Assignment 1:

Computer as A Tool, Tutor and Tutee

Name: Naufal Binti Johari
Matric No: A151393
Group: TESL (T1)
Lecturer: Dr. Fariza Binti Khalid


Computer as A Tool, Tutor and Tutee
According to the Oxford dictionary (2010), the word tool is defined as a thing
that helps you to do your job or to achieve something meanwhile the word tutor is
described as an assistant lecturer in a college and a tutee is a person who is taught or
given advice by a tutor. Keengwe, Onchwari, and Wachira (2008), stated that several
higher education institutions are spending a lot of money as they promise new
dimensions to student learning with varied and assorted chances for educational
improvement through technology. This paper will further elaborate the roles of
computer as tutor, tools and tutee.
Computer software and applications managed to offer adequate support in
learning as a tutor and have developed useful aid in both decision making and
problem solving skills which is advancing from time to time as argued by
Starkweather (1986). According to Mahmoud Mohamed Gaber (2011), computer as
tutor gives materials needed and assesses the response given by the participants and
finally concludes the next activity. As the years go by, educators are becoming more
excited and motivated as their students are comfortable and confident with the usage
of computers as they are able to write better, analyse data and solve problems on their
own (Becker, 1994). As argued by Hubbard (n.d), thanks to the developing
technology nowadays, students across the globe are able to find genuine and realistic
materials to make references for different culture and languages. An example
mentioned by Hubbard (n.d), the Hot Potatoes application which was developed by
The University of Victoria managed to increase the participants competency in
English and teaches them the proper way of constructing sentences.
On the other hand, Taylor (1980), argued that for the computer to act as an
effective tool in the classroom is that it needs to be equipped with efficient programs
for a better learning. Besides that, he also stated that quite a number of tools have
been upgraded as the years go by due to the direct and practical utility in a lot of fields.
This resulted in time saving and logical thinking of the participants as monotonous
data to the computer. As mentioned in What are The Role Computer to The
Teaching Learning Process, students were given an email at the beginning of the
semester and they were taught on how to send and receive messages online and by the
end of the semester they are able to send emails to each other even though they are
separated by distance. The students are able to increase their creativity, thinking
skills and research skills as their learning involves technology (What Are The Role
Computer to The Teaching Learning Process n.d.). Besides that, the article also
mentioned that technology benefits learning as it provides attractive graphics, texts
and animation for the students to be able to fathom the topic. The author mentioned
that technology based surroundings will improve the students practical interface.
Finally, Rallis (2000) in her article Using Computers to Assist in Teaching and
Learning mentioned that the participants will be taught by the list of programmes
that have been installed by the lecturer. Rallis also stated an example that educators
should use creative multimedia presentation such as the Microsoft PowerPoint to
elaborate on a specific topic instead of using the traditional way which is to use the
chalkboard and textbooks to teach.
Finally, the last role of a computer is as a tutee. According to Taylor (1980),
an instructor or an educator should teach the computer in a language that it
comprehends to be able to use it as a tutee. As argued firmly by Mahmoud Muhamed
Gaber (2001), educating the computer offers several advantages as it will help the
educator in the end in terms of time saving as well as financially because there will be
no need to pay for a tutor. The computer is trained with software and applications
run by the learner when it is being used as a tutee. (Mahmoud Muhamed Gaber,
2001). He also stated that a child will be able to learn more thoroughly about the
manner of acquiring knowledge as compared to being taught by applications
developed by other parties and this a simple and basic foundation of the tutee mode.
Mahmoud Muhamed Gaber (2001) also mentioned that the usage of computers does
not decrepit the roles of classroom teachers but it improves their learning experiences
within the school compound.
To conclude, educators should believe in the usage of computer technology as
its efficiency and effectiveness is much better on various levels as compared to the
learning and educating methods used during the past 50 years thus benefitting each
one of us from technology use as mentioned in Computer Technology And
Meaningful Learning. (n.d.). In order to boost communicative interactions among
students and educators, technology-based setting is an essential element for both
parties to share and develop new meanings as mentioned in Computer Technology
And Meaningful Learning. Finally, the computer plays a significant role in educating
the society as well as improving the education purposes.





















References
1. Hubbard, P. (n.d.). General Introduction. Retrieved from:
http://web.stanford.edu/~efs/callcc/callcc-intro.pdf

2. Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G., Wachira, P. (2008). The use of Computer Tools to
Support Meaningful Learning. Retrieved from:
www.editlib.org/p/23647/article_23647.pdf
3. Mahmoud Muhamed Gaber. (2011). using computer as Tutor, Tool, Tutee.
Retrieved from:
http://aldeeb85.blogspot.com/2011/10/using-computer-as-tutor-tool-
tutee.html

4. Rallis, H. (2000). Using Computers to Assist in Teaching and Learning.
Retrieved from:
http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/computerideas.html

5. Starkweather, J. A. (n.d.). The Computer as a Tool for Learning. Retrieved
from:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1307163/

6. Taylor, R. P. (1980). The Computer in School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee. Retrieved
from:
http://www.citejournal.org/vol3/iss2/seminal/article1.cfm

7. What are the role computer to the teaching learning process? (n.d.). Retrieved
from:
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_role_computer_to_the_teac
hing_learning_process

8. Oxford Dictionary. (2014). Retrieved from:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/tutor