Replacing the pencil

By TOM ZUCCO

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 20, 2000

The debate continues about whether computers aid or obstruct learning. For kids, they're a part of everyday school life, a tool they need to excel.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Kenyatta Ballenger looks up at the clock in the cafeteria and checks her backpack. Again. Ten more minutes.

Ten more minutes until she can cross the courtyard to the library, head straight to the back of the room and log on to the computer. Ballenger, an eighth-grader at John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg, would be in front of the computer right now if they'd let her be. She's in the after-school program, but because of her other activities and the needs of other students, her time in the library is limited.

"I need more than an hour," she says, "so I can get my reports done. I don't have a computer at home, and when I used to do reports without a computer, my teacher took points off because it was hard to read. Now, my grades are up."

Computers, she says, are like pencils. She can't imagine school without them, especially John Hopkins. The school has 1,460 students and about 600 computers. That's one computer for every 2.4 kids, nearly twice as many as most other middle schools. (The reason? Federal grant money. When schools are remodeled or rebuilt in Pinellas County, as John Hopkins was in 1998, 7 percent of the capital outlay goes toward technology.)

Kenyatta works on her homework during a tutoring session.

It would seem to be a no-brainer: computers in schools enhance learning.

By now, computers have become so commonplace in the classroom that familiarity with technology is considered a must for students.

And, of course, computer companies encourage that belief. According to one industry report, $6.7-billion was spent on educational technology in 1998-99, and more than 80 percent of schools have some kind of Internet access.

Parents have come to believe they can stick their children in front of an iMac for a few hours every day, and presto -- they're ready for Harvard.

But is that what really happens?

Or are computers an educational fad, a $1,200-per-unit gimmick that school officials, parents and teachers think will magically raise test scores and make their jobs easier?

The Alliance for Childhood (http://www.allianceforchildhood.net), a Maryland-based group of educators, physicians, psychologists and parents, contends that computers should play no more than a limited role in elementary and middle schools. The group sees a direct link between increases in time spent with computers and increases in hyperactivity and depression.

Rushing children into new technology, they believe, can limit a child's ability to express himself, cooperate with other children, or complete one task before starting another. Watching images on a computer screen, they argue, requires less mental effort than reading and leads to a superficial processing of information.

The debate is far from being settled, but at John Hopkins, at least, there is evidence that computers do make a difference. Edward Baldwin, the school's principal, says it's no coincidence that when the school was rebuilt and wired for computers, attendance rates and grades rose, while suspensions and discipline problems dropped.

"They (computers) brought our kids up to par with other students throughout the county," Baldwin said. "They've played a very important role."

Boston College researchers announced a study last month that found that students who wrote compositions on computers increased their test scores by 4 percent to 8 percent vs. those who wrote their answers by hand. Not only were the computer-written compositions easier to read, the speed with which the students wrote the compositions gave them more time to go into great detail.

Oneal Milton, 52, went to John Hopkins when it was 16th Street Middle School, found his research material in books, and did his math and calculus problems on a plastic slide rule. Now he's back, teaching sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders to use computers.

"There are kids who may have problems with reading or writing," he said, "but when they get on the computer, they have better luck. And they tend to respond to that, and that success feeds them even more."

Indeed, the attendance rate at John Hopkins has gone up every year since the school became a magnet for arts and international studies. Last year, attendance was 94.6 percent. Teachers think the presence of computers makes kids more interested in learning. Therefore, they show up for school.

Computers are in almost every classroom. Even the home economics class has a computer at each work station. The sinks and ovens are in the back of the room, almost as an afterthought.

The school has embraced computers to such a degree that Susan Holtzworth, the literary arts curriculum coordinator, and Sue Thievon, the digital arts curriculum coordinator, spend much of their time giving out-of-town educators tours of the school.

"We've found kids who maybe aren't the brightest ones in school, but they're finding success learning how to collect data from the Internet, put it on the page and present it," Milton said. "The kids are happy and want to be here. They want to be in school. And we're bringing more kids into the loop. I've really been pleased with what I've seen."

Computers also give the kids an opportunity to express themselves more, he said, and to try things they probably never would have tried before. "The kids are beginning to see there's a whole lot they can do," Milton said, "like designing Web pages and doing graphics, even at this age.

"I'm continually surprised by how creative many of these kids are."

The children aren't the only ones enthusiastic about the new technology.

"I've never had more fun in my career," Milton said "We put a lot of faith and trust in these kids. And we just show them how to do it.

"What they've been generating will just blow your socks off."

Look that up in your Funk & Wagnall's. That was more than a catch phrase from the 1960s TV showLaugh-In. When children growing up before the mid-1980s needed to do a report or find information, they went to a bookshelf, hauled out a volume of the encyclopedia and took notes. Or, in some cases, copied the material straight out of the book.

Today, even though most students' access to the Internet is limited to information sites, kids go online and find 100 times more information in a fraction of the time. And some still copy the material.

"It (plagiarism) is more of a challenge for us now," said Pat Craven, who teaches sixth grade social studies. "What we do is have them make a rough draft first, and they have to turn that in with their report. If they come back with something that's totally different, we take a good look at it."

Craven said teachers also encourage their students to use reliable sources such as encyclopedias, government agencies and university studies when gathering their data. "There is so much information out there," she said. "And some of it is just not accurate."

The real problem, say many educators, is that teachers are just now catching up with the technology.

"The research is pretty clear that if computers are used for more than moving things around, like with a word processor, they can be very useful," said Doug Clements, a professor at the graduate school of education at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

What parents and educators have to do, Clements said, is guard against looking for a quick fix. And that's not easy, especially when many schools are graded every year according to test scores, and funding can be tied to those scores.

(John Hopkins recently received a $150,000 state grant for improving its grade from a C to a B.)

"Parents are feeling the same pressure," Clements said. "Everyone agrees you should read to your child, but some parents don't have the time or do it. So they go for something they feel is easier: computers. But you should also be with your child when they're on a computer, interacting with them, not letting the computer do babysitting.

"Look, there's no doubt it's difficult to use computers well, and so it's no wonder you find people who criticize them. And to an extent, you have to agree. If kids are sitting around at a computer doing dumb things for three hours, that's bad. But I disagree with the assumption that you blame computers for every ill.

"My guess would be that the majority of computers are used sub-optimally," he added. "But the recent concept to have a moratorium on computer use in schools is just silly. If done well, they help kids learn.

"Does it revolutionize learning? No.

"But it depends on who's teaching it, what kind of software is used, and how it's applied.

"For most kids, it can support what they're doing in school."

Kenyatta Ballenger doesn't want a career in computers when she grows up. She wants to be a choreographer.

"But have you thought about how a computer could help?" she asked. "I can make schedules, create dance steps, e-mail people in the business . . .

"There's a lot there when you think about it."

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