COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY OPENS DOOR FOR STUDENTS

Computer technology opened the door to the world of reading for students at the Easter Seal Society in Cape Girardeau.

With the help of Reader Rabbit's Learning Letters program, students learn how to put letters together to form words and eventually work their way up to creating stories with the aid of another program titled Storybook Weaver.

The computer reading programs are considered the foundation for literacy, said Chuck Martin, executive regional director for the Easter Seal Society.

To help students benefit from the reading software, each computer has been adapted with touch screens, switches and other special hardware.

In the past three years, funds from YELL grants allowed the Easter Seal Society to purchase the adaptive hardware for its two classroom computers.

Some of the 60 students in the Easter Seal classes wouldn't have access to computers or reading programs without the YELL-funded grants, Martin said.

The students enjoy crowding around the screen to hear a bird whistle or see Peter Pan cross the river to avoid Captain Hook and the alligator.

Renee Stroud, a teacher and former computer resource specialist, said the biggest advantage to using the programs is that the students learn so quickly.

"If they can watch TV, they can do the computer," she said. Students often learn more from one another than a teacher, she said.

"One will do the touch screen and another learns about the mouse," she said.

Many of the programs like Storybook Weaver or Peter Pan are specific to a certain age group, but remain popular in the classroom.

The literature-based programs teach reading and many also address other topics like problem-solving, she said.

"It's like learning a second language," said Suzanne Holland, director of children's services at the Easter Seal Society. "They're not afraid to jump in and do it. They're not intimidated by the computers."