VOA慢速英语2009年-Education Report - Educational Technol

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A question from the West Bank: Zuheir Khlaif wants to know how American schools use educational technology.

There is not a simple answer. It depends on the subject and level of students, of course. But it also depends on the interest and training of the teachers, and the goals and budgets of the schools.

Schools are almost all connected to the Internet. But some have more technology, and use it more, than others. For example, some schools use computers for activities like video conferencing, to bring the world into the classroom.

Calculus¹ teacher Shane Costello uses a Smart Board to teach his class in Pinedale, Wyoming

And some classrooms are equipped with things like a Smart Board, a kind of interactive² whiteboard. Interactive whiteboards are large displays for presentations. They connect to a computer and can operate by touch. They can be used for documents or writing or to project video.

Some teachers are trying creative new ways to teach with devices like iPods and mobile phones. But educators say the most important thing, as always, is the content.

Yet technology can have special importance in some cases. Cosmobot is a therapy robot. It stands about half a meter tall and has a blue body and a friendly face with big eyes.

One child who works with it is six-year-old Kevin Fitzgerald. Kevin has developmental dyspraxia; he has difficulty moving his mouth and tongue.

He works with Carole Semango-Sprouse as he interacts³ with the Cosmobot during therapy for his condition. Here, he uses a set of buttons attached to a computer to make the silent robot move forward, backward or around in circles.

Carole Samango-Sprouse with Kevin Fitzgerald

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Say come!"

KEVIN: "Om here …"

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. Call him again! Come here!"

KEVIN: "Om ere … "

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Perfect! Say it again, Kev! Come here."

KEVIN: "Om ere."

CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. That's beautiful."

Kevin's mother thinks the robot has had a calming influence, helping⁴ her son get along better with his friends.

Cosmobot

Cosmobot was developed by AnthroTronix. Corinna Lathan started the company ten years ago to work with children with cerebral⁵ palsy, Down's syndrome⁶, autism and other developmental disabilities.

Children become friends with the robot, she says. That can have a big effect on their behavior, helping them work harder and longer in therapy sessions.

Corinna Lathan is currently⁷ working with a British company to develop other socially assistive robots. She says they are still considered research tools in the United States, and not used as much as in places like Britain and Japan. But she hopes to change that.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach with Julie Taboh. I'm Steve Ember.

 

1 calculus   

n.微积分；结石

参考例句：

• This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题，微积分一点也用不上。
• After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后，你们就能够解这些数学题了。

2 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

3 interacts   

v.相互作用[影响]，互相配合( interact的第三人称单数 )；交流；沟通；合作

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Antigen interacts with the surface of sensitized mast cells. 抗原与致敏的肥大细胞表面互相作用。 来自辞典例句

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

6 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

7 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。