Computers can help kids learn in exciting new ways .
Or merely offer an electronic version of the same old routines. Then an 8th grader at James McCosh Elementary School in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, Jeremiah doubled as a computer aide for school librarian Shernita Mays. He turned on the computers and checked the paper in the printers. Then, while Mays worked with a small special education group in a corner of the library, Jeremiah kept tabs on 7th graders using the 18 new Compaq computers with Internet hookups. Students have to fill out a form explaining what they're studying and what they hope to find.