"640KB ought to be enough for anybody." Jackman.
On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 14:15:24 -0500, Nord, Al <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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 > > -- 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
