Computers Put Fun Back in Learning

A flaming cannonball with 2+5 written on it comes hurtling toward a castle. The 13-year-old at the computer keyboard quickly punches in the number 7, and another cannon blasts apart the ball.

Oscar Nieto has temporarily saved the castle from destruction.

Oscar and 16 other students in the special education class at Oxnard’s E.O. Green Junior High School plopped themselves in front of their computer screens Wednesday to take part in activities ranging from math games to writing letters to President Clinton via the Internet.

Class members were working on 15 Macintosh computers the school recently received through the Adopt-A-School program run by the Los Angeles Unified School District. State Farm Insurance Co. donated the equipment after several of its claims litigation offices in Southern California converted to IBMs.

For the developmentally disabled students in Christine Kvashay’s class, the computers have become a major motivator.

“Before I had the computers, it was difficult to get them to read and write, but when I say computer time, they’re just thrilled,” Kvashay said.

Once the computers arrived in August, the school spent $6,000 to $7,000 to reconfigure them, install hardware and wire the classrooms.

Students say computer time is often a welcome break.

Before the computers arrived, “it was boring,” Oscar said. “We just had to look for books and read. Now we have the computers; we work, we write, we learn lots of math. It can teach you how to do a lot of things.”

Using Netscape, 13-year-old Anthony Chavoya struggles with a letter to President Clinton. Anthony will ask the president if he can send him any chocolate bars. He also will ask him to write back.