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ERIC Number: ED310889
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1987
Pages: 17
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Teaching and Learning with Computers! A Method for American Indian Bilingual Classrooms.
Bennett, Ruth
Computer instruction can offer particular benefits to the Indian child. Computer use emphasizes the visual facets of learning, teaches language based skills needed for higher education and careers, and provides types of instruction proven effective with Indian children, such as private self-testing and cooperative learning. The Hupa, Yurok, Karuk, and Tolowa tribes have found a cooperative learning methodology effective in teaching reading and writing, and have developed a computer curriculum for cooperative learning. These tribes have installed their own phonetic alphabet, Unifon, on the Macintosh computer, and have produced bilingual instructional materials. In one project, part of a bilingual field experience for teacher credential candidates, students in grades 3 through 8 used the computer to produce bilingual natural history dictionaries in Hupa/English and Yurok/English. Working in teams of two or three, students wrote what they knew about particular plants and animals, translated their sentences into English, and designed page layouts. Older children served as role models for younger children, who could feel more comfortable about their contributions, knowing they were making guided choices. The teacher served as supervisor and resource. The Macintosh computer has the unique capacity of installing extra fonts, sets of characters. Any software program with a font menu can be used to write a bilingual text. This paper includes a list of Macintosh software programs, identifying skill areas and educational level for each. 14 references. (SV)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A