By Ann Sabatini Blask
Homework reports are as common to every schoolchild's experience as class pictures or proms. They are usually not as happily anticipated, however. Children often find them time consuming, difficult to organize, and worse, tedious to edit and recopy. Using the computer to help out with the task can allay much of the tedium and can actually assist in emphasizing the learning, rather than the mechanical aspect of the project.
The computer can fill a variety of roles: as a storage center for notes, as a convenient scratch pad for writing outlines and rough drafts, and as a willing and accurate typist that's ready to print a clean copy every time changes are made to the text. Many students feel that the computer helps them improve the quality of their work, and that they have fun in the process.
Julie Rice, a twelfth-grader from Eden, New York, mixed myth and technology in a productive learning experience when she used her family computer to do a homework paper on Atlantis.
The assignment was an unusual one. Julie had to hand in her notes, an outline, an introduction, a conclusion, and a bibliography for a report, although the report itself was not required. "It was a lot of work," she says, "but it would have taken a lot more time if I hadn't used a computer."
Julie began her research at the library with a pencil and a stack of conventional 3" x 5" file cards. She gave each card a heading: General Information, Background, Geography, etc. As she scanncd through dozens of reference books, she jotted notes on the appropriate card.
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