Technology/Information Technology be on the Curriculum even from as early as the Pre-School?

Becker (1991) states, “Perhaps no other technology resource has had as great an impact on education as word processing.” How do we go forward? Please share your thoughts.