Interview three regular teacher 67

The third interviewee at school B, CG, is a science teacher for grade 7 to 9. He has been working as a teacher for 10 years, but only one year at the current school.

When asked about how often he uses computers, CG describes that he uses them every day in his work, and that he mainly use them to prepare his classes. He explains that he collect most of his learning material for his classes from the Internet. He describes that most of the available content on the Internet is quite good because it is related to the content in the books they use at the school. In this way the Internet makes it easy for him to add something that he cannot find in the books. CC describes that the only source when collecting material from the Internet for his classes is Google. He claims that it is not a very time consuming process to search for learning material using Google, as it normally takes less than 30 minutes.

When it comes to his computer knowledge, CG describes it as quite good. He explains that he can use the computer to do basic things like using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and the Internet. CG describes that he has gained most of his knowledge from when he studied at the university. He explains that the school provides all teachers with computer training but that he has not yet received any because he has only worked at the school for one year. CG claims that it is important that he and the other teachers are provided with further computer related support in the future because of the rapid development within the area.

Regarding how he conducts his classes, CG describes that he starts every class with an introduction to describe what the students are going to learn during that lesson. After that the students get time to learn and an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas with him and the other students. He explains that he usually uses things from reality in his education but that he also shows pictures and videos for the students as a complement. CG describes his way of teaching as quite traditional as he often uses the whiteboard to write down the content and gives sheets of papers to the students. He explains that because of the lack of computers, all learning material that he hands out during his classes is on paper. CG describes that the only time he uses computers in his teaching is when he wants to show something special on a CD-ROM, but that this happens quite rarely, about once a month.

CG describes that he does not think that the school has too few computers today but that it would be good if they had more computers. He claims that all the computers they have today have enough standard to fulfil all his current needs.

When talking about learning material, CG describes that it is almost impossible for him to share his learning material with other teachers. He claims that the only way he can share his learning material with other teachers is if he meet up with another teacher and discuss it. For this reason, most of the learning material he uses today in his classes is created by him and is not shared with other teachers. He explains that a database were he and other teachers could share learning material would be very useful.

When asked about his opinion regarding computers, CG explain that he thinks that computers are good tools for supporting teaching because they can ease the workload of the teachers. CG also describes that he thinks that the computers can make it easier for students. This as the computers for example makes it possible to create summaries of books, which the students can read instead of reading whole books. CG describes that computers also are useful when he want to create exercises, because they allow him to just create the exercise and then print it out, instead of writing it down on the whiteboard, which will take a long time. CG also claims that computers would make the classes more interesting for students.

When discussing problems with today’s education, CG describes that the greatest problem has not to do with the sizes of the classes but rather that the students within each class are very different. He explains that because some students are quick learners and some are slow it is hard for him to help everyone in the class since he has to focus on the slower learners. He believes that computers would help in this regard because they would decrease his workload and make him less tired.

Regarding the computer knowledge among the teachers, CG describes that the general computer knowledge are good and that all teachers have basic computer knowledge, e.g. all teachers know how to put in a CD-ROM and show the content for the students. CG explains that most of the teachers at the school have enough computer knowledge to start using computers in the education, but that some teachers might need some extra support. He claims that the problems, i.e. the lack of knowledge among some teachers, are related to specific programs. He explains that some teachers have trouble doing more advanced things like using Microsoft PowerPoint to create learning material for their classes. When it comes to students’ computer knowledge, CG is confident that it is high enough, and that all students would manage to start using computers in the education without any problems.

When asked about barriers for implementing computer-aided teaching at the school, CG describes that the greatest problem is the lack of computers. He claims that if the school only had the required computers it would not be a problem. The only other problems that he can think of is that some students might use the computers in the wrong way and that they might become obsessed with computers and start to spend more time in front of the computer instead of playing outside.