Deasy School's tech hub for the really young

The room is called Discovery Cove, and it's outfitted with the latest in educational technology: Smart Boards, a Smart Table, a document camera, a TV studio using a TriCaster portable production system, mini-PCs, digital cameras and touch-screen computers.

Its clientele: Kids like Mark LaRocca, in prekindergarten.

Discovery Cove was launched in September in the Katherine A. Deasy Elementary School in Glen Cove, for students in pre-K through second grade.

And Mark, 4, was ready. His mother, Janice, says he already can navigate a laptop and pinpoint his neighborhood using Google Earth.

"Education needs to move forward as technology moves forward," she said.

The new space also has traditional learning tools - puppet theater, tree house, LEGO table, blocks, chalkboard, books - to complement such innovations as the Smart Table, an interactive, multi-user, multi-touch device that encourages students to solve problems, think critically and work together.

"This tool is designed with puzzles, games and learning experiences built in, but also has the flexibility of allowing teachers to design their own content," said Shari Camhi, Glen Cove's assistant superintendent for curriculum. "The early years learning environment should be about hands-on exploration where children inquire and investigate through play, and in effect, create knowledge and learn . . . Technology is one way to promote this kind of learning."

Students have scheduled times in the center, located in the school's lower level in what used to be a junk room that held old desks and other outdated equipment. Discovery Cove was paid for through state and federal grants; no taxpayer money was used, Camhi said. Some items were donated.

Second-grader Gabby Callahan likes to play dress-up and puppets, but she also completes puzzles with the touch of her fingers on the Smart Table.

"You can do anything you want in there," she said. "It's fun to do."