Schewanick Computer Services

It's often said that pupils learn the most from what their teachers do, rather than what they say. Here are eleven good practices you need to adopt if you want your kids to lean good habits rather than bad.

Ensure that computers and software are set up and working properly before the lesson.

Observe health and safety regulations and common-sense rules, such as not eating or drinking at the computer.

Observe the correct procedures for using the equipment, such as by shutting down properly rather than simply switching the computer off.

Save your files in folders on the hard disk or on the network with meaningful names, not Doc1, Doc2, or Joan1, Joan2 etc -- in fact, you should have a system for naming your files.

Organise your computer workspace well.

Save your work frequently.

Use the correct terminology, and not confuse "memory", say, with "hard disk space".

Back up your work regularly.

Use ICT to produce signs for displays.

Use computers for administrative tasks, such as producing lists of pupils, producing quality worksheets, communicating with other schools, exchanging data with examination boards and so on.

Use ICT overtly for real tasks, such as giving each pupil a sticky label with his/her name and class on, obviously mail-merged.

As you can see, none of this is rocket science -- or even complicated. Makes a big difference, though, especially when carried out day in and day out, week in, week out.

About the author:

Terry Freedman writes and advises on all aspects of teaching and managing educational technology in schools. Visit his website for even more hints and tips, an the opportunity to sign up for a free newsletter called Computers in Classrooms.