A Tools Approach. A tools approach assumes that general-purpose software, such as word processing or paint programs or an Internet World Wide Web browser, can be flexibly applied by the learner to various topics. Thus the teacher is more of a 'facilitator of learning' rather than a 'dispenser of knowledge'. What Students Do With Computers.
Computers can play a variety of roles in school.
Computer tools are more general-purpose applications designed to help the user function more productively. Such tools include work processing programs used to write reports and database programs used to organize and search for information about all the students in an elementary school. Applications that allow students to search for information on the Internet would also be considered tools. Given the description of computer tools provided here, there is some danger that you might misinterpret what students actually do. Much of the time students spend working with computer tools, they are actually learning to use them, not using them to do academic work in other areas.