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Technology That Enhances Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence
by Dee Dickinson
Just as the printing press revolutionized learning and thinking in the 15th century; so the computer has created a similar revolution today. Through worldwide databases and computer networks students have direct access to current information. In every field of knowledge, educational systems are transforming as both teachers and students learn to use multimedia technology. Children who cannot yet read are writing stories on the computer with software that in some cases reads back to the students what they have written. New programs allow children to write and insert graphics in rebus-like texts such as "Wings for Learning"/ Sunburst's "Muppet Slate." Other programs, such as Microsoft's "Pine Artist and Creative Writer," make it possible to format writing projects in different shapes, write words in unusual forms and sizes, add accompanying sound effects, and wrap illustrations around the text. Such programs are highly motivating for both beginning and more accomplished writers.
Today's computer banks filled with information on every conceivable subject, plus on-line experts including university professors, researchers, and scientists, offer students an inexhaustible supply of information. Course content in any subject can be enriched and updated from such sources, and it is frequently the students themselves who access and share the information.
A high school student talks about "surfing the Net" one evening and coming across the Magna Carta. He had never seen the document even though he had read about it in many of his history books. Excitedly he printed it out and took it to school the next day with a strong sense of ownership. Such discoveries make learning personal and exciting as students make knowledge their own.
Increasingly user-friendly computer programs are making it possible to combine information in different forms, including words, images, and sounds. Students can store, sort, and cross-reference information, notes, bibliographies, and create multimedia reports to make an adventure of learning. Teachers are able to develop their own courseware, create databases linking documents, present preprogrammed slide presentations from videodiscs, and enrich their courses with a wealth of the technology described in the chapters on each of the other intelligences.
The computer encourages students to revise and rewrite compositions and thus develop greater fluency and a more effective style. Recopying by hand or typewriter often inhibits ongoing correction and revision, but the computer facilitates these processes and gives students a greater sense of control over their writing. When students see their work in professional-looking formats they become more interested in studying and mastering the mechanics that will give it final polish. Some of the most popular word processing programs include Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, and Ami Pro for Windows.
Learning keyboarding in early elementary school today is as important as learning to write with a pencil, and learning to use a word processor is as important for students as learning to type. Children are encouraged to use these skills in communicating and collaborating with distant students on a variety of projects, through an increasing number of electronic networks. Telephones and modems essential to this process should be standard equipment in every classroom.
Electronic technology is having an enormous impact on the development of speaking skills, as children find it possible to communicate with new friends around the country and world. Most school districts have access to projects such as the National Geographic Kids Network. Just as the computer has enhanced writing skills, so audiotape-recording, video-taping, and video-conferencing are having positive effects on oral fluency. When students observe and hear themselves speaking, they learn to express themselves effectively.
Technology offers new communication and learning opportunities to students with multiple handicaps and "different abilities." For example, students who are physically unable to move can talk into a computer that writes as they speak. Others who are able to move but not speak can write on computers that then "say" what was written. Specific examples include:
- for deaf students; Microflip's "Full Talk," LTJ Design's "Wee Talk."
- for physically-handicapped students: "Smart Keyboards" fit the body shape of their users and are developed by Arjan Khalsa for Unicorn.
- for blind students: Eduquest's "talking mouse"
- for hearing-impaired students EduQuest's "Speech Viewer" and "Phone Communicator.
- for visually-impaired students: EduQuest's "Screen Reader" and "Voice Type"
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© 1998 New Horizons for Learning and America Tomorrow, Inc. Permission for excerpt granted to America Tomorrow, Inc.
Page created April 2, 1998