Computers are widely used in schools, colleges and universities. They are used for computer -aided learning, distance education and administration. E-learning, training programmes and research are other areas of the educational field where computers are put to use.
When a physics teacher wants to show the different positions of a particle in a wave motion, a chemistry teacher wants to illustrate molecular collision or a biology teacher wants to show a beating heart, a mathematics teacher wants to show how a regular polygon approaches a circle when the number of sides tend to infinity or when an economist wants to illustrate an organic market and so on, a computer can effectively simulate these phenomena.
Conventional libraries can be computerised with library management software. It provides facilities to create a database of books, assign accession number, provide content wise, author wise searching facility, verify stock and issue notices. One could also go for digital libraries where books are available in an electronic format and are called e-books. In laboratories, computers are used as tools essential for various processes such as recording, analysing and plotting data for visual display.
From admission to examination, from staff management to parent interaction, from student information to public transaction, computers make possible automated management and administration of educational institutions. They are used for student enrollment, collection of fees, keeping attendance of student and staff, conducting examinations and announcing results. Besides this, all kinds of information about the organisation are available on the Net so that they can be accessed from anywhere.
Computers also make possible transaction of distance learning courses (often called e-learning). Computer programs or web tools provide step-wise learning. A student can decide the pace of learning for himself or herself. E-learning is flexible and convenient. A student can also attend e-classes. A teacher can supplement classroom instructions by encouraging self-learning of students through e-classes. Quality educational materials such as, online e-books, on line video-audio lectures, career guidance are available at the websites of many educational organisations and universities.
