A Learning Adventure

Welcome to the Library.

It's a fairly busy Saturday afternoon. Newspapers are rustling, hushed conversation is drifting over from the Information desk, and the steady stream of beeps as I run books under the scanner completes the active hush that is the usual state of the library. I am just finishing up with a patron, offering a smile and a due date, when the subdued air is punctured by an angry wail.

"Mommy!!! Nooooooooooo!"

A shocked silence ensues. The patron I am waiting on looks at me, startled. Heads are turning, eyes moving towards the Children's room.

Enter Mommy, glancing around apologetically, leading the crying child towards the exit. She bends down and whispers something in her son's ear.

"No thank you!" he replies emphatically. "I want to stay! Stay and play with the computer!"

Mommy apparently has no intention of relenting, as she continues to make her way out of the library, now close to dragging the child behind her.

"The computer!" he insists. "The computer! The computer! The compuuuuuu-" And then they are gone.

Heads shake, papers rustle again, and my patron clucks her tongue.

"Kids and their computer games," she muses aloud before turning away. I can only smile and shrug.

What can I say? Who can blame the kid? I had the opportunity to preview a few of the educational programs on the new Pentium before the PC was placed in the Children's Room- and when I finally tore myself away from it after forty-five minutes, it was with great reluctance.

If you've seen the range of the new multimedia programs available on CD-ROM, you understand. If not- if 'educational activities' translates into flashcards and 'learning fun' means learning the Preamble of the Constitution along with the animated cast of Schoolhouse Rock- then allow me the pleasure of introducing you to the amazing future.

Welcome to a world where with a mere point and click, a child can explore in stunning detail everything from the far reaches of the galaxy to the inner mysteries of the human body.

Welcome to a world where animated characters with names like James and Trudy and Putt-Putt teach with the utmost patience the fundamentals of mathematics and geography and problem solving skills.

Welcome to a world where your children can be quizzed by a science master about physics and chemistry, travel the world to learn about oceans and continents, and take a guided tour through a museum- all without leaving their chairs.

Doesn't it sound grand? Too good to be true, perhaps?

I know you're probably thinking that with such visual and audio appeal, actual content must be lacking. Nothing could be further from the truth. The technology behind the CD-ROM makes it possible to store amazingly large volumes of information in a relatively small space. With extensive and easy to access cross-referencing, this information is readily and logically made available with a simple push of a button by an inquisitive finger.

Now you ask: 'If it's so educational, how can it be such fun?' This seeming paradox can be readily explained by any clever parent or dedicated teacher- it's in the presentation. Take an important lesson and present it in a manner that appeals to a child's interest and natural sense of creative curiosity, and the child soon forgets that she's doing that tedious thing we adults call 'learning' and becomes willfully submerged in the very act itself.

Still sound too good to be true? Well, maybe you should ask the children. See what they have to say about their new computer, listen to what amazing learning adventures they've been on this weekend.

Here comes another one now, running up the steps and making a bee-line towards the Children's desk, dragging Daddy behind him. He'll have to share, there's quite a crowd around it now.

Or better yet, come to the library and see for yourself...