BoBr's Helper

Practical and Methodical Helper for Using Information and Communication Technology in Education at Czech Schools and Homes

Let me introduce you to my WWW home page: BoBr's Helper. In reality it is not only one page, but a large hypertext document which you can find on address http://it.pedf.cuni.cz/~bobr/ The owner of this site is OMICRON association, Department of Computer Science, Czech University of Technology, Prague. I would like to express my thanks to them for giving me this opportunity and sponsorship.

You will probably ask why I waste my time to describe it in English because this document is written in Czech and is dedicated to use in the Czech Republics. The reason is that I wish at least to discuss the appropriateness of the structure and contents not only with Czech professionals but also with foreign.

The entry page includes two main links. First, "How to use Helper?" is a short description of each part of the document with a little theoretical background of Hypertext. The beginner in using Internet (as a typical Czech teacher) can find there the basic information about the risk of disorientation in a non-linear environment and the importance of the Back button in the browser. The second entry link is "What is the Future of Technology in Education?" This article contains an introduction to problematic. Its aim is to interest visitors in this field so that they will begin to examine the document. Very simply, it is possible to say that I preface here with an idea of the future information society and the role of technology in it, not only in the management of business or communication but also in one's lifelong education. In the bottom line of the screen you will find a few buttons. This is a frame-based menu, which is always ready for you when you work on the Helper.

START (START) takes you to the entry page. There is almost no reason to go back when you have read the article placed there.

NEWS (AKTUALITY) is a selection of actual information from the whole world, with my commentary. I publish them usually every week here and in our school's lists. Occasionally, I also put information in computer or Internet newspapers or magazines. From the last themes I could choose, for example, Action plan for a European educational initiative "Learning in the Information Society" an interview with an excellent journalist, David Bennahum from New York with Seymour Papert about his new book The Connected Family; or, a small portrait of Sherry Turkle, known world-wide as a psychologist and professor of sociology at M.I.T.

PROJECTS (PROJEKTY). This is one of the most important parts of the document. Everybody who wants to use Internet appropriately could find here a lot of concrete offers from foreign colleagues for establishing a co-operation in the form of common or collaborative work. This kind of work has a positive influence in the level of knowledge and moral character of participating students. They discover that young people in all states and all nations have very similar problems and dreams although they have different habits. We live in a global village.

LINKS (ODKAZY). On the page with links you can find many references to other interesting places around the world. This list is dedicated especially to my students, but I think it could also be useful to others. Very often there are sites, which I visited only once but I find them very attractive. I would like to turn back sometimes, but I don't have enough time. Try to do it instead of me.

BOOK (UCEBNICE) is a textbook Learning with Computers, which was published last year on the Faculty of Science, Charles University for students studying for an education focus. The book starts in the first chapters with a little repetition of a high school matter (Hardware, Operating Systems, Software for Offices). The main part is dedicated to educational problems. You can find here the methodical description of the work with educational programs, the school's view on problems of the LAN and WAN, a particular chapter for the Internet, Virtual reality and other important information. The Web version of the textbook has a hypertext form.

PARENTS (RODICE). Not long ago I decided to found The Club of Parents using the computer as a tool for tuition. From my point of view, parents have the key role in educational reform which could prepare citizens for living in the information society in the next millennium. Parents are responsible for preparing their children for life. They have the power to change schools and teachers by choosing the best ones. In some countries they can even teach their children themselves at home. The amount of home computers with connection to Internet increases rapidly, and the danger of improper usage of such technology is huge. The main solution is to persuade the whole community, and especially parents, about the necessity for paying attention to this problem. Everybody in the near future will need to use computers for life-long learning. Parents can start right now with a study of how to lead children on their work with computers. They have to find some time for it and they have to be prepared, also, to learn something from kids.

BEAVER (BOBR) is an abbreviation of my name. I use the picture of this animal as my logo. In this part of document you find my Curriculum Vitae and I announce my E-mail and telephone number. I express there also my wish to get any comments or suggestions from visitors. I would like to ask you for the same.

     
             Ing. Borivoj Brdicka               , __      , __
    Faculty of Education, Charles University   /|/  \    /|/  \
           Prague, Czech Republics              | __/ __  | __/ ,_
             bobr@mbox.cesnet.cz                |   \/  \_|   \/  |
      http://it.pedf.cuni.cz/~bobr/        |(__/\__/ |(__/   |_/