The importance of a proactive approach to education at an educational/academic computer center

A growing responsibility of academic computer centers is to provide seminars on computer-related topics to the faculty, staff and students they serve. The curricular aim is to instruct users on the effective use of the computer as a tool which is specific to users' needs. To successfully achieve this aim, I recommend that computer centers adopt a proactive instructional approach. Adopting a proactive instructional approach requires that computer centers acknowledge their educational responsibility and take action for managing instructional time.It used to be that computer users were almost exclusively math, science or computer majors. At that time computer centers were called upon only occasionally to give a seminar, with the advent of new hardware or software. The user population of the eighties, however has dramatically changed; computer users are increasingly from business, the social sciences, and humanities. These so-called “end users” are more naive about computers and depend heavily on the computer center staff for basic and applied computer information and operations.Initially, the educational response from computer centers was to provide 1) “user-English” documentation and 2) “user-English” consultants in order to more quickly orient students to computers and to their specific applications. As the number of users rapidly increased, the interaction time between students and consultants became more constrained and pressured, and the priority soon became how quickly users could be moved in and out of the consultant's office. Certain dilemmas became endemic. For example, a student's offhand query, “I have a quick question…,” often required a more extensive answer than the student expected. The consultant was then faced with providing the apparently “immediate” answer to the question, if that was possible, or whether and to what extent, to provide a more in-depth answer, if time allowed. Also, as students' needs diversified, consultants had to be proficient in more applications. It became clear that a more efficient way to handle user needs was to work with groups, rather than, individuals.Thus, instructional computer seminars were a practical response to the growing demands made on computer center staff. While seminars were in fact accommodating, their curriculum development tended to be somewhat frenzied; and quickly assembled to respond to more urgent needs. Rather than providing structured curricula in computer skills, seminars were designed to deflect “quick questions.” Part of the problem was that the seminars were put together by individuals who were unable to take into account educational factors necessary in building a sound curriculum accompanied by appropriate teaching methods.Addressing problems as they arise is a direct response, but a reactive educational approach. A proactive approach tries to address problems in the context of providing users with 1) a conceptual framework and 2) training in specific applications. The conceptual and functional aspects are complementary components and can be weighted according to the educational objectives of the computer center. For example, seminars teaching computer literacy take, by definition, a more functional approach. However, making a person computer literate does not mean that the person is computer knowledgeable.Developing an overall approach for a computer center is difficult. Computer centers exist in tandem with academic and service departments and may need to be careful not to step on toes. Therefore, taking a proactive approach requires computer centers to make decision regarding responsibilities in stating and realizing educational goals. It is my view that user services must accept those responsibilities.