It's great to be cybercool

Edutainment has become a seductive buzzword in today's educational scene, promising a world of excitement which may or may not have anything to do with real learning. Children are increasingly programmed to play with words, letters and numbers to such an extent that opening a real book or using paper and pencil appear to be "very boring and dull". The visual displays on the computer screen, and the ease with which problems are solved, are far removed from a typical classroom environment, where expectations are higher and greater demands are made on the student in all ways.
However, children need to know that while learning is fun, it is also hard work. They need to experience a feeling of mastery, that they have worked hard to learn something that is really difficult. True learning should help the child make connections between facts and ideas, and not just get excited by special effects. Children compete with each other over who can click buttons faster, but technology is not wisdom. "I find children and university students are not experiencing life, they're thinking about life," says Linda Pogue, a professor in York University. Friday interviewed Saraswati Pathy, managing director of the Edutainment Center, a computer facility which has made a large number of children and their parents "cyber-cool". What are the benefits that accrue to children who emerge from a computer course? Saraswati strongly supports the view that computer education should offer children real problem-solving opportunities, and not just stop at pushing buttons.
She says, "Our teachers are always asking the children questions, telling them to think about why something is happening. Many children who come to us have been diagnosed with hyperactivity, and other kinds of behavioural or learning disorders. Parents put them in computer classes because they think this will help them concentrate better. To some extent, this is true. A good software program does help to engage the child's attention so that he can memorise multiplication facts, and read the whole word problem. But the teacher's role is equally important.
"For example, if a child begins clicking the mouse without thinking, we remove it and ask him to explain what he thinks will happen next? Before a student begins drawing on the computer, she draws it on a paper because this helps her to think visually. Similarly, when a child writes a story, she does it first orally with the teacher, then writes it out using paper and pencil, and finally gets to 'write' it on the computer."
Saraswati points out that her centre takes a child's approach to learning. "The children who join our computer classes become part of a social club open to the whole family. We use this opportunity to help them interact with each other. The kids teach each other, share ideas, argue and debate. They come in for computer classes but actually leave reading books! We have a book-sharing club and kids can sit around reading books, too. The computer is a catalyst for other kinds of learning – social and emotional. The last thing I want to see is a group of kids sitting around pushing buttons like mindless zombies. We encourage older
children through group discussions to question the information they get on the Internet, and not to believe everything
they read on the screen. This is so important. We teach them how to compare information across a variety of sources and how to evaluate data."
Computers offer a learning environment that can be comfortable and secure for many children, but specially those with special needs. For children with special needs, the computer has many benefits. Neurolinguist Paula Tallal has designed a program called FastForWord. The program helps children to sequence
and discriminate sounds in words which is the basic skill needed for understanding language, reading, and writing. It is able to control the quality of the sounds and the rate at which they are presented in a way that teachers cannot. Initial trials have shown a high rate of success for 22 language impaired children between the ages of five and ten.
For children with cerebral palsy, computers have become a powerful ally, helping them to access information easily. The spell-check facility has saved the lives of many dyslexic readers, allowing them to enter professions that previously may have been impossible. Poor readers can have the computer read books to them. Many children (some as young as 8 or 9 years) find typing on a keyboard easier than using pencil and paper.
Adds David Dwyer, a research director for Apple Computers in the U.S., "Not only do they write faster, but they write more. And because they write more, they have greater opportunities to experiment with complex ideas and constructions".
The computer is "a more powerful pencil", because the end-product is a neat computer printout which validates the student's efforts. "It is so frustrating to find that after I have spent hours writing an essay, the teacher has simply put a red line through it and written 'Too untidy – rewrite,'" says Andy Moore, a Dubai-based high school student.
Sumati Ramjee, a computer specialist who works with children at Edutainment, remarks that their creative writing programs are a big hit. "It makes sense to make children work towards a specific output such as a newsletter, a story book, or design greeting cards. The cards are distributed to the Old Age home so they feel proud of contributing to the community."
Computers are also patient teachers. Experts agree that children learn best when they have a chance to control the pace and direction of their instruction. "When I ask my mum to read the story a second time, she gets angry and begins to shout. But on the computer I can ask for help as many times as I want," points out Sam Shaw. Autistic children, too, are reported to be able to pick up concepts by playing on the computer rather than interacting with a tutor.
Adds Saraswati, "The computer is a great equaliser. It allows children with special needs to show off their abilities in a completely new way. In the classroom they may be "handicapped" because they cannot write or draw as well as their peers, but put those same children in front of a computer and they can do wonderful things. At our centre, we welcome children with special needs, and design individual programs. It's good for other children to meet them, too.
"It changes their ideas about kids with special needs. I keep reading about how children with special needs should be integrated with normal children, and feel that learning on the computer allows for such integration."
Some parents enroll their children in a computer course because they can't afford to buy a home computer; others want to reduce computer addiction at home. Still others do so because they feel their child will be left behind if he doesn't "get on to a computer early".
"Parents must ask themselves the right kind of questions before they decide to provide digital literacy to their kids," adds Saraswati. "I always ask the parents why they want to put their child into my centre and deliberately design materials to include them as partners in their child's entry into cyberworld.
Many mothers are computer-shy, so I ask them, 'How can you let your child experiment with something you yourself have not tried?' I taught one 15-year-old how to set up a spread sheet on the computer so she could help her mu