eTWINNING AMBASSADORS AND COORDINATORS
From the first computer to trainer
Anna Pławecka II Liceum Ogólnokształcące, Jaworzno
In Poland, today’s students are Europe’s conscious citizens cured of inferiority complex towards their Western peers and busy striving towards their goals. Thanks to meeting the educational requirements that they are faced with they reach for the highest professional and social positions later in life, they are people of consequence in the country and abroad. Today’s teachers are pedagogues equipped with the latest ICT tools, able to prepare their students for the challenges that the modern world has in store for them. However, it was not always like that. The beginnings The year was 1999. Parents bought their first computer complete with software and additional equipment. They put it on their writing desk (which was nothing like computer stations available today), plugged their “marvel” in and did not quite know what to do next. The thing was supposed to speed up and facilitate their work, but how? That’s when Kasia who was back from her preschool entered the room and exclaimed: “Oh, enter!” She showed them how to switch the computer on, how to use Microsoft Paint and Word. Her dad – a businessman – and her mum – a comprehensive upper secondary school teacher – were absolutely delighted with their daughter’s enthusiasm and skills gained during her preschool computer classes. However, they felt quite embarrassed about their ignorance compared with their daughter’s computer literacy. The age of computers Kasia’s mother, a language specialist, decided that neither her students at school nor her own children at home should surpass her in ICT skills. After several successful or less than successful attempts to learn how to use the computer, undertaken on her own or with a little help from her friends, she enrolled for a postgraduate programme entitled “IT and computer science at school”. Kasia’s dad – the businessman – joined suitable courses. As a result, they were soon able to surf the web in a safe and – more importantly – conscious way and make use of software available on the market. They were no strangers to subsequent programme updates and upgrades having found out what they were, and keeping up with novelties appearing on the Internet soon became their habit.
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