DON'T BOTHER ME, I'M LEARNING

e [Music] [Music] what's the [Applause] program a o o go to 830 run 90 re 10 PR don't B me I'm learning I'm learning now don't bother me I'm learning I'm learning how [Music] what you are seeing is computer knowledge the same knowledge used by Banks Airlines and NASA space programs in the hands of children Pat tubs shows her fourth grade class what makes a computer work it's called a chip a miracle chip that represents 20,000 bits of information and is housed inside the computer to put information into the computer you need an input device like a keyboard an output device extracts the information from the computer and either displays it on a screen or prints it out on a printer this equipment these components are called Hardware software is information or programs that are stored on or retrieved by Audio cassettes or magnetic discs all they have to do is know how to read the instruction manual really and if you just read you know just a little bit or watch people you can really learn almost everything that to do on the computer it takes a few weeks but you can really learn how to do a lot on the computer by watching other people oh they can start in first grade if they want I I mean there it's really easy to use a computer luckily young children haven't learned fear or intimidation they look upon everything new as an adventure a challenge without misconceptions without prejudice they're willing to try just about anything and the computer to them is fun they can't wait to learn how to use it they start young and they start with games we start with games to demystify the computer to the child if we started with a classroom lecture we would probably end up with kids who didn't want to go near the computers you know um they're fascinated by the machine itself and by actually using it through games they begin to ask questions if games are more than fun what do they teach well they can be as simple as Simon a game where the child learns to Follow the Leader by copying a series of sounds that the computer makes or word games that teach spelling and grouping of words by first letter and numbers super math provides drill and practice in addition subtraction multiplication and division if the answer is right you get a smile a frown if it's wrong it also lets the student choose a level of difficulty that matches or challenges his skills darts not only familiarizes students with fractions it teaches the skill of estimating fractions a function educators are very excited about can you learn anything from playing games yes it can be English game or strategy explain well actually depends what the program is yeah could in English or math they had a math game one time and you tried and you try and answer all the problems what is a game like a fellow teacher strategy logic and strategy learn to use your imagination to think to learn the basic language but I've just learned by watching other people who knew how to use it what have you learned well I've learned to how to print something in how to set coordinates to Draw Something on the screen anybody else yeah how to really be creative it's it's just fun using it cuz you can be more creative you have the child in the maximum learning posture during a game session a skillful uh programmer skillful teacher will try to put any learning experience in a game mode to Max maximize the intellectual and emotional posture of the student it's what you enjoy theing that you learn the most i' got several kids now who were in games classes in summer school who are every time they see me will ask when are you going to start teaching us programming when are you going to start teaching us programming um the interest Builds on its own most of the children when they do this first basic program the very simple one they were doing today and they see their name on it the first time they're just really bright yeah they're really bright and happy and we've been learning how to write programming they learn that there are basic rules that you have to follow and if you don't follow them it won't do what you've wanted it to do and they've learned that it's very very important to follow the rules and to follow the punctuation rules or the vocabulary that the computer understands the reason why you put it down on paper first is because you don't want to make a big mistake while you're um doing the typing we find that that our some of our very best uh programs that we use from again and again are ones that our own students have put together so we should never underestimate the creativity of of the students if a program works you feel pretty good well it feels like fun because the computer is talking back to you sort of you want the kid to be the author you want the kid to learn to write it kind of makes you feel quite happy to see something that you wrote go on to a computer something like that just like if you built a model Rock ET and it flew you'd be happy and um even if you made thousands of model rockets before you'd still be happy with um with the one that you shot off because just the knowing that something that you made is doing that makes you feel kind of excited I think it's like the Breakthrough point in any other area of learning when something finally um appears as a to you when you put all the pieces of the puzzle together and Flash you've got it I didn't even know what I was doing two you know I would have felt that some of those children that you saw in the other room had been cheated last year had we not had a computer I could not possibly have properly challenged two of those boys you had if we hadn't had the computer for them to explore because of the computer's infinite patience each student can go at his or her own pace If the child is slow the computer responds slowly If the child is fast the computer responds quickly the children aren't pressured to compete with each other they compete with themselves we have to schedule them they'll fight over it they'll go erase each other's names on the schedule uh it's just you know they love it so much that they don't stop at anything I had some children so angry at Nancy today that they couldn't stand it because she didn't pick them she couldn't pick all of them well their interest level is so high that they they do buy for uh for you know place on that machine I just thought it probably means I have to get two of them right they cooperate really well although everybody wants to get their hands on the computer and that's that's the hard part holding your hands back instead of showing a decline of skills these children are acquiring skills by using the computer they eagerly learn to read follow directions spell locate information analyze and solve problems they even learn to type I give an example of a child who was here in summer school who is completely turned off to school learning everything in his normal life in second grade in another school um he came here for summer school and could was so Fired Up by the computers that's all he wanted to do I think the example Dy gave of a child who was turned off to school who's now excited about it um is an example of a child who now is going to become a Learner in a lot of different areas that that that excitement is going to transfer from the work with the computer to probably some other things and we've seen that here children who've become come awakened to the joys of creative writing starting with a program on a computer and leading off to working with pencil and paper um in other words the learning may start with a computer but it certainly doesn't have to end there one of the computer's applications has helped many students it's called simulation and educators are very excited about it simulation is simply a function of the computer that allows students to electron ially reproduce situations that could occur in real life for example the engine the computer reproduces it on the screen and the class can learn how things like ignition compression and combustion work without ever having to take apart a real engine lemonade