I first came in contact with computer science and tools of information technology over a decade ago at the end of the 1980s when I organised a computer club for my pupils in the lower grades of primary school. In the beginning, we tried to understand this new “science” with the help of our Commodore computers, but I soon came to realise that it was impossible to “program the little brains” of my interested students using Basic language. We needed a durable program that would not only develop thinking skills, but one that would also outlast the vast and constantly changing array of tools available. It was around this time that Károly Farkas and Márta Kőrös- Mikis published their now classic volume entitled Play the Turtle! [1]. This book, in addition to Papert's Mindstorm [2], started me off on the rough, but incredible journey of computer application. Along the way, I struggled to acquire the necessary tools, most of which I could only obtain through tenders, but I also had to process many kinds of information that were new to me, and this was not always a simple task. I was only able to obtain the required knowledge by participating in numerous post- graduate training courses.

Initial steps involved connections with the Playful Informatics Association (Játékos Informatika Oktatás Szakmai Társulás – JIO), whereby we attempted to establish everyday teaching practice in the field of ICT for primary school children, using the LOGO program to develop their thinking and creative skills while helping to improve each other's knowledge. Naturally, the new techniques – robots, games etc. – and the rapid developments taking place in the world of computers presented us with a wide range of new opportunities. Over the years, however, after we had already worked through and tested computer applications among primary school children, successfully improving their fundamental skills and competencies, growing debate with regards to curricular development eventually forced ICT out of primary education. In spite of this, the standard of computer culture will certainly be a critical factor in the information society of the coming century. In today's world, computers can be found in every school, every workplace and almost every home. Therefore, it is useless and unproductive to argue about whether there needs to be a strategic place for computer science in the field of education.

Children already encounter computers as pre-schoolers, either at home or at their parents' workplace, but it matters a great deal what kind of guidance they receive when they are becoming familiar with tools of information technology. In and of itself, information technology is neither good nor bad, but it is up to us as adults to determine how children utilise it – whether computer use will be a “blessing or a curse”. It is our responsibility to raise our children – starting as early as kindergarten age – to use information technology as a tool for expressing their thoughts in an intelligent and creative manner.

The Centre for Program and Curricular development at the National Institute for Public Education (OKI) enthusiastically supports computer usage among children of kindergarten and school age. The institute strives to familiarise educators with new international research regarding up-to-date pedagogical approaches and teaching practice which can also be adapted to the existing conditions in Hungarian schools, provided that teachers show appropriate interest and are willing to take an innovative attitude. In 1992, I had the opportunity to begin experimenting with the adaptation of new, computer- supported methods for the instruction of reading and writing in the native language. The teaching procedure is based on the Cohen approach [3], an essential criterion of which is to include the use of information technology in the development process i.e. computers must be used as an important teaching aid in the process of learning to read and write. This was followed by the development of the Hungarian-language version of FAIRYTALE WORLD [4], a software program designed to assist children in discovering the alphabet, and as a supplement to the Cohen approach. Once we started using the software, an entirely new phenomenon began to unfold before our eyes, and we became convinced that its application in the process of teaching small children comprised an exciting and adventurous way to acquire knowledge in the culture of informatics. Greatly inspired, we began to produce new learning-teaching strategies, including new procedures for organising lessons and new methodologies in practice, with a much higher degree of confidence. We began to incorporate multimedia programs in our subject lessons, and today we are proudly storming the Internet – because we cannot afford to fall behind the challenges of the times. The children of today will come into contact with information technology irregardless of what we do, but if we fail to give them wise, adult guidance in how to use these tools in a sensible and productive way, they run the risk of taking the “wrong path”. Parents and teachers cannot be content if they do not provide the coming generation with the ability to read and write using computers. We must develop their capacity to use information technology as an up- to-date, creative way of acquiring and expanding their knowledge.

“I already know how to read and write... with a computer!”

