December 11, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Computer learning can be an energetic process at the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center, in Washington.
A little girl in the center’s Early Head Start program stands at a computer workstation to play a game that lets her put different shapes together to build her own robot. Several classmates scream out “purple” and “green,” trying to influence her decision about what color to make her creation. Then everyone starts to dance when the software’s bouncy music plays.
IBM’s 10-year-old KidSmart program has given 42,000 computer systems to Head Start sites, including the Mazique center, and to other preschool programs that serve children in poor neighborhoods. Now the company is donating 600 kid-friendly computer workstations and educational software to help children with disabilities at such centers develop technology skills and prepare for kindergarten.
The Mazique center was one of the first organizations to receive computers a decade ago, and it will receive seven new workstations through this latest effort.
Cynthia Faust, program director at the Mazique center, says that with the old machines, it wasn’t always easy to include students with disabilities in lessons.
“Now we’re going to be sitting together,” she says.
In addition to reinforcing concepts like colors, shapes, numbers, and letters, working on the computers gives the kids a sense of accomplishment, says Ms. Faust.
Mastering the software, she says, makes the children think, “I understand this. I have achieved this. I can share this.”
The Pacer Center, a charity that helps children with disabilities and their families, is working with IBM to distribute the equipment and provide training to teachers.
“We have seen how technology in the classrooms can be used to not only help children learn but also how it can be used to break down divisions between kids with and without disabilities,” says Paula F. Goldberg, executive director of Pacer.
For more information: Go to http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/grant/education/ programs/kidsmart.shtml.
