Enough already with the Luddite schools

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I think middle school is better for tech than primary.

I would rather see hand written reports up to and including 4th grade. Technology is great but so far cognitive scientists have not created a device that rivals the human brain. If you don't develop all aspects of your brain, you may find you rely to much on other crutches. If Google is only a mouse click away, how much critical thinking and problem solving skills to you think a child will really learn. I totally agree that in the grown up world people don't hand write things and they do use e-presentation. However I think it would be great to develop some of the basics of human thought first before using the tools.
I had a calculus teacher that would not allow the use of a calculator on their tests, classes or homework (you had to show every step of the calculation so you could sort of cheat but you had to write the answer out anyway). When challenged about this, the teacher responded with this little bit of info, "I am not really trying to teach you just how to perform calculus, I am trying to teach you how to think, reason, be critical of the world around you, and give you an understanding of the world outside of the tools that we do use."
I worry that as a society we will crank out generations of students that just google what they don't know instead of trying to figure it out for themselves.

I also had a physics teacher that told me most physics is modeled in a computer but most physics learned when doing other things.

Also schools should be sensitive to the non-visual learners.I am a tactile learner. Showing me a slide of something is useless.I need to do it for myself or see it performed step by step in front of me. Most of my education has been in laboratory work, on the job learning, and other mentoring.
Some students are audio learners so giving them a lab is pointless, showing them a slide is pointless, you need to talk to them and explain to them what is going on.

Posted by: mr1972   Posted on: 11/03/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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