Interested parties can even use e-mail to send special messages to President Clinton or Santa Claus. Interest specific discussion groups are available, allowing elementary education students to discuss current events and respond to issues relevant to their lives. Utilizing probes, students can collect all sorts of data from the physical world. While the probes measure and collect the data, the computer records and graphs it, leaving the students to focus on interpreting the data. Virtual Reality may some day be reality in schools, allowing students to participate in simulations involving real life situations.
Technology adds excitement providing a kaleidoscope of new ways to learn.
Conducting research over the Internet is one sure way to get kids excited about learning. Published writing, knowing that others may read it, can inspire and improve the quality of the student's work. Working with computers empowers students to develop, create, produce, and present their own knowledge. Students view this learning as fun, thus engaging them to the point where, instead of going home to watch television, they would rather create a HyperCard stack. Empowering students with today's technology, they may soon be able to dial-in from home to the school's network server retrieving information such as homework, news bulletins regarding special school events, and software programs.