teaches students at an early age the factors involved in running a business [Music] business the computer tells you what the weather will be then you figure out how many glasses of lemonade you want to make that day determine how many Advertising Signs you'll need and then decide how much to charge for a glass of lemonade [Music] the computer then gives you a daily financial report andpresto you're in business I think it will help overcome what what's one of the very worst things that we do in education kids have a notion that there is one answer and that there's one way to do a thing and the the computer will provide them with the Alternatives and the fact that they have to think of all these different ways that they might attack that it can be done with blocks and questions if the teacher skill for enough but not as effectively as that random thing that's built into the program that uh lets things happen that they didn't anticipate once a student realizes there are many ways to accomplish something a wide variety of possibilities are open to him he can try one and if it doesn't work try another the computer can help him every step of the way these boys are twins one of them is deaf and here they are working together on a design using a computer and a graphic plotter a deaf child needs a great deal of help and practice in learning the English Language by working with the computer he's reading directions and following directions and he is typing instructions into the computer all of which help him use the language he is trying to master and his mother is pleased that he has found an interest he doesn't need hearing for if parents get involved in their children they they they keep young in addition to helping deaf children communicate the computer is becoming a beneficial way to help the emotionally handicapped the mentally and even the blind interact and learn in ways Educators never thought possible before when Lakewood school in Sunnyvale California held an open house for parents they were amazed at what their children knew a very high turnout of parents which is very unusual and uh they stayed around and were just crowding in around the computers waiting for their child to put in the program that they did or either that or show what they had learned with the computer so they were all very very pleased with it sit here mom you are it won't bite believe it or not it's everything fres hone you can put in your programs yeah it'll be nice how would you do that yeah but you can do this first you just follow what's right here here's the numbers and there's the letters okay just right 10 uhhuh over here right here where Z I feel blind through okay now and then what you space it now you write print oh where is it R now see oh it's so nice how simple it is and know it took you 15 minutes to do it what it's my first time what you are seeing is an educational phenomenon a generation of children teaching their parents skills not known in their parents' [Music] generation it was something that was almost like a foreign language to the parents that the children had learned and also that they knew that it was something that was up and coming in in the future they would need to know for their benefits so they were pleased with that I don't know I mean I hope she givs it up I'm very proud of her yes I think it's fantastic today over 90% of American homes have at least one television set yet when today's children who've been exposed to a computer compar it to television there seems to be no comparison at all okay given the choice being able to watch TV or being able to play with a computer computer computer computer computer wins by far television it does what it wants to do and you if you have a computer you it the computer does what you want it to do with the TV you can't it's passive and you can't put anything into it and with this you can put into it and make it do what you want but with the TV it's just a you you don't have to listen you don't have to talk you don't have to picture anything in your mind it's more fun because um you get to control it and the TV controls itself television is currently by far the most overwhelming educational device in our culture probably in World culture one learns more from an hour of uh watching the video that he can learn from years and studying of certain type it's almost just like using a television except you um it's like learning and watching television at the same time and I dream of a time when the computer and the video can get together and the video can do what it's marvelous uh stimulus educational stimulus in its own skillful way and the computer will be married right to it while we are just beginning to tap the educational potential of Television computer education is coming along very rapidly and in its initial stages there are of course some problems and as always the first is money where do you get the funding a group of parents solicited donations from parents in the parent body I think where where or how we're going to get the computers is by parent support we find that the most powerful group is the PTA uh many of the funds that bring kids here are PTI funds some teachers fear the computer fear the possible effects on their jobs many many teachers are much more afraid of it than children are I don't see a computer ever replacing a teacher I don't see them replacing teachers at all no way they'll just be an extra added resource computers are coming more and more into education and teachers are going to have to learn how to use them just like teachers had to learn how to use movie projectors and tape recorders and all the other AV Equipment that has been infiltrating the schools over the last uh 10 or 15 years um I think the computers are the next step two major factors that will help to popularize the computer are price and size we all remember 10 years ago when calculators cost $800 today you can get a good one for under $10 the same thing is happening with computer [Music] ERS this incredible price drop is due to the miniaturization of the chip a personal computer today has roughly 20,000 functions and experts predict that by 1990 a computer could contain as many as 10 million functions this will mean an amazing memory and execution ability with applications for everything from farms to hospitals and from Municipal Transit System to outer [Music] space I think it will have more Force than some of the other revolutions that we've exam that we've looked at in education because many of the others were from in the educational field itself and the thing that's going to demand computer education is coming from outside and the the world of Business and Technology I mean that if education doesn't do it they're going to take it over and do it for them I really feel that we need to be raising a generation of people who will be extremely comfortable with computers and not um afraid of them as I think people our age often are there are a lot of messages in our society and science fiction on television everywhere that computers Rule people um and we'd like to change that stereotype and um Gra kids from here who feel like they control computers the most important thing that will come out of this so-called computer Revolution is that lots and lots of kids are going to learn to use computers they're going to be able to solve much more interesting and complex problems they'll be able to think better about the world but let's not lose sight of one of the most important applications of the computer in the years to come that of education education of all of us no matter what age in order to train our minds expand our intellectual capabilities in order to make the maximum use of the knowledge we'll have to have to grow into the future we must learn to use the computer to our best advantage and most important of all we must recognize the computer Revolution for what it is a giant step a helping hand into the unknown future a revolution unlike any other that will most widely benefit our greatest hope for the future our children [Music]