From: St.Mary's.School@f515.n770.z3.fidonet.org (St Mary's School)
Newsgroups: k12.ed.tech
Subject: Information Technology at the Elem. Level
Date: Thu, 01 Oct 92 18:00:43 PST
Organization: FidoNet node 3:770/515

 > Hello folks!  I'm trying to collect some basic
 > information about the use of educational/information
 > technology at the elementary level. by technology I
 > mean everything from computers to laser discs to
 > telecommunications and on-line access. EVERYTHING.  If
 > you use technology and work with elementary kids
 > please tell me how the equipment and software are
 > integrated within the curriculum.

 > I'm not lazy-- really, I'm also checking the journals
 > and abstracts.

 > But I really need some proven descriptions from the
 > classroom.

 > Any comments would be appreciated.
Hello Phil,
          I've just come in on the wrong header... name on the end of this message. Header tells you where I am teaching. St Mary's is an elementary school, known in New Zealand as a Primary School. I am teaching forty, 8 to 11 year olds, in one class group with another teacher. We are jointly
involved in a project here that has over the last six months investigated ways to include information technology into the school curriculum at all levels. We have hard disk computer, modem, fax and hands free telephone installed in the classroom. Some 19 schools in our local area have been involved in the project which we have all found very exciting. Many of the schools that have been on the project are just now coming on line to the K-12 network so you might get some interesting replies about some of the






 things they have been doing.
  Each school was initially linked up with another and we practised ideas and how the equipment worked on each other
on each other.   Our link school is Taieri Beach School
which is by distance about 40 kilometers away.
We have undertaken two visits to Taieri Beach School during the year. The first involved some science work, a beach study and a interchange where the children met each other, and a bush walk. The second visit was a sleepover which we had on the Taieri Beach school grounds. Very exciting and great fun!
Preparation  for the trips and thank you's were all achieved through the Email ,Fax or by phone.
  Last term we worked an integrated unit on IT with the children which involved most curriculum areas. The children had two main outputs
         .... they were through their language and art programmes to produce a magazine.
         .... to develop project work for an in school expo
on IT.

    For the magazine, which turned out to be a very successful enterprise and one that was thoughly enjoyed by the children, they had to use IT equipment to fact find for various articles.
       ie....... they were to find out what it was like
to live in a large city using the Email and their link with a Sydney School.
         ....... they were to find out what it was like living in a small country area using the fax to communicate with various little country schools in the North Island.
         ....... they were to interview an important person in the local  area about their job or an important event by teleconference.
         ....... they were to interview a parent about his/her occupation using a tape recorder.
Children were encouraged to develop good questioning skills and then they were to translate the information obtained into an article. Quite a challenging activity for this age group.
They also filled their magazines up with poems, stories,
plays and art work. Publishing was done on Computer, illustrations were by hand as we did not have the time to include computer
composed graphics, and multicopy publishing was done by photcopier. Copies were snail mailed to all who contributed.
   The forty children produced 8 magazines. It was a lot of work but the results were well worth it.
   The expo of IT projects was also well worth while. Children, again working in groups, were to investigate IT in the past, present and future. They selected topics from a range of ideas such as .....
           IT in the supermarket
           IT in cars
           IT in sport
           IT in Saving Human Lives
           Film making
           Preserving Sound
           Keeping in Touch were just a few.
   We have currently joined in on a project with our Sydney School, which goes on to a UK network, about Rivers. The children are, through  their equipment, to fact find from schools and various administrative groups about a local river, the Clutha,  which is very important to the economy of our region but which is just distant enough for them to be unable to visit. Publication will be by Email.
   Hope this will be of some assistance to you. Hope to see more replies to your message as there should be some interesting ideas come through.
  On a personal note I think some of my children may have replied to your children who have made requests for Computer pals. Are you a teacher? If so what age group? How large is your school? Are you inner city or rural?
Regards Ann Trewern.


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