I began using the FAIRYTALE WORLD software as a computer- assisted method of native language teaching in the 1992/93 school year. Having become familiar with the basic pedagogical approach behind the Cohen method, with the help of András Romankovics, I also took part in a professional team of educators who learned methodologies for delayed writing instruction beginning with the use of printed upper- case letters. A clear idea of the pedagogical foundations is a tremendous help in learning the proper application of these methods and in developing modern learning-teaching strategies. For this reason, pedagogical arguments appear again and again as I describe my own practical activities.

To begin with, the first condition for the computer-assisted acquisition of reading- writing skills is the computer itself, which should be in “close proximity” to the children. In our case, we placed the students' work-stations separately from their desks at the rear of the classroom. We had noticed in the course of practice that the children worked much more efficiently in pairs or in groups, so an important aspect of this arrangement was that at least two students should be able to work at each computer. Since the execution of computer-related tasks already comprises a communicative situation in which the given student plays the leading role (the teacher only assists when necessary), the presence of a companion is important. It is this kind of communicative learning scenario that best facilitates creative thought, the joy of discovery and the desire for self-achievement.

Fig. 1. Work-station with computer located at the back of the classroom.

Students start to become acquainted with computers from the day they first set foot in the school, and our experience shows that this situation is not new to them. In fact, they will do anything to sit behind their computer and play, but of course the “game” is a serious one and fulfils a double task. On one hand, it is a way to relieve the tension brought on by having to adapt to the school environment since it is an exciting new way to “play” – and secondly, it prepares many of the basic functions required to learn and teach reading-writing. It is perfectly natural for children to regard the computer as a tool (like a pencil and a pen) that helps them to create and express themselves during the learning process, and so they are eager to discover things on their own or with together with their companions. They begin by getting familiar with the various components of the machine; trying to switch it on and off, examining the keyboard, typing a few symbols and checking for the results on the monitor. They are happy when they discover similarities and differences, for example the fact that although there are upper-case letters on the keyboard, lower-case letters appear on the screen, but also that this situation can be changed, and that we can set these changes according to our needs. The effect produced by hitting buttons on the keyboard (traces appear on the screen!) had a tremendous impact among the children, and they immediately set about trying to “read and write” with more deliberation. In keeping with the pedagogical approach, this level of so-called “quasi-writing- reading” must be consciously incorporated in the process of development.

We know that small children are capable of acquiring knowledge very effectively when engaged in play, hence developing their skills and abilities in the course of the game. Why not utilise this situation in the teaching-learning process? Why not make this a basis for their motivation? In light of the above, we managed to develop a series of “games” that served to pave the way for the effective acquisition of reading-writing skills. While some of the braver children attempted to write their names and various words, the others “read” what was written. There were always companions involved who would help, check and criticise, but there were also other children who just watched carefully at first before they gathered the courage to “work on the computer”, and this is an important pedagogical factor! The children do not all have to (!) learn how to carry out individual tasks at the same pace; they have time to watch and observe, and since they have a high degree of motivation, they will make their own attempt at the appropriate time and prove to themselves and the others that they too can read and write with the help of the computer.

In my own teaching practice, I apply the delayed writing method, starting with the use of printed upper-case letters. There are several considerations behind this decision, but I do so mainly because the method already inspires a tremendous desire in the children to copy and “write down” everything they see within the first few weeks of study. This is quasi-reading. When my new students arrive at the school, I give each of them a name-tag, which they pin on their clothes. From this point forward, everyone in the school already “knows” the first-graders and calls them by their names, but the children can also “read” each other's names. Now the game can begin! They begin by copying the names, running to the computer, typing them in, printing them out and then placing them on their desks, their drawers and next to their coat-hooks. In this way, their first real experience with reading is to “read” their own names.

