Reflections in this journal are made mainly from the point of a visiting observer of IT (Information Technology) or ICT (Information & Communication Technology) in some Kimberley Aboriginal Schools K – Year 10.

Module 1: IT & Education:

Getting up to Speed:
"Before we can successfully apply IT skills… we have to acquire those skills." S.Kessell (Course Materials)

Reflection:
Teachers are facing a double challenge:
" In every level of every learning area developing Curriculum that assumes computer mastery and uses IT as integral to the learning process.
" Mastering the computer.
Meeting the first challenge is essential for appropriate teaching/learning for the world of today and tomorrow. This challenge must be met even while teachers are dealing with the second challenge, because mastering the computer is with a view to the teaching/learning process not just for its own sake. A focus on Curriculum and learning will determine which computer mastery skills are required by teacher and student and which are not.

"…Curriculum framework specifies mandatory 'key competencies' in all areas, including Technology and Enterprise… " S.Kessell (Course Materials)

Reflection:
A common experience is for teachers to be enthusiastic about a new computer or digital camera etc while they are the learners (after a colleague or workshop has helped them work out what to do). The same is true of a recently purchased or workshopped software. The learning process that the teacher is going through mastering the equipment or software is like the excitement of the chase. Once the beast is cornered it is a different matter. Where the teacher is enthused with a new skill which is old hat to the students (or its value is not seen by students) the stage is set for a poor education experience.

Once the skill is mastered then it is time to move on - to use the skill, as servant in other learning experiences where the learning experience not the skill provide the motivation and reason for the activity.

Summary:
This article, written from the perspective of a grade 3 - 6 teacher (USA) is based on a number of research articles. No matter which method was used, the secret was for the teacher to teach students how to write.
Word Processing: Students more effective editors of their own work, more confident and interested in improving a text; corrected and developed text further when it was totally a word-processed text (as against a paper composed and wordprocessor edited text); more motivated to (and by) sharing their writing with peers and others; wrote longer texts;
Pen & Paper: A vital and important writing skill; This method always available. Problem of access to computers for word-processing. There was little ultimate difference in writing ability between the two methods apart from the motivational aspect (by publishing/sharing/group work, particularly to a wider audience via internet or intranet) of word-processing.
Publishing - working with students on a student newspaper provides scope for emphasising headings, capitalization, paragraphs, intro and conclusion etc.

Reflection: The fact that the main improvement in writing came from word-processing involving groupwork and especially the publication of writing (for the class or a school publication or a wider internet group) has relevance to the Aboriginal schools as well as other schools. For Aboriginal students there are problems to be overcome - recognising computer keyboard keys (word-processing) and developing good handwriting skills (pencil and paper). Teachers need to develop in their students successful writing skills using both methods. Teachers need to be aware of how successfully their students write using both methods - for some hand-writing may be more successful, for others word-processing may produce better texts. The desired outcome is the final text, not the method used.

The student is being short-changed for whom the main school experience of ICT is word-processing. ICT has much more to offer the learning process.