I was reminded the other day of one of my favourite consequences of giving students a laptop. A student, who had that day been given a laptop as part of the NSW Department of Education laptop initiative, had published a tutorial written to help teachers and others use Photoshop.The exciting aspect of this story is how quickly and naturally teenagers can break down their own understanding of a process for others to digest. It doesn't take a degree in education to know how to teach someone what you know. It also doesn't take much experience in using screen capture software and web publishing solutions to get your teaching steps published in a tutorial form.
In this case, the tutorial is based on some of the software provided on the laptop - namely, Adobe Photoshop. It is clear in the screenshots and explanations that this student relishes the access to professional software and I think the Department has done a great thing to provide the tools used in industry instead of only cheap or open source alternatives (such as GIMP).
Lets all keep encouraging our students to not just learn new skills and knowledge but teach it to others.
