Field of Education

As the whole world of the "Information Super Highway" is in constant transition, so is the rule of the Internet on education, still being formatted, evaluated and in constant transition.

We shall discuss one such school as one example, the C.E.S Jewish Day School in Rockville Maryland. This is a private school K-12 with an objective to educate students to be good and productive American citizens, on the one hand, and leaders of the Jewish community on the other hand. About four years ago, teachers were very slowly introduced to the world of computers. Most teachers were somewhat apprehensive, afraid that with an incorrect click, the computer would "explode". How would the students learn if the teachers felt so inadequate? This is an area of great interest, as in this age of computer technology the roles are not always as traditional as in the past. It is not "here I am the teacher let me teach you something new", but rather, lets try and do this together.Let us search and and see what we can learn with the help of this new technology. The horizons of students and teachers, have become so much greater. Let us concentrate on one specific example. The Book of Exodus is studied in the fifth grade classes in Hebrew. This year with the help of the Internet a new component was added, "Ancient Egypt". With the help of the Internet and some books, the students in pairs searched the Internet for information about, The Pyramids, Egyptian Gods, Work and Games, Education, Life after Death, The Pharoes and other such topics. Searching the Internet was very interesting, as the graphics were wonderful to look at, the information most exciting. They were able to locate sites with Egyptian music too. With the help of a computer program called HyeperStudio the students were able to create a beautiful interactive project about Ancient Egypt. A topic that could be very dry and bookish, took on an exciting life of its own, with the help of the excitement that exists with the use of the of the Internet. This is one small example that tells about the independence the Internet affords students. Research can be done, in a way that is so much more exciting to most students. The students also participated in e-mailing in Hebrew with Kibbutz children in Israel. Students in other schools "talk" to authors over the Internet some residing in countries other then the U.S. The possibilities are limitless. What about comparing rain measurements by students in different countries? What about comparing projects and different experiments? The Internet can make learning so much more exciting, interesting, very engaging and very much alive. Computers have been a source of joy for children for some years now, because of the games they like to play on them. So school work, that resembles play, is much more appealing. With the vast opportunities the Internet, affords great learning with much joy. This is the reason that computers are taught from kindergarten. Some examples of "students project" can be seen on the schools website.