The sad problem with the teachers in the Superior Wisconsin School district was that most of them were trained and familiar with the Apple/Macintosh computers. These teachers still have not received additional training on the pee-cees. In one computer lab they got 20 pee-cees to replace over 50+ missing computers that were destroyed. Of the 20 brand new computers 4 of them were dead out of the box and it took over a month to get them repaired. This was ok because there was no educational software purchased to use on these computers. So the students continued to use the few Macintoshes that the Teacher had locked up before the school year ended. I am sure that today these 20 pee-cee computers are not getting used like the Apple computers they replaced were. One thing that disappointed me was that the Wisconsin bureau of prisons did not want any of the Apple keyboards or mice so the janitors had to fill and get the dumpster emptied 3 times to get rid of all of these useless keyboards and mice. A lot of these Apple computers were purchased with Federal money and the school district could not destroy them but nobody is holding them accountable for the waste of our tax dollars
-----Original Message----- From: Apple2list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Byron Q. Desnoyers Winmill Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 1:59 PM To: Apple2list Subject: Re: Computers in school (was: Apple IIc +(color monitor?)) On Thu, Oct 21, 2004 at 01:57:24PM +0800, Dale Hill wrote: > Our school has gone totally to the dark side, other than the two or > three Apple IIes with color monitors working in the 1st grade school > and kindergarten. I became disenchanted with computers in schools around my last year of high school, and it had nothing to do with their choice of platform (they simply moved from old PCs to new PCs). Around that point it became clear that computers were becoming status symbols, rather than tools to teach new skills. While I agree with another poster about schools dumping their investment in old software is stupid, particularly because it is the software that matters, you have to look at it from the perspective of the school board. If parents get wind that their kids are learning on twenty year old Apple IIe's when the equipment becomes obsolete in three to four years, they are going to be upset. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is the ease with which an application like AppleWorks can be thought of as obsolete in a world which uses the GUIified Word and Excel and (god forbid) PowerPoint. It doesn't matter whether classes which teach with AppleWorks focus on general skills, whereas the more modern labs would be used to teach Word (in particular), because that isn't what industry uses. Even in the more general case of educational software (ie. stuff designed to teach), you would be hard pressed to fight this notion that progress flows in one direction. For example, Raskin argued in a recent interview: The quest for CPU power has been largely defeated by bloated software in applications and operating systems. Some programs I wrote in Basic on an Apple II ran faster than when written in a modern language on a G4 Dual-processor Mac with hardware 1,000 times faster. (see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0%2C3605%2C1331536%2C00.html) In other words, modern technology doesn't necessarily offer better software. I would imagine that this is particularly true in education, seeming as advances depend upon a better understanding of human psychology than pushing bits around a machine. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who believe that educators must entertain students. IMHO, they are confusing entertain with maintaining the interest of. Of course, if the objective is to entertain, you are stuck with following each fad. This is because something which was effective at one point of time, because of its novelty, isn't necessarily going to be effective to the next batch of students, because it lost its novelty. Byron. -- Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com -- Apple2list is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... / Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \ / <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \ Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Apple2list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/apple2.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/apple2list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
