Direction: the educator's perception
In the course of the process, the educator must be attentive to certain parameters that contribute to the progress of the activities. Their aim is to simultaneously respond to the demands of the seniors' learning experience, ongoing education for the young people and maintenance of good relations between student and teacher. A description of these parameters follows below:
Quality of communication
The educator must always observe how a young person communicates with a senior, from lesson preparation (first act) through saying goodbye to student after socialization (third act).
Quality of communication may be broken down into:
Welcoming the student
Young people are asked to welcome senior students, going to meet them as soon as they arrive and directing them to the computer they will be using. This is important for the young people to assume the role of teacher and develop autonomy and responsibility on making the teacher-student bond.
Voice - volume and diction
Young people must always be audible for senior students, who are often affected by a natural loss of hearing. Of course this volume should be adjusted case by case.
For the same reason, of facilitating understanding, quality of diction should also be observed.
Vocabulary
The language used in classes should be observed constantly, avoiding the use of slang and translating computer jargons into simple terms for the seniors. Words such as "select / mark", "delete" and "click", for instance, may be normal and everyday terms for young people but may be puzzling for the seniors at the beginning of the course. This does not mean that this terminology cannot be used, but we should explain the meaning clearly beforehand and repeat it whenever necessary.
Didactic
Printed lessons and oral transmission should bear in mind didactic guidelines, using varied strategies to facilitate understanding and learning contents.
| Examples: |
| Take into account the time students need for assimilating points when planning presentation of contents; |
| Clear explanation, preferably with the aid of analogies and metaphors to facilitate understanding; |
| - Use of examples; |
| - Use of images illustrating contents; |
| - Whenever possible, organize explanations as step-by-step topics ; |
- Follow logical order in the presentation of new content; |
| - Keep to a certain amount of new content in each lesson - excess content hinders student's understanding and may reduce motivation; |
| - Prepare review classes; |
| - Plan lessons and take into account student's interests, ways of motivating and how to facilitate understanding of content. Example: ask seniors who likes to cook to type their favorite recipe in Word. |
Student perception
Educator should encourage young people to observe student's reactions during class. This means young people should notice changes in mood, level attention and interest, as well as signs of distraction, failure to comprehend content, or even learning blockages. They should also notice when a senior just repeats instructions in class, without appropriating the knowledge (memorizing the procedure instead of understanding it)
| Useful tips: |
| The educator should be attentive to crystallized personal relations and excessive attachment between pairs (young person -senior) to avoid possible dependency or accommodations that might harm the teaching and learning process for those involved. In some cases, a rotation system may be used to alter the pairs in order to diversify experiences and forms of interrelating. |
Presentation of possible contents
Contents are presented in line with the time required for assimilation and with seniors' interests. These interests are observed and identified during conversation and socialization time, promoting a personalized and engaging way of teaching.
On this basis, the contents to be taught are broad and varied, being selected on the basis of what is possible and necessary to teach the students, depending on the perception of each teacher.
LESSONS AND ACTIVITIES - SUGGESTIONS AND EXAMPLES
For lesson suggestions, click below:
Physical components of a computer
Switching the computer on and off
Keyboard
Mouse
Recalling the last lesson