Children, Computers, and Education

I love children, computers and education. I believe that we are just beginning to figure out innovative ways to use computers to educate children. We need to recognize that the computer is a tool that can enhance the classroom, not replace it. There are some things that teachers can do better than computers, and some things that computers can do better than teachers.

I do volunteer work at a local preschool. Here's an idea for a computerized handwriting tutor that takes advantage of the strengths of a computer:

At the beginning of the year, each student sits down with a pen-based computer and a teacher and enters all kinds of personal information (like student's name, mother and father's names, pets & their names, color, favorite color, favorite TV show, story... etc). When it's time to learn how to write the letter "A", the computer tells Alicia, a student, that it's a very important letter, because it's the first letter in her name. Students practice writing letters and words on the pen computer, and the computer gives visual and AUDIO cues on the students progress. This can turn a boring, concentration filled exercise into an exciting and rewarding experience. When I sat next to Alicia and made roller-coaster like sound effects as she traced the letter "W", she wouldn't let me leave until all her "W"s were done.

The computer enhances the lesson because it is personalized for each student. The lesson is also made exciting, because it is much more visually and aurally stimulating than tracing a static piece of paper.