By Raeann Rasmussen
Technology. …. What does this word mean? Well, that I still don’t know, but with a little help from Dawn. I was able to get somewhat of an article together.
This year Mini-School received a lot of new equipment. You may have noticed that in rooms E213 and E216 there are some new additions. A new J.V.C.T.V. and V.C.R. in E216 means no more fuzzy movies on Fridays. We got several new Apple 2E computers and two new Macintosh LC IIs. Finally, there has been a phone added to room 213 which is used for telecommunications. Now this big word, telecommunications, does have a meaning. What it is exactly is contacting other computers around the world and speaking to each other. For instance, this year Dawn reached Dublin, Ireland.
With the help of the computers, this year each Mini-School student is required to go through a two week introductory computer course that Lester and Dawn are developing. This takes place first hour and students are picked randomly for this. What do you learn in this course, you ask? Okay. You learn how to use the Apple computers for word processing, data base, and graphics. You learn how to use the Macs for word processing, graphics/drawing programs, and telecommunications. This class helps develop people’s keyboarding skills and finally you’ll learn how to appropriately use hardware and software.
Moving right along to future plans with technology…Dawn would like to expand the activities in telecommunications. She wishes to see students interact with other students with science projects and research. Specifically Dawn hopes to participate in the Illinois River Project. This involves having students do water quality testing and developing river and water appreciation. One more thing, this would allow students to learn English, Social Studies, and Science in an integrated program. If any of you have any questions I’d advise you speak with Dawn. She knows quite a lot about this technology thing. I hope I have increased your knowledge a little.