“Computer, Computer, Show Me the World” is a grant-winning project, implemented by Semyonovskaya special education (correctional) boarding school for children with disabilities in the Mariy El Republic. The project was aimed at adapting Microsoft Unlimited Potential course materials for children with hearing disabilities. At first the teachers were doubtful as to whether hearing impaired children would be able to handle all the challenges of the training and acquire computer knowledge and skills in such a short period of time, but, apparently, they underestimated their young charges. Modern children have no fear of computers and acquire computer skills as quickly as adults – or even faster.

The children quickly understood the functions of different computer parts and only had to learn their technical names. Just as quickly they learned to use the computer mouse. MS PowerPoint also proved quite manageable, and Liana Nasibullina immediately applied her newly acquired computer skills to her project for the Congr@ts! Contest of original greetings, winning a special award as the youngest contestant.

Mastering MS Word took a little more time, since the children had no typing skills. However with the help of typing games the young trainees soon learned to use the keyboard for typing and editing text documents. They were especially excited about WordArt and displayed great creativity in doing their assignments, impressed by what they could do with the help of this amazing application.

The children also learned to create tables and lists with bullets and numbering, which is a great help for their teachers, since now the children happily help them type and format class materials in their free time. The kids also use the computer to produce various posters, flyers or articles for the school paper, and do it on their own, without assistance.

The parents still can’t get over the fact that their children were able to develop PowerPoint presentations about their families – especially since some of these parents have never used MS PowerPoint themselves. The teachers say that developing these presentations has been an excellent finish to 2008, declared in Russia as the Year of the Family. All the presentations will be displayed at the school contest of family presentations.

And, of course, the children were absolutely thrilled by the unlimited potential of the Internet. They loved searching the web for images and greeting cards. At first they were a bit apprehensive about e-mail, but once they started receiving messages from their peers in Tsivilsk, the Chuvash Republic, and, during their visit to Tsivilsk, saw their own original replies, every doubt was finally dispelled. Incidentally, the trip was definitely one of the term’s main highlights, especially since the children had never traveled so far all together. Their new friends from the Chuvash Republic proved to be very hospitable, energetic and fun, and the time they spent together will certainly be memorable. The students from Semyonovskaya boarding school have invited their hosts to pay them a return visit and, in the meantime, decided to keep in touch via e-mail.

The project concluded with a special award ceremony and a fun tea party. Usually for good school performance elementary school students get things like pens, pencils or albums for drawing, but this time they got colorful backpacks, which was completely unprecedented and very exciting. The children immediately began putting their school things into the new backpacks and then started making plans for the summer and listing various activities where they could put their new backpacks to some serious practical use – which was only right, since they most certainly deserved these wonderful gifts.

The faculty and students of the Semyonovskaya boarding school are very thankful to Microsoft and its Unlimited Potential program, to Project Harmony, Inc., and its director David Koenig, and to the IDEA Project, its director Yekaterina Fedotova and coordinator Yulia Gorbunova for the excellent training, unforgettable learning experiences, new friends, generous gifts and the wonderful atmosphere that has helped the children become even closer than before.

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