ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
ALAN RA is the youngest member in a class in computers and the Internet in Roanoke's summer honors program for gifted and talented elementary and middle school students.
Alan Ra likes baseball, computers and geography.
His favorite teams are the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
He has two brothers, Stephen and Christopher, but no pets.
Alan goes to Community School, a private school in Roanoke County. He's going to take up soccer this fall.
His parents come from Seoul, Korea. His dad teaches political science at Hollins College.
Alan is only 8, but he's already learned how to create his own home page for the Internet. He has filled it with information about himself.
He's the youngest member in a class in computers and the Internet in Roanoke's summer honors program for gifted and talented children in elementary and middle schools.
This summer, Alan and the other children in the class have created their own home pages under the guidance of teacher Joe Salmon. The home pages have not been put on the Internet, but the children have learned how to make them.
"My goal is to help them learn how to use the Internet as a research tool," Salmon said. "I want the children to see how the Internet can help them in school. Hopefully this will give them an edge in technology."
Each day, Salmon asks the children to research a different subject, ranging from algebra to World War II, from Thomas Jefferson to squids.
The class has also researched current events on the Internet. On the day after the crash of the TWA flight off the New York coast, the children used the Internet to get more information on the downed airplane.
"They went in on The Roanoke Times and CNN's home pages and got the latest update on the crash," Salmon said. "They've learned how you can use the Internet to get current information."
Salmon, who is working on a master's degree in instructional technology at Virginia Tech, tried to show the students how they can better use computers in their courses.
Samantha Rackow, a sixth-grader at Northside Middle School in Roanoke County, said she's been interested in computers since she was in kindergarten.
When Rackow was in the fifth grade, she wrote a science report on food starch and said she did most of her research on the Internet.
Charles Starkey, coordinator of the summer program, said most of the students are very knowledgeable about computers.
"I know adults at Virginia Tech who are challenged [when asked] to create a home page," said Starkey.
Starkey, who has overseen the summer classes for two years, will teach courses in reading and the gifted child at Bloomsburg University north of Harrisburg, Pa., this fall.
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