In a very short space of time, the entire class becomes the stage for the game. We decide to provide everything in the classroom with an inscription so that we can then “read” the names on the objects. If we are inspired to write, we can “write” these words down in our DETECTIVE notebooks, “signing” each with a small drawing so that we do not forget the meaning – just to be sure! As the number of inscriptions in the classroom increases, so do the scribbles in the notebooks – and the children observe the computer and the printer with increasing curiosity as they produce newer and newer inscriptions each day. More and more children want to write all the more! Soon, practically the whole classroom is covered with inscriptions (table, blackboard, lamp, window, tile, mirror, cabinet etc.), and this results in an even greater desire to “read and write”. By this time, the children have already begun to include inscriptions they have collected at home: they can read the name of their favourite chocolate, the logo on the box of detergent, on their tube of toothpaste and the package of cheese – all of these are familiar names. The collection of inscriptions taken from boxes, bags and packages now covers an entire wall, and this will be a useful teaching aid at a later stage when the children begin to learn individual letters in an organised format – hunting for specific letters, identifying different versions of the same letter, comparing lower and upper-case letters etc.

Fig. 2. Inscriptions

Fig. 3. “I can read!” – classroom wall.

Making the computer “speak” is the first real experience the children have with computer-assisted reading-writing, and soon everyone wants to take part in the work – and working at the computer becomes a regular activity. Initial difficulties quickly dissolve, the students wait patiently for each other's results, praising and criticising each other's work. Their attention is increasingly focused on the “game” and the pupils who work well together begin to form groups. Small children learn how to use the computer very quickly and follow the teacher's every move attentively. At this point there is also opportunity for the teacher to answer the students' spontaneous questions and show them how to operate different applications properly. Learning how to operate the computer can be achieved without any rigid educational format. In fact, the effective flow of information comes about as a consequence of group activity: if someone learns a “secret” through observation, they quickly try to teach it to their classmates. There are children who particularly enjoy the role of “little teacher” and nothing proves the effectiveness of common teaching/learning better than the fact that within only a few weeks some of the braver pupils are already doing research and collecting information at the library, and that all pupils eventually acquire the ability to launch their favourite programs.

Gradually, a “social network” is formed in which every child is equal, even if their abilities are not at the same level. There is no exclusiveness or exclusion since they always let everyone take part in the game, and the “roles” – leaders and followers – are frequently switched without adult intervention. The children experience the success of creating on the computer together in a natural atmosphere of co-existence. They share their ideas with each other, produce things together, and help each other to correct less successful results. In other words: they cooperate with each other, and the computer becomes a genuine tool for them. In our teaching practice, we have never experienced the phenomena of “isolation” or that of students “turning away from their classmates” – perhaps this is also due to our conscious application of group learning situations. (Some teachers who oppose the use of computers among children specifically warn us of such inevitable “sources of danger”.) We feel that these fears are unfounded. On the contrary, we have never observed this level of cooperative, problem-solving group effort in the traditional teaching format.

Use of the Fairytale World software (5) begins when the children become familiar with the subject matter. At first, they simply “draw” – they recognise and name the characters i.e. the objects. Those who make progress at a faster pace provide a great deal of help to their companions in “reading” the corresponding word images. Here again, I must emphasise the importance of “quasi-reading”. In the beginning, the reading of word images provides the children with exceptional motivation of the kind that in my opinion can not be achieved with any other activity: enjoyment of the game inspires a natural desire to learn the secret of letters and the rules behind the new set of symbols. Naturally, this stage should last long enough to be motivating and produce effective results, but it should not be longer than necessary, and this is the moment when the wisdom of the computer can be of help. The children enjoy using the unique program built into the Fairytale World to practice and play – each according to their own needs. After all, the computer is the most patient teacher that I know of. It supplies an inexhaustible series of tasks, and immediately analyses and praises the results. And the children also enjoy taking advantage of this! Some students develop their confidence by repeating tasks and are happy to “collect” the abundant praise the machine offers; others consistently try again while the machine patiently helps them and provides them with newer and newer opportunities. The environment described above also includes their companions and the teacher, who verbally encourages them to keep practicing; there is plenty of time and plenty of patience available!

