02/23/19 A NET SCHOOL FOR OLYMPICS COUCH POTATOES

A NET SCHOOL FOR OLYMPICS COUCH POTATOES

ARE SKIERS AERODYNAMIC? How do skaters maintain their balance? These are some questions kids--and quite a few adults--think of as they watch the Nagano Winter Olympics. Answering such puzzlers is the aim of a Web site designed by PBS, with help from IBM and CBS, that uses the Olympics to teach math, science, and social studies concepts to students, grades 4 through 8. PBS Cyber School (www.ibm.pbscyber school.org) offers more than 80 interactive challenges centered on figure skating, skiing, and snowboarding. Students reason through problems and, guided to sites including that of National Geographic, find the answers. Cyber School shows the promise of computer learning, but also its irritations. Some online resources needed for problem-solving are frustratingly slow or contain ads. Still, it's better than just vegging out in front of the tube.
By Steven V. Brull
EDITED BY HEATHER GREEN