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Jill
A. Pickett
Elementary Keyboarding
Review of Article:
McKay, Martin D. (1998, Nov/Dec). Technology and language arts: Great
support for every classroom! Book Report. 17(3), p. 33-36.
The author discusses the many advantages of using computers to improve
the writing skills of students. He also offers several ways that a word
processing program can be used to teach grammar and writing skills. At
one point in the article he compares the use of calculators to learn basic
math skills with the use of computers to learn basic writing skills. The
author argues that using a computer will allow more time for students
to concentrate on creativity, style, and communication. Computers can
also be used to save time when revising written works.
He suggests several ways to
use a computer to teach writing skills:
- Have students use a thesaurus
to find better words in completed works. This will improve their vocabulary
and style of writing. Looking up words in the thesaurus will give students
a clearer definition of the words and the many ways they can be used.
- Give a pair or small group
of students a piece of written work that needs revising. Disagreements
among the groups will allow the teacher opportunities to talk about
writing rules and standards, and exceptions to these rules.
- Later, students may support
their decisions in editing by stating the rule or standard they are
following.
- E-mail can be used to demonstrate
to students that it is important to get their ideas across to another
person using the written word. Students who get peer responses saying
that they did not understand, will encourage students to write more
clearly so that the person they are writing to will understand them.
- Finally, the author suggests
hypertext. Writing web pages will allow students more flexibility and
creativity. Hypertext does not force one to write linearly. They can
get their ideas across using short writings. Each paragraph must independently
support the main idea and the reader must be able to get back to the
main page easily.
The author feels that all
of these ideas will challenge students to use critical thinking skills
and problem solving skills. Knowing how to use a computer word processing
program will also be a very useful skill to the students in their near
future.
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