It is in just such an environment that we can truly experience how students learn from each other and develop at their own individual pace. Compensation for drawbacks is not a separate pedagogical problem to be solved by the teacher; mutual practice and continuous, interactive verbal cooperation helps tremendously in assisting students who are at a disadvantage in terms of language skills. We should not forget that our environment teaches us; the richer and more varied the teaching-learning environment is from the aspect of language and communication, the more individual pupils are able to develop at a differentiated pace. This type of development is extremely effective as it provides every child with the ability to develop under optimal conditions. Since the main aim is to have every student achieve the basics of reading-writing at a uniform level, those who are exceptionally talented can discover an exciting world in which they are able to utilise their better-than-average capabilities and develop independent thinking skills.

The desire to read and write was strongly enhanced when the children sat behind the computer; the pupils immediately wanted to read all of the words corresponding to the pictures. They soon chose the most difficult version of the program and created drawings by spelling out the word images letter by letter. The time had come to teach letters individually; not because we had reached the appropriate lesson in the curriculum, but because the students had reached a suitable level of maturity to learn them (!) and had developed a natural desire to make this step! Having practiced breaking the words down into individual letters (typing them on the keyboard), they considered it perfectly natural to read the word images that appeared on the screen. Therefore, why not redirect their focus in this direction? Why not look for new strategies to improve the effectiveness of their reading and writing? Every familiar word image or the name of a favourite character already comprised the letters to be learned. It was not even difficult to work with lower and upper-case letters simultaneously because – as I have already mentioned – the children found it natural that the computer would “translate” the words they had typed in capital letters on the keyboard into lower-case letters on the monitor. This “automatic” translation increased their urge to learn letters, and the connection between the two kinds of symbol was gradually reinforced in the course of the “game”. Of course, the children also used the mouse in addition to the keyboard, which dynamically increased the development of their motor skills.

Once the children had begun to study the alphabet in an organised format, their desire to “collect” and “play” gave birth to a newer game. They began to collect the letters they had learned in their “treasure” books, filling their notebooks with beautiful new letters taken from newspapers, magazines, shopping bags etc. – hunting for individual letters in a continuous story.

Fig. 4: A page from the treasure book.

The Fairytale World software was also a rich storehouse of letters. The topics we selected were either in connection with current events or corresponded to the stories in the children's spelling books, and since the program can be utilised in a variety of ways, it soon proved to be very useful in helping to teach the alphabet as well. The children played the letter-hunting game for practice, creating short exercise sheets and printing them out for their mates to solve. Consequently, the alphabet-teaching stage was accompanied throughout by unflagging enthusiasm. In time, drawings began to appear as a result of genuine reading-writing. If the children were unable to read a particular word- image (due to many unfamiliar letters), they had the computer program draw it for them, and then observed the familiar and unfamiliar letters over and over again. They developed a speedy approach to etymology by identifying consonants and vowels that they were already familiar with and were quick to read words in which half of the letters were ones they had not yet learned. After comparing the words they had learned with the processed images, the children's confidence was always increased, and this motivated them to make the next step.

Is this not genuine reading? Of course it is – and at a very high level! Research on reading has proven that when we read texts, due to the textual suffixation characteristic of the Hungarian language, we actually tend to supplement our reading of word-images by identifying prefixes and suffixes rather than scanning a given word letter for letter. Reading the word-images in the way described above, the children have already developed a more refined partial reading ability in that they recognise word- images based on familiar letter combinations. The development of this ability is significant, even if it is still a far cry from actually reading a text – and it is this reading strategy that eventually leads to continuous reading at a later stage! The basis for this is the ability to handle the words that are read as coherent units. (Taking this into consideration, we do not rely on syllabification, the aim being instead to read words as meaningful units. The reason for this is obvious: the majority of syllables are meaningless on their own. A good natural sense of rhythm fosters syllabification. It is a good game in the 1st grade, but genuine, meaningful syllabification can only be applied with knowledge of the rules, and this requires solid abstract thinking – consonants, vowels, compound words – of the kind that can only be achieved in the 2^nd grade, so that is where we teach it). Our comprehensive teaching-learning strategy is based on the idea that we teach something at the point when all of the children have already acquired the necessary competencies to learn it, and only after thorough preparation, thus sparing the children from failures (and playful “quasi” activities play a decisive role in the development of basic competencies!). Here, I would refer to a basic principle of the Cohen approach, which states that we should not “rigidly” insist on achieving one particular method of reading-writing at all costs: we should become acquainted with as many methods as possible and try to find the procedures that are the most effective for us and the children. In other words, we should be bold in developing our own procedure for reading and writing instruction.

