Computers have changed the way people work in any profession.
They play a vital role in any field and aid Industrial processes, medical industry, farming, mining, banking infect in all industries. This clearly shows how important computers are in this modern world, hence their existence in the education sector is very essential. Of Importance society has become more computer literate over the past few decades, and as technology has been advancing, society's reliance on computing systems has Increased.Education Is all about preparing an individual to be of use In an Industry. Therefore to incorporate computers in the teaching learning process is necessary in order to create familiarity with various computer assistant applications from a young age, particularly within a classroom capacity. In order to effectively evaluate the use of computers In the teaching and learning process the writer Is going to define terms such as computers, teaching and learning.
The writer is also going to give a brief account on the perspectives of the leaner, and the teacher on the use of computers as well as the advantages and the disadvantages of using them in the teaching and learning process. Geysers P (1995) defines a computer as an electronic device which is capable of receiving Information (data) and performing a sequence of logical operations In accordance with a predetermined but variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result In form of Information or signals.A computer can be programmed to do a lot of functions depending on the software installed in it. From the above definition It can be noted that computers are not necessarily the laptops or desktops but will include pads and even cell phones since they are capable of achieving information (data) and performing a sequence of logical operations in accordance with a predetermined, variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result In form of Information or signals.
Teaching and learning are processes that are interlinked to each other but for proper understanding it important to define the terms separately. Muff (1994) defines teaching as "those systematic activities by which the teacher helps the pupil learn how to do certain things that will assist the pupil cope with and improve his/her environment. Biggs (1991) simply says "teaching is developing problem solving abilities in learners. " 30th authors are in agreement that the are two parties involved the teacher who facilitates the process and the learner who Is the one to be developed.
Learning is about behavior management for specific purposes. It is generally thought of as a relatively permanent change In behavior that results from an individual's interaction with the environment. (lifesavers, 1994) Therefore in school settings learning Is Inferred from the students' ability to demonstrate a variety of knowledge and skills as spelt out in the school curriculum. The present generation of students likes to embrace all the things in the armpit of this modern technology but unfortunately the majority of educators are feeling shy and reluctant to accept technology as their work partner (Hussein, 2005). Students of this modern generation are much advanced and smarter than their teachers in terms of usage of computers and other modern technical gadgets.
It looks as if technology has been with the children since birth, especially computers; they have been an integral part of child's life and personality.Majority of the children in this age would forget what their parents have instructed them, but would never forget to be "Online" at a specified time to Join their friends at chat room using computers Gradual, (2012). Most students of this generation have started using computers at a very tender age since most toys are now computerized, children can learn the alphabet through their toy computers, most of their games now are on computers. Long ago children used to play ball games of which now the same ball games can be played on a computer.
This gives more advantage to the students of his generation when it comes to using or operating a computer. It is therefore important for the present and next generation of educators to widen usage of this technology for teaching learning purpose for the benefit of both practitioners especially the learner since they show interest in computers. Hussein, l. (2005) emphasized the point that students are ready to accept the changes in their learning styles, but their teachers think that computers are complicated to handle and if they are used in education for teaching and learning purposes they might substitute the traditional teachers.On the other hand Menses, R. J.
(2008) insists that neither the pre-service teacher training courses are focusing to include computers in integration with education, nor the in-service trainings focusing upon using computers in education. Schools all over the country are demanding teachers who are ready to initiate the process of Computer Assisted Instructions and initialize integration of technology with education, but the teachers being produced are Just like the conventional and are overlapped with traditional methods of teaching.In order to meet the challenges provided by present society, many universities in the field of Teacher Education have introduced a course in computers. The student-teachers are taught about the basic computer hardware and some software application packages but because of the unavailability of resources there is more of theory than practical thus resulting in production of those, same convectional teachers with old methods of teaching.This continues to be a problem in most developing countries than developed countries than have since phased away the old paper system and have moved on to use of computers in the teaching and learning process. Schemes of work, record of marks, registrars, lesson plans and evaluation reports are all now Ewing done using computers.
4. 0 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPUTERS AND THE TEACHING - LEARNING PROCESS It should be brought to light that teaching is undertaking certain ethical tasks or activities with the intention of inducing learning.Of importance learning institutions must improve educational quality, find innovative ways to use technology in the curriculum, provide outcomes to satisfy clients and Job market. The introduction of computers has provided excellent opportunities to challenge problems and satisfy the expectations of the society.
In these days their magical contributions to better educational programs. The center stage of this attention is Internet which has its main purpose as to provide students and teachers with more options to learn, to teach, to research, to communicate, and to share knowledge.Muff (1994) defines class teaching as those systematic activities by which the teacher helps the pupil learn how to do certain things that will assist the pupil cope with and improve on his environment. It can be noted that teaching is not a single day event but is a process that takes time and needs the teacher to be very organized in planning how to make the process easier for learners. In trying to make earning easier and produce quality education there is need to use teaching or learning aids (Henning, R.
Tall 1996) Whatever subject or level of learner being taught, the use of teaching material/ learning aids has always produced quality education. It is important to note that schools that are very poor when it comes to teaching aids and learning resources even under the same education system will not produce same quality of education as those that are adequately provided with teaching or learning aids. A good example is most schools in resettlement areas of Zombie that lack teaching aids and even lassoers, they cannot be compared to schools in urban areas or developed countries that have all necessary teaching resources.Some of the teaching aids that can be used by teachers include television, videos, overhead projectors, slides, film slides and visuals from computers (Marled, O. 1992).
Some of the functions a computer can perform include playing videos, audios, presenting images, charts, capturing videos, data storage, data analysis in research. With these functions there is no doubt that a computer will enhance quality teaching and learning both directly and indirectly. Computer technology has had a deep impact on the education sector.Thanks to computers, imparting education has become easier and much more interesting than before. Owing to memory capacities of computers, large chunks of data can be stored in them. They enable quick processing of data with very less or no chances of errors in processing.
Networked computers aid quick communication and enable web access. Storing documents on computers in the form of soft copies instead of hard ones, helps save paper. The advantages of computers in education primarily include.Teachers should always remember that the ultimate goal in teaching is to grab most of the attention from students and present messages that are clear, attractive illustrative and effective on the points to be delivered. Computers will be of use to achieve this since they can be made to view videos and images.
They also have the ability to capture events some of which are impossible to bring to classroom in their natural form for examples videos showing the life cycle and development of insects. In reality this development will take several weeks but can be presented by a video through a computer within minutes in a lesson.Every activity is captured with its color, form and sound thereby reducing need to explain to the students. Facility to play back any number of times is available and this will ensure maximum learning than any description will do.
Visual can also be adjusted to be bigger or smaller and enlarging them on computers. It is important to note that computers have the capacity to record both a video or audio hence lessons can be recorded for the benefit of both the teacher and the students. The students can replay the lesson in their own time and that will make them capture more information when they replay.The teacher can also replay the video in his or her own time for the purpose of evaluating the lesson that is the ability to catch the attention of students, quantity and quality of information impacted to students as well as behavior of the students during the lesson. This evaluation will enable the teacher to plan for a more quality lesson by rectifying the mistakes of the previous one.
