This is a post by Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra , Vice President (Academic Training/ School Audits) Next Education India Pvt Ltd.
Quality is defined as an art of fellowship in academics. The polished preface defines and desires the requisite towards the
requirements of the 21st century learners and it is ultimately a new phenomenon in totality.
Quality education is the need of the hour and with the result, at the same time the boards of education and learning must develop a plan to help schools, teachers and parents educate children about safe, responsible use of the Internet. For example, encourage schools and families to place computers in rooms that are shared (such as family rooms, dining rooms, offices or libraries), where children can use the Internet with others around them. And teach children never to share personal information (name, address, telephone, or credit card number) online. This may go a long way in making this a success. The day-to-day activities at the school and the home education will provide a healthy liking for the computer and this is required to foster appropriate use of the Internet among pre-schoolers and other young children.
It is also a debating fact that despite the increasing use of computers in elementary schools, there hasn’t been a decrease in the formal teaching of penmanship. The children use just as much paper as they did before computers became a classroom standard. Hence one has to keep in mind that writing with a pencil involves an equally important set of skills as typing on a keyboard.
Exposure to the Internet can help preschoolers and children in the early elementary grades master literacy and other cognitive skills and also can spur integration of these skills early in their development. Parents and school leaders who look for online opportunities for younger children can be guides to engaging, age-appropriate content. The Internet can reinforce everyday learning opportunities and be a powerful tool for fostering interaction among adults and young children. It takes much to conduct the new tool of knowledge in this regard. The task of the teaching gentry must ponder in regard to computing of this sort, they must help teachers, parents, and children use the Internet more effectively for learning. For example, they ought to suggest education-related websites for parents and children to visit together – and give them learning activities to do once they get there. Offer education-related help for students online, like after-school tutoring.
Provide teachers with professional development opportunities to help them model effective use of the Internet as a tool for students’ learning, including integrating Internet learning with regular classroom learning. If teacher training takes place outside of regular school hours, offer teachers incentives to participate when possible. If teacher training pulls teachers out of the classroom, parents should be made to know why it is important to support this professional development. The usage of the Internet to communicate more effectively with parents and students goes a long way to generate interest for all. For instance, launch school district or school websites or publicize websites in newsletters and places where parents are likely to be. Update websites frequently with relevant, timely information. Post exemplary student work online, with teacher commentary explaining why this work meets academic standards. Make websites interactive by soliciting comments or holding public forums about education issues online. Encourage teachers, parents and students to communicate through email, make their email IDs and even communicate off-line with that reference only for generating pulses of craze and interest of being a netizen. And finally, engage the community. This can be very easily done through holding computer and Internet training classes for parents or hosting convenient opportunities for parents, community leaders, librarians, teachers, and others to talk together about children’s use of the Internet. Schools may want to collaborate with libraries, community computing centers, local colleges and universities, and other places that offer alternative access to computers.
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