When we had finished teaching the alphabet, spelling was the main problem among children who had chosen to operate the Fairytale World software in letter by letter mode because the computer only rewarded them for words that were written correctly. Their efforts to correct their own spelling were so successful that it became common for the children to “think out loud” – those among them who wrote faster still have a burning desire to help their classmates by loudly announcing what they must pay attention to when spelling certain words, even in lessons when the computer is not used. As a teacher, this has been my greatest experience in applying the aforementioned procedure. During lessons, the children began to write with increasing accuracy and with far fewer spelling mistakes (using their “favourite” printed upper-case letters, and sometimes lower-case letters).

By the second semester, the desire to write letters in script became gradually stronger, and in February we began to learn written letters and their connections. We had waited for the optimal time to teach the most complicated form of writing (hand-written letters). Psychologists and researchers unanimously agree that it is at the age of 7 when the fine motor skills of the hand reach a suitable stage of development for handwriting to be taught. Most primary school children in Hungary only reach this age during the second semester of the 1^st grade. It is apparent that the delayed-writing approach only means a delay in hand-writing; since printed characters are much simpler in form than scripted letters, children at this stage are already confident in using these as a tool for writing – not to mention the development of keyboard-handling skills!

The children became increasingly adept at handling the Fairytale World program. They set about creating stories to accompany their drawings, and although we had hardly begun to write by hand, they were already capable of using the keyboard to type sentences and texts. Taking into consideration how we could maintain and reward this creative desire, we launched a story-writing competition. We reviewed the list of topics, produced a few drawings, and the children began to work feverishly, which resulted in more and more clever stories. The reward was to prepare the stories on the computer and print them out. The children then began to collect their stories and the accompanying illustrations in a fairytale notebook created especially for this purpose. We had long ago run out of time during the lessons and most of the children continued expanding their stories at home. The game was such a strong motivating factor that even parents were surprised, and they began to help as well. There were even pupils who returned to school in the afternoon to work on the computer (and some did not even want to go home)! During some lessons, all we had to do was outline the ideas and the work continued independently. Everyone was glad to develop their own stories. The children chose their favourite printed upper-case letters to record their texts, and in time the design and spatial arrangement of the illustrations had reached an almost “artistic” level of creativity. They developed various masterful tricks to use for individual overlays and were already clever at loading work that they wanted to continue onto their own files in the computer. They felt good about the most successful results and were happy to share their experiences with each other.

Fig. 5: A page from the Fairytale World notebook.

By the end of the school year, the majority of children were creating their stories and tales independently. Help and encouragement had a beneficial impact on the others as well, and the expanding Fairytale notebooks were guarded as prized treasures. My students frequently came to me and exclaimed, “Imagine what happened…!” I asked them to write down the big event, thinking that perhaps we could use the computer to create some good illustrations and then include the story in the notebooks, and this also resulted in some fine work.

Fig. 6: “Imagine what happened…!”

Using the program was a great source of joy. After creating their drawings, the children enthusiastically explained and argued about what they placed on the illustrations, where and how. They read the stories over and over again and recited them to their classmates. The teacher was involved in the reading-writing process as the best of friends, and the children learned how to share in each other's happiness. If we had not started using the program, I would never have known how much joy computer-assisted activities could bring. As it is, I had the most important pedagogical experience of my life, and I wish the same for all of my colleagues.

