A team of Cal State Northridge computer science students are spending Saturday, Oct. 5, helping Discovery parents learn how to use a computer so they can monitor their child's progress at the school, including their homework.

"When parents ask 'What did you do in school today?' the answer can no longer be 'Nothing,'" said Maureen Rubin, director of CSUN's Center for Community-Service Learning, which is coordinating the special training session. "Our students will help parents become comfortable with computer technology so they can learn what their children are doing every day."

The lessons will start at 9 a.m. in Building D of Discovery Charter Preparatory School at 12550 Van Nuys Blvd., behind the United Methodist Church in Pacoima. The special training session is expected to last all morning.

When Discovery Charter Preparatory School in Pacoima opened this semester, each of its 104 students was given a laptop computer to supplement class curriculum and take home for homework at night.

The school also established a Web site where parents check on their child's academic progress and get daily behavioral reports as well as school announcements and homework assignments.

"The problem was, many of the parents didn't know how to use a computer," Rubin said. "That's where our students come in."

Students from one of computer science professor Gloria Melara's classes will spend Saturday giving the Discovery parents and their children lessons in how to use the computer.

Melara said she hopes the lessons will not only familiarize the students and parents with computers, but also deepen their appreciation for how computers can be great educational tools in the community.

Rubin said Matthew Macarah, Discovery's executive director, borrowed $60,000 so that the children in the program, most of whom come from low-income families, would have access to a computer 24-hours a day. When they graduate they will be able to purchase the laptops for $1.

Launched in 1998, CSUN's Center for Community-Service Learning aims to inspire, encourage and support students and faculty in their pursuit of academic excellence through involvement in meaningful community service.

For more information about the Center for Community-Service Learning, call (818) 677-7395.

California State University, Northridge has more than 32,500 full- and part-time students and offers 59 bachelor's and 41 master's degrees as well as 28 education credential programs. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the third largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges recently said CSUN "stands as a model to other public urban institutions of higher education."