Published excerpts of story from Nov. 16, 1988:
Gone are the days when spelling lessons are written on slate boards and math problems figured out on abacuses.
Here to stay are the days when computers are used daily in schools to enhance students’ learning skills and prepare them for life in a high-tech world.
And, as computers take over just about every aspect of life in the 1980s, Devils Lake schools are keeping in step with the times.
Every student from grade one to 12 has exposure and access to computers. At the elementary and junior high level, computers are used as skill and learning enhancement tools. At the high school level, students are learning programming, word processing, and office-related computer skills.
We need to expose these kids to computers in 1988,” said Sweetwater (Elementary School) Principal John Geston. “This will be part of their world. I don’t know of a business that doesn’t use one.”
At Sweetwater, grades one through six currently use computers to enhance their learning skills, Geston said. At this point, there is one computer for every two classrooms, making the computer to student ration about 1 to 50.
“The first and second graders are the most difficult students to get away from the computers,” Geston said. “They are the most intrigued by them.”
Students get reinforcement on math and reading skills from the computers at the younger levels and in grade four begin to do some actual writing on the screens. “It is an advantage because they don’t have to erase. They can edit right on the screen,” Geston said. “It is a vehicle to enhance and it allows them to deal more with the content and creative expression.”