The MMM project

The Mini-web/Multilanguage/Maxi-learning project (6) was initiated in 1999 by Rachel Cohen through the participation of teachers, professional consultants and psychologists connected with her team of researchers. In this context, children and their educators from various countries communicate with the help of the Internet: they write and read, exchanging letters, drawings and photos with each other while gaining knowledge about the basic written form of their mother tongue as well as foreign languages. The process serves to greatly strengthen tolerance, the acceptance of diversity and the integration of children who speak different languages. The main goal of the project is to establish an international community across borders, not only for children, but also for their parents and teachers. In this way, new methods of gathering information through the use of ICT on a daily basis also become an important tool in the struggle against illiteracy.

When Prof. Cohen visited Hungary to attend the “Informatics in Childhood” conference (7) sponsored by the National Institute for Public Education (OKI), she also encouraged Hungarian educators to participate in the project. She was surprised to find that teachers and primary school educators in Hungary were not short of innovative desire, but lacked the technical infrastructure necessary to achieve international correspondence and the exchange of experience via the Internet. In her opinion, the process of educating primary school children must involve every new tool of ICT available to us. Children must be taught that they can use such tools to stay in contact with and cooperate with their partners, even if they happen to live in another country and communicate in a different language.

In our school, we succeeded in gaining access to the Internet in 2002 with the help of a tender announced by Network for Youth Ltd. Both the teachers and children were happy to embrace this new technology. We applied to join the MMM network during the 2002/2003 school year, and were warmly received. At present, the network includes 7 participating countries and operates with approximately 50 kindergartens and schools, comprising about 1000 children between the ages of 3 and 11 who are in regular contact with each other via e-mail. The languages used are French, English, Spanish or Portuguese, and now Hungarian has appeared as well. Connections in both France and Hungary are maintained and directed by national coordinators (8). Activity is based on carefully organised correspondence between children (school classes), which requires constant assistance from teachers. The youngest children also have the opportunity to learn usage of the new technology in order to exchange their experiences and communicate in a foreign language. Contacts are initiated by new schools applying through the national coordinator, who then forwards their application to the network. Schools and teachers who wish to participate in the project can begin work after filling out the information sheet posted to them and signing a letter of intent. Project coordinators select the partner schools, after which educators from each school make initial contact. They plan the mode of correspondence, the mailing schedule and establish topics that children in the given age group will presumably be interested in working with.

In our case, we also had to agree with our partner concerning the language of correspondence; our common language became English. All messages are first composed in each partner's native tongue, as briefly and concisely as possible, and then translated into English. In our school, 1st graders are not studying the English language yet, so we asked our English teaching colleague to help us with the translation, and she was happy to comply. The first letters involved greetings and introductions, and we also tried to agree on the frequency of the correspondence. Weekly replies turned out to be the most expedient: we sent our letters out during the first week, after which our partners “processed” the messages, did some research (the letters we send always contain one or two questions to be answered by the recipients) and sent their replies on the following week. When the letters from our partners arrive, our students “decode” the messages and look for the answers to their questions. Then they also do research and collect information so as to be able to answer the questions sent by the children in the partner school. As the correspondence continues, the children are able to share their experiences and exchange answers to newer questions.

The exchange takes place on the computer in the form of electronic mail sent over the Internet, but my students also expressed a desire from the very beginning to illustrate their text messages with pictures and drawings. This was natural to them since they had grown accustomed to illustrating their written stories when using the Fairytale World software, pictures being a way to more fully express the events described in the texts. In keeping with this viewpoint throughout our correspondence with the partner school, we incorporated newer tools of information technology to enhance our mutual communication. We began using the school's digital camera, and the scanner for loading the students' drawings. The resulting abundance of material taught the children to exercise moderation; after all, transmitting long texts and many pictures is not an easy task. We had to try and select the most important items and make our messages briefer and more accurate – also because of the English translation. Only the most successful and expressive creations were chosen for transmission.

Fig. 7: Arranging messages in the classroom.

