XN000022-1983-07-28 — Page 9

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1983

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'PORTABLE COMPUTERS COMMON IN NEXT DECADE

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IT IS LIKELY THAT PORTABLE COMPUTERS WILL, WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE, BE AS COMMON AS HANDHELD CALCULATORS ARE RIGHT NOW, THE GOVERNMENT SCIENCE ADVISER, DR J.C. WRIGHT, SAID TODAY (THURSDAY).

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DR WRIGHT WAS SPEAKING AT THE OPENING OF THE MICROCOMP

MICROCOMPUTER EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE 1983 — AT THE

CITY HALL.

DR WRIGHT SAID MICROCOMPUTERS WERE BECOMING INCREASINGLY POPULAR BECAUSE THEY WERE +VERSATILE, HIGHLY EFFICIENT, RELATIVELY CHEAP AND ABOVE ALL TRANSPARENT' TO THE USER.+

+THIS TRANSPARENCY, OR EASY MENU APPROACH TO COMPUTERS IN ALMOST EVERYDAY LANGUAGE, HAS REINTERESTED THE VETERANS (LIKE ME :) AND INTRODUCED MILLIONS MORE PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY SCHOOL CHILDREN, STUDENTS AND YOUNG GRADUATES TO COMPUTERS FOR THE FIRST TIME WITHOUT THEM EVER EXPERIENCING THE DIFFICULTIES OF MACHINE OR MEDIUM LEVEL LANGUAGES,+ HE SAID.

ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MICROCOMPUTER MARKET IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, DR WRIGHT POINTED OUT, HAD BEEN THE INTRODUCTION OF MICROCOMPUTERS INTO SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATION.

+BEARING IN MIND THAT THIS IS THE IMPRESSIONABLE AGE GROUP WHERE IT IS PROBABLY MOST EFFICIENT TO INTRODUCE YOUNG PEOPLE TO COMPUTER SYSTEMS, THIS IS PROBABLY A USEFUL AND COST-EFFECTIVE THING TO DO, HE SAID.

DR WRIGHT SAID THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY OF EXPANDING COMPUTER FAMILIARISATION WAS THROUGH COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING.

THIS, HOWEVER, REQUIRED PLENTY OF SOPHISTICATED SOFTWARE AND VERY FEW SCHOOLS HAD STAFF OR SENIOR STUDENTS CAPABLE OF WRITING SOFTWARE THAT WAS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE, HE CONTINUED.

•IT FOLLOWS THAT SCHOOLS NEED ACCESS TO AN ADVISORY BODY OR A CENTRE THAT CAN MAINTAIN A LIBRARY OF SOFTWARE AND GENERAL INFORMATION ON COMPUTERS FOR SCHOOLS.

+ IT IS BETTER STILL IF THE CENTRE CAN DEVELOP AND LOCAL ISE CURRICULA THAT, IN TURN, DEVELOP COMPUTER AWARENESS AND RUN COURSES ON WAYS TO INSTRUCT CHILDREN ABOUT COMPUTERS, HE ADDED.

DR WRIGHT SAID THERE WAS A NEED FOR CAREFUL CHOICE AND EFFICIENT USE OF MICROCOMPUTERS AND HE PAID TRIBUTE TO THE ORGANISERS AND PARTICIPANTS OF MICROCOMP 83 FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO COMPUTER LITERACY IN HONG KONG.

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