How To Teach Computer Skills to Elementary Students (7 Easy Steps)

In this modern era, we must equip students with computer skills. While most schools begin to teach advanced computer skills in secondary school, it’s essential to lay the foundation for learning in elementary school. So, how can teachers teach computer skills to elementary students?

Here’s how to teach computer skills to elementary students:

Teach the basics first.

Use an age-appropriate curriculum.
Teach computer and digital safety.
Assess and address individual learner needs.

Take advantage of collaborative learning.
Explore real-world computer uses.
Teach through games.

This article provides a range of tips and guidance to help you teach elementary students computer skills. It also gives you a wealth of resources that will support students’ learning.

Table of Contents

1. Teach the Basics First

Computer skills are divided into two general areas, which include hardware and software knowledge. Before children can learn how computer skills, they need to understand exactly what a computer is and its function.

The following sections explore the basic knowledge you should equip your students with.

Teach Children What a Computer Is

Before delving into how to use a computer, talk to children about what a computer is. A computer can be more than a desktop or a laptop in today’s digital age. It’s a machine for individuals to input, process, and receive information.

Showing children videos describing what a computer is helpful to illuminate and describe a computer’s build and purpose.

This video by Socratica Kids makes for an excellent introduction:

Before allowing children to engage with the computer, you’ll want to focus on computer hygiene, like ensuring that hands are washed before using the computer and not having food or drinks around the computer.

Basic Hardware Knowledge To Teach

Before even turning on a computer, children should be familiar with navigating computer hardware. You’ll want to introduce children to a model or non-functioning laptop and tell them about different computer parts they will engage with.

Here’s what to focus on:

The mouse: Get children comfortable with placing their hand over a mouse and moving it. If you teach with a laptop, get them comfortable using a trackpad.
The keyboard: Very young children enjoy pretending to type on a model computer, so you can use one to help children get familiar with finding and pressing different keys. Start by giving them a few simple words to type out and then introduce numbers and symbols.
The charger/charging point: If you’re using a laptop, show children how to plug in the charging cable. If you’re teaching with a desktop, show them how to switch on the power to the computer. However, ensure the children are old enough to engage with cables and plug points.

Basic Software Knowledge To Teach

Building on software knowledge will be the bulk of the skills you teach your students. Before you delve into specific software programs, teach your students to navigate the computer.

Here are some computer navigational skills to focus on:

Turning the computer on and off. At a base level, children need to know how to safely start and switch off a computer, lock it, and put it to sleep.

Opening and closing applications. This includes using programs like Task Manager to close applications when they stop responding.
Using the search function. All computers have a built-in search function that helps you find the applications you need.
Adapting computer settings. Show children how to access the computer settings bar and change simple settings like the brightness or volume levels.

Older elementary school students will be familiar with many of these basic computer functions, especially if they have computers at home. However, students in Grade 1 and 2 may not be familiar with these skills, so assessing them at the beginning of the course is best.

You can teach these skills through role modeling and computers that are designed for teaching. Once students become more familiar with basic skills, you can introduce them to games that will build on their skills.

2. Use an Age-Appropriate Curriculum

Once you’ve established that students are confident with the basic computer skills, you can continue teaching the computer curriculum. Most schools follow a set national or international computer science curriculum designed with age-appropriate topics.

However, if your school doesn’t have a set curriculum or you want to teach your students some additional skills, you can focus on particular software programs depending on the students’ age.

Some software programs that you may consider teaching include:

Microsoft Word: In elementary school, you might focus on teaching children to use Word’s essential tools.

Microsoft Powerpoint: Use powerpoint to design and showcase presentations.
Microsoft Excel: Using Excel involves building on an understanding of databases and how to manipulate data.
Paint: This tool is used for creating creative images and editing photos at a school level.

Internet browser: Teaching children to use the internet safely is a crucial skill in the 21st century.

Here is an educator-recommended breakdown of what you can focus on at different grade levels.

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten, the most significant focus in computer classes is on how to use hardware safely. This may include turning on and off a computer, using a mouse, and ensuring that the children are gentle with the device.

