Kids and computers (Wk 5)

As we read articles and write blogs about the Internet and education, I became curious about the computer class that my kids take at school.
I asked my 10 year-old what she was working on in computers. She said that they were working on graphs. I asked if they were using Excel. She stared at me like I was crazy. She said the file is just there, they click on it and it opens. I tried to explain to her that files have extensions, like xls, that tell the computer what program to open the file with. Her response, “You must know a lot about computers.”

Curious about the curriculum, I went onto the junior high web site where my daughter will be going into the 5th grade there next year. I found the presentation used for the transition from 4th to 5th grade.

In 5th & 6th grade, children will get an e-mail account, with parent’s permission, and keep an on-line calendar. Each teacher will keep the homework assignments on-line. If your child is home sick, they can still keep up with their homework assignments.

The document also talks about the technology available in the middle school;

*COWs (Computers on Wheels) wireless networked computers – Laptop computers that can be wheeled to classrooms for a variety of learning purposes.

*Mini-clusters of computers have been put in many classrooms for student use.

*The Lecture Hall – equipped with a computer and overhead projection unit, DVD and cable TV hookup, and interactive Smartboard is signed out by teachers for class lessons.

*The library and some classrooms have had interactive whiteboards installed.

*More classrooms will have similar interactive technology installed.

With all this technology available, students in Grade 5 make a PowerPoint presentation about their endangered animal research and present their findings to classmates and parents.

my daughter completed our conversation by asking me how I liked computers when I was in school. I told her I took typing and it was a worth wild class because I use that skill everyday just as she will use her computer class.