Teaching computer applications to pre-school teachers through problem based learning approach

Traditional computer training heavily depends on lectures, systematic demonstrations, and intensive hands-on tasks. However, most tasks are not stimulating and the skills learnt are not transferable to other situations. Certainly, these artificial learning activities cannot cater for individual needs. On the contrary, we observe that problem-based learning activities are quite suitable for teaching computer applications and always help students develop problem solving skills. This paper will discuss how we use this approach in teaching computer applications to non-computing students such as in-service pre-school teachers. Copyright © 2005 The Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.