Almost a dozen faculty members of University Computing Services spent several weeks this summer helping Muncie youth learn to use numerous computer programs they might not otherwise have had the chance to use.
Todd Phelps, assistant director of computing operations and client support, organized the project with the Motivate Our Minds community center in Muncie.
Laura Petty, help desk coordinator of UCS, was one of the faculty members who worked on the project, teaching the children how to use painting programs and helping to teach the last class of the program, which was a review of everything the children had been taught.
"It was a really neat way for Ball State to interact with the community, and it would be also neat to see this continue and help additional children," Petty said.
Marchal Armstead, coordinator of UCS work force and project assessment, also said she hopes the program will continue in the future.
Petty readily accepted the challenge when Phelps first brought the program to the attention of the UCS faculty because she thought it would be fun to be a part of it.
Armstead said she also enjoyed working with the children and computers in such a wonderful environment.
A $600,000 renovation and a $50,000 donation from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation helped to create the lab and buy equipment used in the classes.
The program itself was set up in a way that was good for learning and will hopefully encourage the children to do more of their school work on computers because they can do better quality work than they could without the computer programs, Armstead said.
Both Armstead and Petty said the children really appeared to be learning and taking in all that was being presented to them. Many were even able to help fellow students with problems when the instructors were busy.
At the end of the session, the students were asked to show what they learned, and nearly all of them were able to use each of the programs just as fast as someone who had been using them for years, Armstead said.
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