Planning, Producing, And Reporting A Computer Fair In a Local Community

• Main Author: Cortese, Joanne G.
• Published: NSUWorks 1990
• Subjects: Computer Sciences
• Online Access: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/464

To increase the level of computer awareness in southwestern Montana by planning, producing, and reporting a Computer Fair constituted the goal of this project. Interest in both computer usage and computer purchase increases in local business, but availability and usage of computers in area schools continues to be inadequate with only some hope of positive change in the near future. This problem motivated the planning and producing of this Computer Fair. This Computer Fair, "High Tech in the Treasure state," increased exposure to the availability, application, and use of current computerization within southwestern Montana, its primary goal. Thirty-five staffed exhibits and 30 static exhibits provided opportunities for information and interaction for 1500 visitors. With this increased exposure, the public, essentially students of all ages, became the beneficiaries of technological enrichment to the extent that 98% of attendees expressed satisfaction with their attendance at the Fair, and more than 30% expressed interest in new or additional computer purchases. At least 40% of adult attendees learned 3-5 uses of computers with which they had been unfamiliar, and 75% of children attendees learned 3 or more uses of computers with which they had been unfamiliar. In addition, preparation of a "how-to" guidebook for the presentation of future computer expositions will contribute to the advancement of both the body of educational knowledge and the proliferation of appropriate computer technology with ensuing repetition of the Fair. As a result of the success of "High Tech in the Treasure state," the essential recommendation suggests the replication of this Computer Fair as a viable, worthwhile, educational activity to increase public awareness of technological change.