Teaching Today #3 Lesson Plans

The questions posed ask me to ponder additional benefits of using computers in the classroom other than the ones mentioned.  I think one additional benefit is students ability to improve their writing skills.  Keyboarding can help students overcome feeling held back due to poor penmanship or dysgraphia.  Writing software also allows students to access spell check, a thesaurus, and grammar checks.  Editing and revising are less cumbersome than using pencil and paper and the flow of writing can go on uninterrupted.  This is also a "greener" solution to having a trashcan full of crumpled papers as a standard prerequisite to a finished paper.  In addition, students can also learn how to use computer programs such as power point and excel.  One drawback to learning and using new programs is the time necessary to teach the skills.  A possible answer could be to train a core group of students, savvy with the computer already, and then they can pair with novice students and help with the learning process.