Thursday May 08 1997, Mary Zeait writes to Vern Pero:
 MZ> HI Vern,
 MZ> Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it.
 MZ> You said that games are used by kids without encouraging them to learn, 
Do
 MZ> you have any other ideas of activities that might encourage students to
 MZ> learn about the actual hardware components and their functions ?
I have a large assortment of donated components from old machines and 
peripherals in my classroom, and the youngsters in the tech classes down the 
hall and at the high schools love to take them apart and study their 
functions and design.  There are also several cd's that we've accumulated 
over the years that describe the components of a system and use hypertext 
links to show how they work together.  There's much to be said for examining 
the physical aspects of technology.
 MZ>  Shouldn't
 MZ> kids also know what the computer is made up of before basically and
 MZ> generally before they know what the computer can actually do ?
Not necessarily.  Most people don't study the mechanics of an automobile 
before learning to drive.  It doesn't hurt, but I'm not sure how it helps.  
Both can be constructive learning experiences, but I'm not sure one supports 
the other. Of course, I've been wrong before... lots of times.
 MZ>  As this
 MZ> general knowledge would be good to use when they are talking about
 MZ> computers, e.g they would be able to use the computer terminology when
 MZ> their talking about the computer. I think that it would be good for
 MZ> students to know where all their work goes to when it's saved, so their
 MZ> not as niave as they were before they started learning about computers.
 MZ> What do you think ?
I'm not sure naive is the word I'd use, but, sure, it doesn't hurt to know 
the basics about the components and the ways they interact.
 MZ>  I will appreciate your opinion as it will help me in
 MZ> the classroom as a teacher. Thanks Mary.
Tell us about your plans.  Why do you want to teach?
--- GoldED 2.40
---------------