| Using the TechnoKids to Enhance
Computer Skills
At MMS, Sherry Henderson has been using the Technokids curriculum notebook with students in her Special Topics class.
The TechnoKids notebook comes with a variety of integrated technology units on CDs. Each unit contains the teacher's manual, a student manual, and all activities, worksheets, web site links, and other materials needed to teach each unit.
The TechnoEditor portion can be an easy and rewarding experience for teachers and students. Students get to practice such computer skills as cutting and pasting, changing fonts, colors, and sizes and inserting word art and clip art. All instructions are given step by step. This unit practices most of the requirements of the desktop publishing section of the computer skills strand and prepares the students for the computer skills test.
The TechnoKids computer program is user friendly. However, it does require background preparation and a solid working knowledge of the program concepts being taught, as well as, rehearsal time to see how the idiosyncrasies of particular network protocols affects the directions given in the manuals. This is not a program that a teacher can decide to use at the last minute or “wing”. However, if investigated and prepared for, the units are another resource available for integrating technology into the curriculum.
Technokids is available in the Media Center at each school.
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