CAI with home-bound students proves successful in model program

As a teacher of home- and hospital-bound students in grades K-12, my purpose is to educate them to their fullest potential. I work for the Home and Hospital School, which serves a very distinct special-needs student body in the Baltimore County Public School system. The whole idea behind our is to fill the learning gap and keep these remotely located students at the same levels as their peers. Essentially, we create a away from school. Recently, my pupils have experienced a new dimension to their instruction high tech has come to the home-bound student. in the Beginning It all began n 1987 when William D. Rust, the coordinator of educational technology for Baltimore County Public Schools, Md., approached the principal of Home and Hospital School concerning the placement of an Apple IIc computer in its itinerant home-teaching program. Since I had a spirit of adventure, the computer was integrated into my teaching/learning schemes. Initially, the one computer was toted from place to place. Then it was presented to one physically handicapped elementary-school student. Gradually, however, access to the Apple lIc was extended to all our K-12 students, a population with a wide variety of disabilities who needed to be taught a broad range of subject matter. The agreatest impetus for expanding the program turned out to be the students themselves-their interest, enthusiasm and progress was inspirational. Local inservice courses were conducted and a National Science Foundation Institute was held at Western Carolina University in N.C. during, the summer of 1988 to assist teachers. This helped them to prepare their students for maiden voyages with a computer. Software lures children into learning; they enjoy the surprise and challenge. Teachers were taught how to exploit this. Using only selected portions of a software program instead of a whole sequence, for example, provides changes in pace and well-timed catalysts. And when such exercises are used in place of pencil-and-paper drills, students get computer time while simultaneously reviewing skills or concepts for double benefit. Benefits Demonstrated Integrating computers into the home-bound program's curriculum was initiated two and a half years ago following a highly successful demonstration. The demonstration employed several disks to implement the following objectives: Make a transition from the home environment to a school orientation within the same surroundings; Focus a pupil's attention on mathematics skills; Allow a student to practice and demonstrate computer-literacy skills; Provide drill and practice of basic addition and subtraction problems within a timed format; Reinforce linear measurement skills in units of centimeters by estimating and measuring; Incorporate reading skills within a mathematics lesson; and Extend and apply the concept of fractions as one evaluative measure of a pupil's comprehension and thinking skills. Now the computer is entrenched into my teaching. First and foremost, computer awareness and literacy skills are presented and then consistently practiced. Next, the subject, grade level, ability level and computer experience of each pupil is considered to determine how to best incorporate the computer into his or her curriculum. Software can be utilized to accomplish a variety of lesson goals: to initiate a unit or a topic; to motivate students to progress at their own rate; to review or reinforce a concept, sequence or rule; to provide drill and practice; and to summarize or evaluate the lesson. Still another way to utilize software is to interact with the student while he or she works through a program. For example, if the text is being read aloud, interject Why? or ask you were writing this, how else could you say this? If the student is unsure or confused, cover the screen and say, Tell me what you're thinking. …