In section I (introduction) we saw that the computer is a tool that has many uses. It can also be useful as an educational tool. Although you can learn about computers themselves, you can also learn a foreign language, how to do accounts, take a history lesson or geography etc. Indeed, there is software to help pass exams and gain qualifications.
Since 1982 schools have been acquiring computers as funds permit. Primary and infant schools use them as an aid in teaching children how to read or do sums, for instance. Projects can be based around the computer providing extra interest. Older children tend to learn about more complex things that may equip them for later life.
Use of the internet on schools has grown over the last few years as it enables much more detailed research to be done on various subjects. Access is supervised. Special software is available to limit the sites that can be visited so that the children do not access any undesirable material. Many schools now have their own web sites and the students often contribute to it. Their current skills and abilities (eg use of language) can be seen and quantified and other people can share in their activities.
In the workplace computers have to some extent taken the place of dedicated human trainers in providing a one-to-one personal trainer. The user can work at their own pace. Examples and questions can be interactive and marked by the computer, the user typing their answer into the machine or selecting options with a mouse. Ultimately, work pressures limit the time available for such training.
Learning how to use a particular piece of software, a particular word processor or spreadsheet, a particular database etc is not important. What is important is to learn the principles behind the software as this then enables you to use different packages. It does not then matter who the manufacturer is. The exact method of doing something (eg making text bold) can vary from package to package. So, it is no use learning EveryOffice if your employer uses Microsoft Office. It follows, then, that the operating system or machine that one learns on does not matter. And in any case, files can be converted from one system to another if need be.