A good article in today's national paper of record on how Idaho is requiring high school students to take 2 of their 47 required credits online. Much like NCLB, intent (whether pure or not) is divorced from reality; expectations from outcomes. Putting a laptop in every child's lap will not accomplish much, other than degrade handwriting and increase mouse skills. It does nothing for thinking, for sustained and concentrated observation and analysis, for helping a person digest, synthesize, and remember not just data, but information. This quote from a dedicated teacher sums it up best: I’m teaching them to think deeply, to think. A computer can’t do that.” Amen, sister, Amen.
if they take the calss at home online, we don't have to provide a translator, breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner.
Perham, you made a similar post recently and your apparent disdain for technology—a mere tool, an implement in this context—seems weird to me, and misplaced.
I don't know what my real objection is. I wish people would read more; I wish people would keep commonplace books; I wish people would support a university more for its academics than for its sports; I wish people would think more for themselves; I wish people could write better. The verdict is still out on the effectiveness of computer technology in the primary school system. The one laptop per child thing was a joke, imo. The main driver seems to be money - who cashes out by using which system/OS/etc. For work, for college (probably) computers can be a great help. I doubt it for the K-12 years. We've got apes at the zoo who can hold pencils better than some high school kids. The apes can probably write a better paragraph, too. It's pathetic. Introducing computers into the K-12 system does nothing to help the fundamental education process: how to think, how to write, how to assimilate, how to synthesize, how to remember, how to spend a long time in concentrated thought on a single subject. Distracted, how stupid are we... hey, those sound like good book titles.
Two online courses in the school years 9-12? That is a bad thing? How does that equate to a laptop for every child? If you really want to go to the technology bug a boo, why don't you look at "It Takes a Village", I made more money in the K-12 market over selling to that market all the technology to connect them to the world!!! It was one of the biggest frauds ever committed in this country, thanks Bill, Al and Hillary!!!!
What in the world is wrong with 2 out 47 credits online? For a guy that likes to think he is a big thinker, you don't seem to be able to look into the future much. There are LOTS of kids in high school that don't have access to computers at home. Obviously most of them do. But some don't. Usually the poorer kids. Those poorer kids are going to have to learn those computer skills to compete. It is the duty of the school to help them. I can't imagine why all schools dont do this. How many of those poorer kids can now learn how to utilize online universities? Maybe learn to get a college degree, mostly online, while they work? You can even get graduate degrees online. It won't be for everybody but it will certainly help the kids that need it the most. Depending on the job, there are a lot if instances where I would hire a person that was working during the day and getting a degree at night online versus the kid who gets to have the college experience.
It won't be for everybody but it will certainly help the kids that need it the most. Really? As opposed to tradition education? Reality seems to disagree. The number of students in virtual schools run by educational management organizations rose sharply last year, according to a new report being published Friday, and far fewer of them are proving proficient on standardized tests compared with their peers in other privately managed charter schools and in traditional public schools. On-line schools are a joke. Even more so when they are of the for-profit variety.
Only in Perham world would someone make a comparison between kids going to exclusively online schools and kids being asked to take 2 out of 47 credit hours online. And I was talking about college. Not every kid is going to be able to attend college in the traditional sense for a variety of reasons. If they can earn a college degree online they can improve their lot in life. Why would argue against teaching this skill to kids in high school so that they have the option of using it for college?
I would argue that there is nothing to teach about using a computer. You point and click. Most applications are fairly intuitive. You might gain something in 'comfort factor' by exposing them to computers but that is extremely limited in both its utility (every piece of software is different) and its assumed target (the VAST majority of kids already have exposure to technology, at the very least a mobile phone, which is likely to be the computer of the future). They are not 'afraid' of technology. They won't need tutorials to learn to point and click. It is a financial drain to try and provide this and it returns extremely limited benefits. The system does save money when it offloads the responsibility for education to the end user. If they can move the system to 25% of courses taken outside of classroom then they save that money. But it is has substantial shortcomings as a primary teaching mechanism, particularly for children. If you are truly a 'self-starter' and motivated type, you might have increased opportunity, but that's not really who we are talking about here.
I am as shocked as I can be that I agree with per on this subject. Please first can we teach kids basics in the old fashioned way? maybe grades k-3? learning to use a Puter takes what / 30 mins tops for a kid? using Old School methods to teach them to read and yes manually write will not hinder them when they use a puter. do people realize that many programs already give school kids on welfare computers? i suspect there are far fewer school kids with no computer access than one would think. There is a need for both but there is a greater need to help kids learn to think and be able to write manually on their own
Some kids are energized and excited by technology. Here is what some very talented Middle School students have to say on the subject. Technology is not holding them back.The Link