The children were very excited to receive the incoming letters. They stood around the computer, cheered when the Internet connection was made and burst with joy when the long-awaited letters arrived. They were fond of spelling out the messages on the screen, after which they printed them out and ran with them to the English teacher. She also shared in their excitement, and soon the translations were completed. Then we wrote the translated versions into our word processor, after which everyone was able to read the messages in Hungarian. These were posted on the door of the large cabinet at the rear of the classroom and the students set out to discover the new information. They compared the English language texts with the Hungarian versions and even asked the teacher for help in trying to identify the words. They wanted to know everything about the students in their partner class, about their school, about their lives and their experiences. At the same time, they realised quickly that they would also have to gather a lot of information before they could reply because the children in the partner school had the same expectations. Their experiences grew richer and richer. They learned how to greet each other in foreign languages and began reciting French names to each other. They got to know that children from other countries with different languages and customs were just as interested and kind as their Hungarian counterparts. They began to do research to find out how French children were different in comparison to Hungarian children. They looked at maps and browsed through books at the library and at home. They wanted to know the most important characteristics of France, about that particular mountain village with an unpronounceable name, and about the lives of the people who lived there. And they wanted to write the most important things about Hungary and their hometown of Győr.

We soon formed work groups so as to gather information more efficiently. One group tried to collect as much useful information as possible about Hungary, gathering pictures and postcards, browsing through books and encyclopaedias for essential data. Once the work was completed, we arranged the materials in the form of an exhibit mounted on the panelling in the school corridor. The children then “presented” the results of their work to their classmates. Another group collected information about European countries after they found out that both Hungary and France are European states. This also became part of the exhibition. One of my small pupils became very interested in the flags of European nations and decided to create copies of them. At first, I expected that he would make three or four flags, but it turned out that he intended to recreate all of them. Within a few days, he had cleverly produced an amazing collection of national flags using wooden skewers and cardboard: a separate part of the corridor was devoted exclusively to Ádám's colourful display. The third group gathered information on the four seasons based on their natural science lessons, while the fourth collected as much material as possible for their presentation on the city of Győr. These works were also displayed in the exhibit on the corridor. The children's research work on the local area corresponded with a tour of Győr that we organised during the spring break, giving them the opportunity to see the most beautiful buildings, monuments and sculptures in the city. We walked across the bridges spanning the river and visited the institutions that seemed to be the most interesting: the Children's House, the Vaskakas Puppet Theatre, City Hall, the János Xantus and Margit Kovács museums. The most successful part of the excursion was our walk through the local zoo. The children were very excited to see what kind of animals live in Europe since these may also be found in France. After returning to the school, we collected songs and games; in both Hungarian and French, of course.

During the process of correspondence, it became natural for the children to acquire information, supplement it, transform it and transmit it according to their own needs. It also became important for everyone to know as much as possible about the work conducted by the children in the other groups, so each work group composed questions for the others, the answers to which could be discovered in the exhibit on the corridor. After this, we created exercise sheets together in order to be sure that everyone had the knowledge that the group members deemed to be the most important. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the results; practically all of the children were able to complete the exercises with no mistakes.

Fig. 8: The children's work exhibited on the corridor.

The children also expressed a desire to process the wide range of materials collected by each work group, and we chose to do this in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, which we plan to assemble in the 2^nd grade. Processing the work will also be important in light of the fact that we will be corresponding with a new partner class during the next school year.

Computers in the school provided us with the opportunity to utilise new technologies in order to expand the learning environment. We used ICT to solve new communication- related problems and situations that are increasingly difficult to handle with traditional school methodologies. The effectiveness of carefully planned teaching strategies and skills development conducted in a project framework is made evident in the fine results the children achieve by the end of the school year. The Cohen approach stresses that the coming information society must have a fundamental impact on the educational system. The new world our children are living in demands new learning strategies, and the educators of today must play a decisive role in developing them. Old methods are often no longer suitable for the acquisition and transmission of knowledge. As knowledge multiplies, new technologies are also changing the way it is accessed. In this context, the role of educators has also changed since they are no longer the primary source of knowledge among children. For this reason, students today must be provided with a learning environment where they are encouraged to discover, improving their creativity, multimedia communication, cooperation with distant partners, independent and group work, and the adaptation of their experiences, thus strengthening the acquisition of knowledge and the development of competencies. Therefore, it is extremely important that today's educators reconsider their teaching strategy and their pedagogical practice. I am hopeful that many more of us will soon be helping our little pupils take their first steps on the information superhighway!