Remember, your students will still be building on their literacy and letter comprehension skills when they are at this age. So, while they may be able to mimic keyboard movements, they may not fully be able to comprehend how to type out full words.

Grade 1 and 2

When they are in the first and second grades, your students can comprehend the connection between words, letters, and typing. You can begin encouraging your students to open Microsoft Word to create, edit and format text.

You can also show your students how and where to save files and the logical structure of saved files on the computer.

The focus at this age is to build on core text skills.

Grade 3 and 4

In Grade 3 and 4, children are building on their logical and mathematical skills. You can introduce them to Microsoft Excel and begin to give them a practical example of how databases work.

You can also show them how to format Excel cells and use databases on Excel to generate simple charts.

This is the time to start introducing students to internet searches and internet safety. Talk to them about search engines and how they generate data. Children will begin independently exploring the internet at this stage, so it’s also essential to introduce internet safety concepts.

Grade 5 and 6

By Grade 5 and 6, children should be confident in creating and formatting text and processing and presenting data. You can teach them to use these skills to make presentations in Microsoft Powerpoint.

You may want to introduce Powerpoint only when you’re confident your students can work with elements like videos, sound, and animation.

In the last two grades of elementary school, students can begin to take on creative projects using their computer skills. For instance, they may begin to create a comic book, an animation, or even their own website.

Students should also be developing critical thinking skills in all areas of study. In computer science classes, they should begin to critically evaluate information on websites and judge its reliability.

Children with strong computer skills and understanding may also develop an interest in coding and writing simple programs to impact how a computer runs.

3. Teach Computer and Digital Safety

An integral part of any computer skills course in the 21st century is lessons on computer safety, which is especially relevant when children are using the internet. You’ll need to make sure that children thoroughly understand safety before they can use a computer independently.

They should be aware of potential viruses, cyberbullying, online predators, and exposure to inappropriate content, as well as some physical dangers of continuously using a computer.

Here are some more details on what you should educate your students on.

Knowledge of Computer Viruses and Hacks

Ensure that you teach children that viruses can hack into computers. Remind them that they should notify a teacher if they notice an alert saying a virus has been detected or if they notice software behaving differently.

Installing anti-virus software on all computers your students will use is also helpful.

Cyberbullying

Children becoming more confident using computers will likely meet others online using social media platforms and chat forums. Teach children to recognize forms of cyberbullying, including discrimination and hate speech.

You should also teach children how to deal with cyberbullying, including reporting them to a teacher or simply disengaging from the forum.

Online Predators

When they feel like they are in a space they are being heard and accepted, children are more likely to share personal information online, which makes them vulnerable to online predators.

These people may exploit children by sending them inappropriate photos or videos or even encourage them to meet in person, putting them at risk of harm.

When using computers, unmonitored online forums should be blocked. You should ensure your students know that they shouldn’t be sharing any identifying details about themselves online.

Exposure to Inappropriate Content and Obscenity

There is inappropriate content all over the internet, and your students can easily come across it.

Ensure content filters are set up on all computers the children will use and that you can oversee their screens at all times. In addition, students need to know that they should report any content exposure they feel uncomfortable with.

Physical Risks of Using Computers

Computer and internet usage is addictive. Once children become more comfortable using a computer, they are likely to spend more time on them.

Some of the physical risks of continuously using a computer include:

Eye strain

Problems with back posture
Neck sprain
Frequent headaches

Even while in a computer class, you should teach your students to take continuous breaks and limit their time on a computer. Encourage them to get up by creating physically active games related to learning computer skills and online safety.

4. Assess and Address Individual Learner Needs

When students come into your computer class, you’ll notice that they all have varying proficiency levels. You must meet individual learners’ needs to ensure each student’s learning journey is tailored to them and that they remain engaged.

This is part of a teaching theory called Universal Design for Learning, where resources and tasks can be adapted to meet the needs of individual learners.

You can address individual learner needs by:

Assessing proficiency: Before each task, assess the proficiency that children have in them. This may involve asking who is familiar with the program being used.
Designing diverse tasks: Once you’ve assessed their proficiency in a particular area, you can start giving tasks to your students. Make sure you have tasks of different complexity to ensure you can assign them appropriately to students.

