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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1982)
Photo by Elisabeth Podesta Scott Dunlap gets into computer programming at the Hilton during College of Education's annual summer conference. Kids expand their minds with help of computers By Steve Hooks Otth« Emerald A kid's favorite program may no longer be on Saturday morning television. It may be in his classroom’s computer, if the annual College of Education's summer conference is any in dication. This year's conference, held Wednesday through Friday at the Eugene Hilton, focused on kids, computers and the classroom. The theme was computers as an extension of the mind. "The computer can be considered an ex tension of the human mind roughly the same way as reading, writing and arithmetic," said University computer science Prof. David Moursund, the conference's keynote speaker. "Kids' brain cells won’t drop dead from disuse" if allowed to use computers and cal culators in class, Moursund said. Moursund, president of the International Council for Computers in Education, argued that computers are as much classroom tools as pencil and paper. Moursund also edits and publishes "The Computing Teacher," a journal concerned with computers in elementary and secondary education. "In just a very few minutes, a student can learn to use a computer well enough so that it makes a significant difference in the student's life," he said. The conference featured many sessions on the hows, whys and whens of classroom computer use. Educators noted for their research in computers in elementary and secondary schools covered topics such as home com puter learning systems, computer use in the early grades ard "Creative Programming for Young Minds.” Conference-goers did not ignore the pos sible problems of using classroom computers. As computers become "as familiar to American homes as a television,” home units could be used as learning tools, making public schools less dominant in education, said conference coordinator Philip Piele. Public schools will be pressured to adapt to the new technology or "become sig nificantly changed as institutions,” said Piele, who is director of the University's ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Clearinghouse on Educational Management. Some negative consequences deal with economics, Piele said. As more middle- and upper-class parents get home computers for home instruction, the parents might be "less and less inclined to support public schools through. taxation at more than a basic level,” Piele said. Moursund pointed out in his speech that not every school system will be able to afford classroom computers. The result would be inequalities in education with “the haves ver sus the have-nots,” he said. “The problem of isolation” could also harm children who rely too much on com puters as a learning tool, Piele said. "Look at video games,” he added. Meanwhile, young conference-goers, perhaps unaware of the computer's social consequences, eagerly seized the chance to switch roles and teach adult educators com puter basics. The computer language emphasized was LOGO, designed with youngsters in mind. LOGO uses graphics and even music as teaching aids. Hour 11:00-6:00 “The Best Fries In Town” FREE on Wednesday with purchase of S1.75 Hot Dog Order or $2.00 Hamburger order. Va’all Come On Now! Say you heard it in the Emerald St 1350 Alder Jeb’s -emu food service W. NESDAY BEER GARDEN 3:30-6:30 in the EMU Dining Room & Courtyard 54 oz pitcher $2.50 16 oz glass .75 l.D. required H German AUTO SERVICE VWs-MERCEDES-BMWs DATSUN-TOYOTA-AUDI Reliable service for your foreign car 342-2912 2025 Franklin Blvd Eugene, Oregon The Oregon Electric Station Restaurant & Lounge Saturday & Sunday from 4-7 p.m. Margaritas $1.00 Nachos & Salsa 50c HAPPY HOUR WEEKDAYS: 4-6 p.m. 5th & Willamette • Downtown Eugene Vz Block from Hilton Hotel Phone 485-4444 /vX J ‘Join us for a nostalgic trip through memory lane with”... Eddie Tigner’s INK SPOTS Acclainail (row Caul to Coast! Ballads • Rock & Roll • Old Time Favorites July 19 - July 31 (except Sunday, July 25th) AT THE HOLIDAY INN WINNERS tOUMUC 9p m. -2a m 22S CePurg Road . . S424I0I China Blue Restaurant upstairs next to the U of O Bookstore Serving lunch from 11-4 • M-F 897 E. 13th Ave. 343-2832 FOREIGN AUTO CLINIC 485-2252 782 E. Broadway Mon. - Fri. 8:30-5:30
