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Monday, January 20, 1986/The Battalion/Page 9
BISD emphasizes computer learning
By KAREN MCINTOSH
Reporter
le *Wti| Last summer, kids could be found
eked in dark, noisy, video game
n agiioi jms. They were dropping the last
arter of their week’s allowance
o a Pac-Man or a Donkey-Kong
ichine so they could play just one
re game before it was time to go
But now that the interest in video
mes is waning, children are wait-
to see
0/1
howma ; in lines to put their floppy disks
;o personal computers and play
)re challenging games involving
ogramming, spelling and math-
latics.
Children begin learning about
nfmters when they enter their
stelementary school classroom.
In kindergarten, children are
rning how to work with comput-
child to spell and tell time, teachers
say.
And using a program called print
shop, Ruffmo says, students can
print Christmas cards, notecards
and notepads.
“The program uses their higher-
level thinking skills,” Ruffino says.
And in the remedial and special
education classes, students are im
proving thinking skills by working
with computers, Lambert says.
“They really get a good feeling
about themselves if they can operate
a computer,” she says.
Sylvia Colwell, the remedial math
e 10 ArJ
dosed e
In the Bryan Independent School
y do5iim tr j ct students are learning from
on our outers every day.
le boats § ue A nn Lambert, supervisor of
intmail nputereducation in the Bryan In-
pendent School District, says com-
peoplti ters are novv j n every classroom.
e y ca,n id students are learning to use all
nove o; (jets of the computers,
had ik Lambert says computer-assisted
econc tructional programs have been
? likeka ;( j
in B yan schools since the
30-81 school year.
i Doris Ruffino, principal of Bon
in Elementary in Bryan, says com-
ters have become a valuable tea-
TlJiCl Ingtool in today’s technologically-
ented society.
‘Our children today are very so-
psdeated,” Ruffino says. “They
e VCR’s and video games at
e. . . . The computer attracts
keeps their attention.”
he says that although the com
er is a learning tool it does re-
ire more student participation.
e children can’t be passive
h the computer,” she says. “They
lave to tell it what to do.”
Lambert says students at all grade
els are using the computers.
Kindergartners learn to recognize
ters and numbers using the
>G0 program.
LOGO was developed by Texas
itruments and is designed to help
ich young children, Lambert says.
Older students are using a word
xessor program to write assign-
ints.
This program helps the student
:ome better organized and pro-
es a bonus for teachers.
'It makes it easier to grade and
rect papers," Lambert says.
Tie computer also can teach the
me
ow
and reading teacher at Henderson
Elementary, uses the computer for
drills and re-enforcement of skills
previously learned.
“They work on the computer for
20-30 minutes every other day,” she
says.
Colwell says her classes are a self-
paced format and students have ac
cess to four microcomputers.
Lambert says computers have
been very successful in special edu
cation classes and a lot of software
has been written for those students.
But the computer has been suc
cessful in regular classes also, Lam
bert says.
She says the computer has been
particularly helpful in helping chil
dren work with numbers — so help
ful that the computers are used ev
eryday in fifth and sixth grade
classes.
“There are five computers in ev
ery math classroom,” she says.
“We’ve purchased software that is
used for review, practice, re-en
forcement and enrichment.”
But computers are not being used
only to teacn children the three R’s.
Dr. R.D. Zelner, head of educa
tion technology at Texas A&M, says
elementary school students can use a
computer creatively.
“There are programs that lead
kids into short-story writing,” Zelner
says. “The teacher can program the
steps the children should follow.”
Another program helps children
write their own music, Zelner says.
All these programs are valuable to
the student, Zelner says, and simply
working on a computer helps a child
by improving hand-eye coordina
tion.
Along with learning how to use a
computer, students also are learning
when and where to use a computer.
Lambert says the school district is
teaching a unit on the appropriate
uses of a computer in society.
“If someone has written a pro
gram,” Lambert says, “the children
zire being taught they do not have a
right to mess tnat program up.”
The State Board of Eduacation
now requires that students exhibit a
mastery of the essential elements for
computer literacy by the eighth
grade.
The rule forced teachers to edu
cate themselves about computers.
Lambert says the district is help
ing by offering computer workshops
during the spring and summer.
“They (workshops) are strictly vol
untary,” she says, “and we have had
tremendous turnouts.”
Lambert says the students are not
the only ones to benefit from contact
with computers.
“Our children today are
very sophisticated. They
have VCR’s and video
games at home. . . . The
computer attracts and
keeps their attention.” —
Doris RuTino, principal of
Bonham Elementary.
Some teachers have really taken
an interest in computers and have
enrolled in courses at A&M.
Ruffino says that most of the tea
chers have 15 hours of computer
classes, but not everyone is enthu
siastic.
“Some of them just will not have
anything to do with computers,” she
says.
And how do computers compare
with humans in the teaching cat
egory?
Zelner says that, according to stu
dents, teachers and computers are
neck and neck.
Zelner says students rated the.
computer and the teacher as equal,
while in the fairness category the
computer won out.
He says students feel warmth in
the friendly greetings, figures and
beeps of the computer.
And Zelner says teachers lost in
the fairness categbry because stu
dents feel the computer is not bi
ased.
But Zelner says he does not want
the computer to replace the teacher.
He says the computer is merely a
teaching tool.
Zelner says, “The computer frees
the teacher to have more time and
higher quality contact with students.
Xambert says the parents love the
computers.
“They’d like for us to have one for
every student,” she says.
The Bryan ISD is seeking to get
parents involved in the computer
learning program through a project
called VIPS, Volunteers in Public
Schools.
“Parents and grandparents use
the computers with the students on
several of the campuses,” Lambert
says. “We have no trouble getting
parents to volunteer.”
Carol Frosch is in charge of the
volunteers at Johnson Elementary
School.
“I got involved because I used to
be a math teacher,” Frosch says.
“This is my first year in Bryan. I
called and asked what kind of help
they needed and this is what they
signed me up for.”
Frosch says the children are ex
cited about the computers and have
fun while they are learning.
“It’s good to see them gain in
knowledge and experience as the
year goes on,” she says.
Lambert says computers have
brought a new dimension to the
classroom and in future years stu
dents will advance to higher levels of
computer literacy.
“We will be doing at the lower
grade levels what the seventh and
eighth graders are doing now,” she
says.
The districts overall plan for the
. computer education program in el
ementary schools is to produce indi
viduals who can function in the new
computer society.
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