Computers in Classrooms (observations of a sub)

I haven't written for a while about my observations of how computers are used as I go through many schools as a substitute. That is mainly because it is basically all the same. So far I have seen three levels of use:

1. The computers are off most of the time. I suppose they are occasionally used as a reward.
   
2. The computers are used as a center. In the best cases the computers are set up with a certain website and the students have instructions for what to do. (Starfall and FunBrain are common sites). It is hard to tell when I am subbing what is really expected and done on a normal day.
3. In one third grade classroom the computers were not all set up in one corner or along one wall. They were placed in different "reading nooks" around the room and it was clear that they were used for writing because of typed pages and other things showing around the classroom.
   

I have also observed how hard it is to use them well. There is so much going on in a classroom and so much that a teacher needs to be thinking about. Adding to that whether students are using the computers well can be overload. We really need to help teachers to use these powerful tools in ways that promote learning. The center approach is a step in the right direction. At least they are being used and everyone gets a chance. But have you ever sat next to a kid doing one of those games and observed what they are really learning? In so many of them they have a choice to rack up points somehow and they figure out how to do it without reading or doing any math. They are developing some skills, but different ones than most teachers think they are developing.

Right now I am thinking that if I was in the classroom very early in the year.... maybe in the first week of school, I would sign up for a simple online project that would motivate the kids and help them to learn about using the computer. It might be something that we mostly do with the whole class like an email project that we send letters as a class. Then as the year went on I would look for ways to use the computer for projects that support the curriculum. If a classroom has 5 computers some sharing will have to happen. It might be a centers approach... or maybe like the Inspired Classrooms approach. But it is all SOOOOO far from what is happening in most classrooms that I just don't know....