Thursday, April 18, 1996
Seeds Elementary classes navigate through high-tech watersBy
Rachanee Srisavasdi
Daily Bruin Staff
Adeptly maneuvering the mouse like a veteran ‘Net surfer, a
young girl at UCLA’s Corrine A. Seeds University Elementary School
giggled as she downloaded a picture from the Internet.
"You can see a lot of funny things on the Internet, like this,"
said 7-year-old Lisa, referring to a picture of a African gorilla.
"It can also take you all around the world, to China, to France, to
Florida … it’ll take an hour to name them all."
Lisa is one of many students, ages seven through 12, at the
university elementary school who use the Internet on an almost
daily basis. But instead of letting students simply surf the ‘Net,
teachers said they incorporate the technology into their
curriculum.
"It’s not technology as a toy, it’s technology as a tool,"
explained Sharon Sutton, technology coordinator at the university
elementary school. "Our whole purpose is to have students use the
‘Net to retrieve important information for their schooling and
research."
The university elementary school, which houses about 10
computers in each classroom, hooked up to the Internet in January.
Students often use the Internet to look up information for reports
or class presentations, Sutton said.
Enthusiasm for using the Internet in schools has spread rapidly,
initiating a grass roots effort to wire 2,500 schools so students
can go on-line. For NetDay ’96, a national campaign to hook up
public schools, more than 20,000 volunteers installed the free
cables, which were donated by high tech companies such as Netscape
Communications and Apple Computers.
Government officials have also expressed their support for more
technology in classrooms. President Clinton,who helped pitch
NetDay, proposed a $2 billion allocation to help schools hook up to
the Internet. Additionally, schools can receive funding from
available Senate grants.
Some teachers are welcoming the information superhighway as an
additional tool to improve curriculum and student
comprehension.
"It allows kids to try different avenues and find what’s best
for them," said Sue Swanson, a teacher at the university elementary
school. "It also gives me a chance to broaden the children’s
understanding."
Educators across the nation are envisioning the information
superhighway as the key to learning in the future. California, in
fact, is behind other states in the use of technology in education
 Texas and Massachusetts are at the forefront of states
trying to incorporate increased Internet use in public schools.
But school districts still have to provide the funding,
manpower, and facilities in order to establish Internet use in
classrooms. Unlike the university elementary school  which
received internet funding from the University of California
administration  public schools often cannot get more funding
for such projects.
Still, some poorer schools, such as the Vaughn Elementary School
in San Fernando, are also making technology a priority.
Administrators, teachers and parents have combined their efforts in
order to make Internet use a reality in their school.
Vaughn Elementary petitioned three years ago to become a public
charter school, under which the campus would directly receive and
allocate state funding.
Vaughn officials realized that they could only fund their
computer project by leaving the Los Angeles Unified School
District, explained Yvonne Chan, principal of Vaughn Elementary
School.
"It’s almost impossible unless it’s a charter school," she said.
"You have to consider money, time, maintenance and facilities."
Since this shift, the school has been able to make technology in
classrooms a priority, Chan said. The school plans to have Internet
access in every classroom within the next few months.
"The Internet is a powerful teaching and learning tool for kids
in communities like mine, in which some kids do not even have
access to telephones," Chan said.
Educators are hoping increased use of the Internet in classrooms
will lead to brighter students. California is also currently behind
other states in the area of academic performance, with its students
ranking in the lower half of states nationally in both English and
mathematics.
But because in-class Internet use is out of reach for most
schools, some administrators argue that limited Internet access can
cause an imbalance among curricula offered in certain schools.
"It is really inequitable for some schools to have the Internet
and others not," Chan said. "Public schools have no say. Priorities
are different if you don’t have even basic funding."
ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin
Lisa (left) and Sascha search for information about seals and
sea lions on the Internet. Children at the Corrine A. Seeds
University Elementary School use computers as part of their
studies.