Designing diverse assessments: As well as giving students diverse tasks, you may need to give them assessments that suit their proficiency level.
Having fallback tasks available: Along with the core of your lesson plan, you should also have a few tasks you can give students who can work quickly through the core tasks.

5. Take Advantage of Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning, where peers or groups are paired together, is highly beneficial. In a computer skills class, this may involve pairing students with one reading out instructions and the other following them on the computer.

Or, it may involve them working on separate computers on a shared document to create a project or presentation. Using tools like PowerPoint is ideal for promoting collaborative learning with ease.

Collaboration between teachers and their students can make the lessons more dynamic. Teachers know a lot, but students can sometimes add something the instructor wouldn’t have imagined.

This collaboration is a great way to give your children some independence and make them feel like they are adding something to the conversation. Digital tools like PowerPoint allows children to add their contributions using technology to see how they can make a difference in class.

Collaborating with other students and teachers also allows children to have fun. Add some excitement to your lessons by giving children an opportunity to discuss with each other what they think should be included in their studies or letting them choose an image or video.

This use of team-building gives students a chance to be creative and have a good time when they are learning.

6. Explore Real-World Computer Uses

Children are more likely to put effort into learning skills when they believe they are helpful in their everyday lives. Throughout the whole learning process, take time to show children how to use the skills they are learning in multiple areas, such as in other subjects and everyday scenarios.

This section includes some ideas you can use to teach your students about the real-world uses of computers.

Cross-Disciplinary Uses

If you’re teaching in a school setting, collaborate with other teachers to create projects for students who need to use computer skills. As they do homework for other subjects, they will also build on their computer literacy skills.

Here are some cross-disciplinary projects you can consider:

Social sciences and humanities: Computers can act as tutors or teachers in social science subjects like geography and history. Students can be encouraged to find information in a particular field using the internet and then present their findings using presentation software.
Math: Math teachers may use computer interactive mathematical tools to build on concept knowledge like unitizing and fragmenting.
Arts: Digital art is a growing movement. It’s worth collaborating with your school’s art teacher to engage children in doing digital artwork through programs like paint and photoshop.

Everyday scenarios

Computers are an essential part of most urban dwellers’ everyday life. Explore the different uses of computers in everyday life with your students, which will build on their interest and engagement in learning.

Here are some ways you can explore everyday computer scenarios:

Plan a field trip. Take your students out into the community for a computer scavenger hunt that can include a visit to a supermarket or a train station. Challenge them to find as many computer devices as they can. Remind them that this includes devices that are powered by computers as well.

Bring in a presenter. Introduce your students to people who work closely with computers and have them come in and do a presentation.
Have a class discussion. At the beginning of the computer skills course, engage children in a collaborative conversation about how we use computers and how they support different areas of our lives.

7. Teach Through Games

While a structured curriculum is essential, you should give your students free time each class to engage in computer games. Give children a range of educational games to choose from, like Prodigy, Tinybop Games, and the Kerbal Space Program.

Here are some more details about games you can consider.

Prodigy

Prodigy has Math, and English games designed to fit into teachers’ lesson plans and allow teachers to assess the data that students generate while playing the game. It also gives teachers an insight into the student’s skills with a computer.

Tinybop Games

Tinybop Games have online packages designed to sync with schools’ curriculums. It focuses on STEM topics, including the weather, the human body, the earth, and space. If your school engages with Tinybop, you can get support from its administrators.

The Kerbal Space Program

As its name suggests, the Kerbal Space Program focuses on teaching children about space through interactive adventures. It builds on various computer skills, including typing, mouse manipulation, and programming.

Key Takeaways

You’ll want to start teaching children computer skills in elementary school to pave the way for deeper learning. When children are in early grades, teach them basic computer skills like using a mouse and typing.

As they get older, they shift the focus to using particular software and the internet. Remember to focus on computer and digital safety throughout your lessons.

Sources

GCF Global: Teaching Kids about Internet Safety