Pereslavl Summer Computer School is more virtual nowadays

Valery Rudenko
Galina Guzilova

Abstract

The paper presents the educational projects designed to bring WWW technology into the Computer Summer School in Pereslavl-Zalessky. In summer season 1995 we organized two special ecological sessions which were precisely reflected in html-documents. This approach help us to reconstruct learning process, make it more sharply defined. Based on these results we now setting up hypermedia line of the Computer Summer School from 1986 to the future.

Introduction

The first Children Computer Camp in Pereslavl-Zalessky was organized in 1986 on the initiative of academician Velikhov and director of Program Systems Institute Prof. Ajlamazyan as a response to the need of new methods of introducing computers to children. Being one of the first in the Russia, the computer camp represented new attitude of young scientists to education and bringing up of children. It was often called Summer Computer School, and was a school of new: new in its structure, field of education, diversity of forms of teaching and learning, new relations between teachers and students. Since 1986 there were held more then twenty Computer Camps (two of them were held during winter vacations). Starting with 1987 this camp is an international camp.

Since 1988 the camp is participating in the project "Associated UNESCO schools". Ten years of camp activity have as the result more then 2500 participants aged from 7 to 16. Many of them were invited several times as students and then as assistants and some of them as teachers. Children have been from various regions of the Russia, from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, West Germany and USA (Cupertino, Indianapolis, "New England Experience" Camp). From the very beginning of the Computer school we have try to create new learning environment encourage students to learn in more productive way. But the WWW technology is the first we have try to based the reflection of whole summer school activity.

Virtual reflection of the school programs

First Summer Computer School session with WWW reflection was organized on the territory of ICCC near Pereslavl-Zalessky. During the session all school departments created open-ended html-documents about their activity. These documents were very helpful for everybody in the summer school: The results of the educational program of the session is outlined below: http://iccc.botik.ru/ICCC/July95/

Department of Ecology

The department of Biology and Ecology is working on the project "Description of Ecological Trails in the Urochishche Kukhmap Nature Preserve." The children act as trailblazers -- they decide themselves where to put the trails. They study the surroundings of the camp and decide where to place the main observation points of the trails, and then make an illustrated discription of the trails.

Telecommunication Center

Russian-Japanese Telecommunication Project "Rainbow Bridge in Summer-95". This is the third year of the project "Rainbow Bridge in Summer" which links the students of the International Computer Camp-School (Pereslavl-Zalessky) and the students of Shimizu International Junior High School (Japan). This project was made possible on the Japanese side by the generous support of Apicnet. In Russia, the project was backed by the Programs Systems Institute (Pereslavl-Zalessky).

Lego-Logo Center

In the Logo-Lego Department the teachers introduce educational ideas with help of Logo (on the computer) and Lego Dacta (building materials). On the one hand, they are studying Logo and Lego in order to understand technology, and on the other hand to create worlds of our own, and to understand all of the complications that this task demands. Therefore, the projects include aspects of history, art, and literature.

Psychological Center

The main idea of the project is to teach students to analyze the draw ""Nonexistent animal" and after it to understand:"Is knowledge is so big power that it can change our behaviour?"

Architecture and Landscape Design

The department of landscape design provided the children with an opportunity to learn about the history of garden and park design. During the camp our students will participate in the following projects:

The Ecological Theater

The main idea of the Ecological Theater this season is to create different versions of an "ecological" fairy tale: "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". During the camp we will present: Second Summer Computer School session with WWW reflection was organized on the territory of Pustyn biostation near Nizhny Novgorod. Second school accepted heritage of the first. The outline of the educational program of the session is following: Department of the Hydrobiology, Department of Plants, General Genetics Lecture Hall, Project 10, Lego-Logo Center, Medicine and Sexology, English Club, The Ecological Theater. We began to build a virtual spation model of Pustyn's school on the with the help of different media - texts, drawings, photos. On the both schools the results of students work were reserved on the school Web (http://u-pereslavl.botik.ru/UP/pustyn/).

Hypermedia historical line of school development

We believe that WWW media is very promising way to reserve and share educational heritage. That is why we have organized special WWW site which present ten years history of the Pereslavl Summer Computer School. This WEB-site location is : http://u-pereslavl.botik.ru/uchcom/. There is information not only about Pereslavl summer schools but about summer schools in another regions.

Information about the authors:

Valery Rudenko is a senior scientific researcher in the University of Pereslavl
Galina Guzilova is a scientific researcher in the University of Pereslavl