14. What did technology add to this unit that you couldn't
have done in other ways?
Well, I think that technology allowed our students to have the
latest information. It allowed them to have a greater variety of
information at hand. You can only get so many books from the library,
but on the Internet I can pull up 250-300 places that have information
on San Francisco. You can't get that volume of information in a
classroom unless you have a tool like a computer and a modem. It
is just not possible. The children had access to a wider variety
of information than they ever had. Then they can choose and decide
which sources they want to use to incorporate in their information.
Plus, the excitement level is incredible. You know you can ask a
child to write something on paper and pencil, and, depending on
the project, you get a varying level of enthusiasm for that particular
project. I ask a child to do almost anything on the computer. Do
a 50-page report on the computer. Boy, oh boy, it is amazing how
they are like, "Okay." The difference in their attitudes and just
the use of the technological tools makes learning more exciting
and interesting for a lot of kids. I just think they are in that
era where use of the computer is something new and different for
some of them. It is exciting for them, and it allows them to do
a number of different things that perhaps they could not do manually.
