USE OF COMPUTER IN EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION:Computer can solve the many educational problems therefore no. of universities, colleges and school use computers. They use computer for administration, instructions and for giving critical lectures in easy way. They use computer for demonstrations of complicated topics during lectures. They also use computer in guidance and counseling, research, testing and conferencing etc.

HISTORY OF COMPUTER IN EDUCATION:The word computer is derived from Compute. First computers were people because they computed things according to their needs. The Abacus was an early aid for computations. Electronic computers were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings whose job was to computation required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. When first electronic computer was developed it became easy to compute something. The first educational use of electronic computer was seen in 1950 for driving flight simulator used to train pilots of MIT, USA. The first attempt to use computers with school children was made in 1959 when the IBM team reported a program to teach binary arithmetic to New York Elementary school via a typewriter inquiry station connected to IBM 650 computers. In 1960 the University of Illinois Control Data Corporation started a project PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic teacher Operations) which was extensively used throughout the United States. In 1982 PLATOs courseware could be used on floppy discs suitable for running on stand-alone microcomputer. Another educational use of computer was evidenced by the development of LOGO language during 1970s by Papert and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in USA. LOGO helps in developing computer programs and also trains persons to think analytically and logically. On 29 October 1969 scientists sent their first networked communication between two computers that were more than 300 miles apart. That was first communication and it named INTERNET. Internet came in a big way and it is affected all sphere
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of life. It is also making possible for the people sitting on a distance to communicate, group discussion, real time chatting, e-mail, telnet which are very much useful in the field of education. Most of institutes have put their detail and journals on their websites so that anyone can access this information in anytime from anywhere in the world.

CURRENT USES OF COMPUTER IN EDUCATION:*ADMINISTRATIVE USES. Many educational institutions nearly all their operations from mailing labels to staff payroll. Computerization of administrative function is given below:

i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) i)

OFFICE APPLICATIONS. In office computers are used in filling, typing, preparing lists etc. LIBRARY APPLICATIONS. It is use to finding books from library list. FINANCIAL APPLICATIONS. It is use for making budges, auditing, salary schedule etc. STUDENT APPLICATIONS. It is use for making time table, reports cards, grades etc. PERSONAL APPLICATIONS. It is use to save assignment, maintaining bio-data of student, reporting etc RESEARCH APPLICATIONS. It is use to test item analysis, project planning, budget forecasting etc.

*INSTRUCTIONAL USES COMPUTER AIDED INSTRUCTION (CAI). CAI has text material, test questions requiring students responses, additional backup instructional material and analysis of progress. The advantages of CAI are that it can be used at any time. Students at CAI terminals can proceed through lesson at their own rate. Each terminal can evaluate specific lesson, independently of the others. Individualized instruction is good for the slow learner as well as bright students. CAI lesson require less student time as compared to the traditional lesson.

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COMPUTER MANAGED INSTRUCTIONS (CMI). CMI is used to enhance learning by providing automated management of elements of the students learning environment. CMI system provides facilities which are organized around three major sets of functions: The computer can gather data about students and it generates and marks objective tests being used for diagnostic etc. The computer provides feedback to individual student on test performance. The computer stores and updates records of each students performance.

COMPUTER IN MANAGING TEST SYSTEM:

Computers are using in the preparation, administrating and scoring of tests. Different parts of test system are managing by the computer like questions, results and preparation of reports through computer. Similarly computer can help us to presents the results at mass media like internet.

COMPUTER IN RESEARCH:
Computers are used in research projects for collecting data. With the help of internet facility, it is possible to obtain bibliographic evidences from all over the world, detail of research studies and their findings. Now researchers can undertake analysis of data involving large amount of calculations.

OTHER USES OF COMPUTERS:

The latest use of computers includes telecommunication links. Computers are connected to online database on educational topics and current news. School link with each other to exchange information and engage in joint learning projects.

THE ISSUES OF USING COMPUTER IN EDUCATION:

The society is moving fast from the industrial age towards the information age. ETHICS: Since the computers are used in different fields, some important areas of difficulty in ethical and legal behavior have also come. These problems will be discussed under two categories namely copy right and hacking.

 COPY RIGHT: The cost of software development is very high. The software producers expect a profit from their venture. Copy right law is the mechanism for protecting the right to profit sale of ones products. In the case of applications software such as word processors and database, the problem is more serious. HACKING: Hacking is unauthorized use of computer and network resources. A hacker generally is a person who is totally involved in working with a computer.

EXCESSIVE RELIANCE ON COMPUTERS:

Another issue is the ultimate effect of our increasing personal on computers in daily life. Many teachers are seriously concerned about the excessive computers in mathematics, written communication and computer infallibility. For example:

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WRITTEN COMMUNICATION: The impact of word processors and spelling checker programmes on students writing ability should also be taken seriously. Today lap-top computers are available and are very popular, so one can have access to word processing at all times. MATHEMATICS: With the introduction of calculators and computers in the educational scenarios there were cries of anguish from many teachers those students would no longer really learn arithmetic. Computers can also be used for more sophisticated calculations and other errors will be known to the users and the answers will be estimated correctly.

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CHANGING ROLES OF TEACHERS, STUDENTS AND PARENSTS.

The influx of computers into education has potential to change the roles of teachers, students and parents.

 TEACHERS: Computers become major part of teacher training now a day. Teachers gain new knowledge and skills by computer. So they give their lectures with more efficiently. Practically computer is the important tool of education now. Computer will enable the individualization of instructions. STUDENTS: In the present information age the exponential growth of knowledge and information makes it impossible for students to learn each and everything they will need in their future lives. Hence the role of students changes with the help of computer. Students learn how to obtain and manipulate the information; they need from various available resources. Todays students are growing up with computers as a natural part of their lives in good schools. PARENTS: Computers have changed everything. The roles of Parents are also change by computers. Parents can provide educational needs of their children more effectively by the use of computer.

CONCLUSION:
So we can say that the computer is an important tool in educational field and it always facilitates to the teachers, students and parents and it helps them to improve their knowledge. We can get a huge amount of information from internet and can enhance not even our literary knowledge but also we can get lot of learning and practical skills through computer.