They can start by using a word processing program to prepare work sheets, reports, and lesson plans. They can put spirit masters in the printer if they need many inexpensive copies of a work sheet. Teachers can also use a data base program to store lesson plans and information about students' progress. A spelling checker might even draw a teacher's attention to a typing mistake in a text. Perhaps most exciting, teachers can use an electronic mail system or message diskettes to engage in written communications with students.
Many children have an easier time learning to use computers than adults do.
With good instruction, young children can also learn to touch-type. Although children approach computers confidently, mastering the operations of the keyboard and word processing programs takes time. At first, children will not write more in the same amount of time than they do with pen. Children in the upper elementary grades who have been successfully using pencils or pens take at least a term to begin to write as much with the computer as they can with pen in the same time. Typing and frequent access to the computer as a writing tool can speed up this process.