Back to School with Computers

By Elizabeth Wasserman for The Online Family

It's that time of year again -- the end of summer. In a few weeks, school reports will need to be written, multiplication tables will need to be practiced, and subjects such as history and science will need to be researched. In the past, you got ready to go back to school by shopping for pencils, notebooks, lunchboxes, and new sneakers. But these days you need to get your home computer ready too.

Whether your kids are in elementary school or college, computer access has no doubt become just as important during the school year as the local library. "It's hard to find a school in many of the major cities, and even rural areas, where you don't need a computer to access some of the materials needed to complete the course," says Rob Enderle, a technology analyst based in Silicon Valley, who writes about back-to-school technology.

No matter how old they are, if you want to make sure your kids have the tech tools they need before the bell rings, here's how to get ready:

1. Designate a computer just for schoolwork
If you don't have a separate computer just for your kids, you might be tempted to let them use your work laptop to complete school assignments. But Enderle says you could run into snags. He remembers the case of a CEO whose child renamed all the files on his work computer the night before the executive was to present his company's year-end financial statements.

If you want to buy a new computer -- or computers -- for the kids, fully-equipped models can be had for less than $600 for a PC and under $800 for a laptop. Or check with your school for discounts. Many colleges and some high schools now have arrangements under which they can offer special computer deals from the likes of Dell, HP, Gateway, Apple, and Lenovo. Sometimes schools also have deals on student software, as well. Just make sure your school supports the operating system and software you're buying.

2. Get the right accessories
Your school-ready computer should contain basic word processing software, a modem to connect to the Internet, and enough memory to last two or three years (so you don't run out of space to hold all those book reports or essays). A good antivirus and anti-spyware program is also essential to avoid losing a semester's worth of work.

If your children are young, you might also consider getting web-screening software to try and limit access to inappropriate sites or chat rooms.

Some software packages are designed just for students, such as Microsoft Student 2006. In general, look for software packages that include access to encyclopedias or other research materials, and report templates that offer a variety of formats or explain how to insert footnotes, for example.

3. Brush up on typing skills
Typing is a skill that will come in handy, especially as coursework gets more demanding. In college, it's often necessary as well to email your professor and it's best to have a grasp of appropriate online communication. For example, popular Instant Messaging shortcuts like LOL (laugh out loud) and TTYL (talk to you later) probably won't score points with teachers. Google "typing drills" to find some practice tools for your older kids.

For younger kids, Jinny Gudmundsen, editor of Computing with Kids magazine and a columnist for the USA Today web site, recommends using computer games -- characters from Sponge Bob, Disney, JumpStart, etc. -- to teach kids as young as 3rd or 4th grade how to type. Mavis Bacon also has learn-to-type programs aimed at older children.

4. Create homework folders for each kid
If more than one computer is not in your budget, then you need an organizational plan. To keep the work of your different school-aged kids separate, create different files on your computer for each family member. Or you can even create folders for each class if your student is older. This is also a good way to teach your kids to use a filing system on a computer. From year to year, you can keep the same filing system, marking the files with your child's name and grade (e.g. Sandy's Homework_7th Grade).

5. Teach kids about back-up strategies
Research projects and reports are as important to your kids as work documents and tax returns are to you. "Nothing is worse than having somebody work on a project all year long and then you get a virus or your hard drive crashes," Enderle says.

So make sure to teach your kids how to save their work in case of a computer failure. For instance, teach them how to name word-processing documents and other files so they can find them when they need to. And show them how to stick files in their personal folder. If your kids are old enough to work on assignments from the library or school, show them how to email themselves copies of the project from a web mail account so they can access the file from your home computer. Plus, this is an easy way to make copies of their work.

There are also services, such as My Yahoo or Apple iDisc, that allow you to store work online. At the very least, teach your kids how to save copies of their work onto a CD or floppy disc.

6. Make a list of handy web sites
To prepare for the coming school year, do some of your own homework beforehand. Use your web browser to bookmark helpful online resources -- whether the Merriam Webster Dictionary or the Library of Congress -- that your kids can turn to time and again.

There is a lot of homework help out there, particularly for math. If you're one of those parents who already had trouble helping your child with math last year, you might invest in a subscription to the web site Hot Math. For other subjects, Gudmundsen recommends Cosemo, a Discovery Channel site that features 30,000 educational videos and 27,000 articles about everything from school bus safety to Dante's Inferno.

In addition to homework, your kids will probably use the computer for fun, too, and that's where safety issues come up. "Computers do not belong in children's bedrooms," Gudmundsen says. "If you start with a computer in their room when they are younger, it could lead to trouble, particularly when they are teens."

In other words, you want your kids to know when you're walking by the computer that you're going to be looking to make sure they're actually doing homework and not just killing time IMing strangers.

Elizabeth Wasserman is a freelance writer and editor based in Fairfax, Va. She writes for a variety of publications including Congressional Quarterly, Inc magazine, and she edits the online publication CIO Strategy Center.