By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Johanna Javier shows off a Web page she designed.
Lab making Kalihi kids
computer crazy
For many of them it was their
By Debra Barayuga
first exposure to computers, and
now they just can't get enough
Star-BulletinJuvy Manuel peered intently at the computer screen, unaffected by the stuffy classroom and the hour ticking by quickly as she pored over her Web page. Teachers have had to coax the 14-year-old Kalihi teen and nearly 80 public and private school students in grades five through eight into going home after spending hours before computers in the past six weeks.
Manuel is the only one in her family who knows how to use them. "I love computers," she said, hoping her parents may be able to buy her one in the future.
After three weeks of the Electronic Collaborative Educational Learning Laboratory at Dole Intermediate, students overcame fears about computers and learned how to surf the Internet, design their own Web pages, e-mail or chat with their classmates or people in Holland, Australia, Oregon or Maryland. They also began producing music videos and electronic slide shows.
Students would be waiting outside the library computer lab at 7 a.m. -- an hour before classes began at 8 a.m., said Dr. Allen Awaya, one of four program administrators. When classes ended at noon, students would rush to the lab and sometimes stay well after 1 p.m, when administrators have to leave. "They will stay until I tell them they have to go," Awaya said.
The program was made possible through a partnership with the University of Hawaii master's in education teaching program and the Hawaii Education Research Network. The National Science Foundation provided HERN with a three-year grant to train teachers to integrate various disciplines and technology into their curriculum.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Students at Dole Intermediate School work on the Internet.
Teachers Kristi Miyata and Beth Fukunaga had their students research the history of baseball and player statistics on the Internet, create fantasy major league baseball teams by drafting players, elect team officers and create commercials to advertise their team.Given a $100,000 operating budget, students printed and wrote their own checks and learned to budget and purchase supplies and services needed for their advertising campaign. They also invented new baseball games, coming up with their own rules and playing ball to see if the games worked.
Teacher Sharon Dumas, who exposed her students to world languages through the Internet, said that having her students on the computers gave her more time to interact with them.
Dumas, a Spanish and social studies teacher at Kailua High, had students scouring the Internet for Spanish recipes and researching Spanish cities and current events.
Samasoni Tiitii, 12, who interviewed a computer teacher in American Samoa to complete his report on government there, appreciated finding most of the information he needed without having to move from his chair.
In a mid-term evaluation, he e-mailed administrators: "I just learned that you can travel all over the world and find out anything you are interested in. I expect to learn and study more about my society and understand other nationalities ... I would like to explore the state Capitol of Hawaii some day and more about the state government."
Equity in education means providing technology and access to the Internet in all schools for all students, said Darrel Galera, a program administrator. "If they don't, it increases the gap between the haves and have nots."
At least 70 percent of the students in the program attend Dole Intermediate, where a large percentage of students come from low-income families. Less than 10 percent of the summer participants have access to computers at home or in the schools, officials said.
"For us in this neighborhood, kids don't see beyond the valley walls of Kalihi," said Kevin Boggs, technology coordinator at Dole. "With technology, they can see beyond and actually communicate. It's important to make them aware they can do what they want to do."