Fig. 9.: Bálint's smile…

Project results

MMM comprises an EU-supported project that focuses on determining the pedagogical and the learning-teaching relationship between small children and educators in the classroom environment. The aim is to strengthen skills and competencies in correlation with EU priorities for 2003-2004 with regards to new forms of learning and teaching, and fundamental competencies in education.

The educational program is an experimental development project which places the mutual impact of theory and computer-supported learning practice at its centre. According to plan, the project is set to continuously expand and strives to collect and disseminate effective teaching practice among communities of educators dealing with other forms of learning and education. The project aims to outline strategies applied by both students and teachers within the teaching-learning process based on cooperation and communication between school communities.

Results achieved:

• Information about the project initiative has reached a wide range of kindergarten and primary school teachers – the key players – making it possible for them to join in its development.
• Information on creative learning-teaching techniques in the school environment is now easily accessible in several languages (including Hungarian).
• Hungarian school sponsors, education government and the EU are now prepared to offer increased support for the development of computer-assisted learning techniques (e.g. the SULINET program for primary schools in Hungary).

The project-method applies empirical research focused on learning-teaching among small children. All of the partner institutions involved participate as models for case studies while the actual work takes place in the classroom environment. We observe and study the teaching methods used at each institution and either reinforce or supplement these with the best and most effective solutions from our own practice. Common seminars, lectures and web-sites provide a forum for partners and other interested parties to exchange ideas (e.g. the web-site for the Children's Informatics Workshop at OKI is now under development – www.oki.hu/gyermekinformatika )

The project provides for the well-balanced development of integrated theory and practical methodology in the interest of achieving the best results. The web-site listed above will also give access to information on project-development.

The project-method focuses on the development of key competencies rather than traditional “curricula/teaching material”. Activity-centred learning comprises lifelike tasks separated into specific units based on the personal interests of a given student. The tasks are then solved independently as appropriate for each student's individual rate of development.

References

1. Farkas, Károly – Kőrös-Mikis, Márta: Play the Turtle! [Játszd el a teknőcöt!] Grades1.-2. Handbook for primary school teachers of informatics. Pest County Pedagogical Institute, 1989. (3^rd edition: Pest County Pedagogical Service Bureau, 1993.)
2. Papert, Seymour: Mindstorm [Észrengés]. The secret of children's thinking. SZÁMALK, Budapest. 1988.
3. Pedagogical Lexicon. Keraban Publishing, Budapest, 1997. (Ed.: Falus I., Báthory Z.) Vol. I. p. 231: Concerning the Cohen approach – “an experimental pedagogical approach currently under development by Prof. Rachel Cohen of France; the main aim is to develop skills among children, to decrease failure in school and to eliminate illiteracy and 'schools of the future'. The IEDPE is also supported by the EU.”
4. Fairytale World software, version 3.0. Informatics and School Foundation [I&I Informatika és Iskola Alapítvány], Budapest, 2003. (e-mail: ietialap_[at]_chello.hu)
5. Németh, Zoltán: About the Fairytale World software. School Culture [Iskolakultúra], Vol. IV. No. 5. 1994. pp. 78-80.
6. MMM web-site: http://www.mmm- ec.org/, – Hungarian introduction on OKI home-page: http://www.oki.hu/cikk.php?kod=informatika-Korosne- MMM.html
7. Informatics in Childhood Conference, sponsored by OKI: http://www.oki.hu/cikk.asp?Kod=hirek-korosne-informatika- 02.html
8. The Hungarian coordinator for the MMM project: Dr. Márta Kőrös-Mikis, research scholar, OKI, e-mail: korosnem_[at]_oki.hu