Seems to me that the laptop (or desktop) computer is but one factor in student learning. For instance, if the kids play computer games on their laptops, they'll perfect their video game skills. This is going on all daylong at every library in the country: boys (and some girls) hog the computers, turning libraries into video arcades. I wonder if Bill Gates is aware of this? However, combine a computer, good software, a willing student, and a committed teacher, and you will will probably see some learning. When I started teaching my ten-year-old son Latin, I gave him a notebook and told him to write the declensions until he knew them. He was under-whelmed. Fortunately, I discovered a website which featured drop-down boxes, many Latin nouns, and their declensions. My boy took to that like a duck to water and within a month thoroughly knew the five declensions and at least 100 nouns (in the nominitive, genitive, accusative, dative, and ablative). In fact, he knows them better than I do. I suspect that computers (laptops or desktops) are particularly suited to basic drill work such as math and grammar.
Rosalie Stafford, Author of the Flora & Shamus Mysteries Thursday's Child & The Queen of Swords, (Summer, 2005) & Friday's Child & The Five Diamonds (Fall, 2006) Founding Publisher: Web Mystery Magazine ESL Tutor, Ghostwriter, Editor _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
