Education is one area where I’m happy and a little surprised that technology (read: computers) is making a significant impact.  Back when I was in La Salle and the Internet was still new, we were not allowed to include a Website as a source for our school papers.  These days, from what I gather, it is allowed; and in some instances searching for information on the World Wide Web is even encouraged.

And even for the younger kids now, technology in general and computers in particular are fast becoming essential, useful and helpful parts of their lives.

My nephew (little Ramon Julian--Monchu to those who love him), for example, has a condition wherein his verbal and upper motor skills are lagging behind the rest of his skill set.  He can count to a hundred forwards and backwards, and recite the alphabet forwards and backwards—something which even adults find hard to do.  By the way, I use “little” simply as a term of endearment because at fifty-three pounds and three and a half feet, little Monchu is not exactly so “little” anymore.

He was having trouble articulating what he wanted or needed, and only recently did he, consciously and with regularity, say anything in complete sentences; but aside from that he’s a perfectly normal and rambunctious child. 

He was enrolled in speech therapy classes, as well as a lot of other types of sessions he has to attend.  What is interesting to point out is that he takes his sessions home with him, in the form of FLASH animations on CD.

He was given CDs from Linguisystems (linguisystems.com) and Super Duper (superduperinc.com), two companies that specialize in making creative educational content for children.  They both have a series of programs aimed at developing specific facets of a child’s learning.

While Monchu was on vacation here from Vancouver, he had along with him his Superduper Auditory Memory CD which, as the resident computer operator in our household, I was tasked to install and play over and over again.

The CD is a collection of stories--each about two minutes or less if read straight through--accompanied by simple illustrations that fade in and out in simple FLASH animation.  Apart from being able to read the words, there is audio as well, with a narrator reading along.

After one or two sentences, Monchu is then asked by the computer a question based on the story and he has to pick the answer by clicking on the word on the screen.  It’s actually fun and he often doesn’t stop and just keeps going.  We have to strike a deal first, where I stipulate the number of stories he can read before we even begin.

What also helps is that Monchu frequents certain Websites that are intellectually stimulating for his hyperactive little brain.  Much like watching only the good kind of TV, my brother only lets his son surf the good kind of Websites.

The PBS children’s Website (PBSkids.org) is probably Monchu’s favorite.  He loves it so much that he evicts his father from the computer to play with the cute characters, and try the games involving music, colors and shapes.

Starfall (Starfall.com) also provides fun games, but these are mostly geared towards reading and writing.  Aside from that, it also provides another reason for my nephew to shoo his dad off the PC.

My niece, Amanda, often sits on my lap and fiddles with playhousedisney.com on her Lolo’s laptop.  Amanda’s case is a bit different though.  My sister, Amanda’s mother, wants her daughter away from monitors as much as possible, so she doesn’t grow lethargic or stagnate.  She’s only allowed TV on weekends.  That is torture from my perspective, but it’s probably for the best. 

But even my sister has talked to me about putting together an inexpensive computer system for Amanda when she gets older, so she can use it for her schoolwork.

That is a duty I’d certainly be happy to do as an uncle.

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Alas, my contender for best Visual Effects did not make it in the Oscars this year; the big ape King Kong beat down the rest of the competition.  But at least here in our little world, Narnia was saved.  The final tally: Narnia: 30; King Kong: 26; and, War of the Worlds: 21. Thanks for all who wrote in!