Numerous studies have shown lecturing to be the least effective teaching methodology, yet it's the predominent method used in schools today (at least above grade 5 or so). Most of the technologies used in super-teaching have been studied and shown to be effective independently. Based upon those studies and some anecdotal evidence where it has been used, retention is expected to improve 100%-200%. No one has yet studied combining all those aspects in one classroom, but that study is getting underway now.
If someone doesn't develope the curriculum (perhaps the existing textbook publishers?), then this will be nothing significant. However, if someone does develope good materials for this system for a variety of classes, then I think it will make a huge difference. The system is not for all classes, lecture style courses such as math, history, languages, geography, and social studies/government are the courses that will benefit most. Science courses may benefit too, but they still need labs for hands on work. Art, music, drama, shop, home economics, computer labs, and other classes would probably see less benefit from this type of classroom, although I can think of ways they could benefit from occasional use since most of those include at least some lecture portion. One of the biggest advantages to the teachers is the ability to give quizes that the students answer privately using a controller in their desks. The teacher can see what percentage of students got it right and which specific ones got it wrong. This gives him/her feedback so he/she can review the material where appropriate, or continue on and work with the specific students who didn't get it later. Obviously, that benefits the students as well. The private nature of the answers takes peer pressure, fear of giving the wrong answer, fear of looking 'stupid' out of the picture since only the teacher knows who answered correctly. It does not decrease student/teacher interaction, the multi-media stuff is used to supplement the teacher's presentation, not replace it. One of the things it can offer is interaction between classes, even in other states or countries (obviously time zone issues must be dealt with). What would a geography, social studies, or foreign language lesson be like if you had the opportunity to occasionally speak with students in the state/country you are studying? I don't think this should replace computer labs in schools, but (if good super-teaching curriculum becomes available) I think that some of the budget currently allocated to computers should be transferred to this technology. Pricing is probably negotiable and would likely decrease significantly with volume production. These systems have an expected life of 15-20 years, far longer than the useful life of most computers and on par with the useful life of textbooks. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Byron Q. Desnoyers Winmill" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Apple2list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 05:35 PM Subject: Re: Computers in school (was: Apple IIc +(color monitor?)) > On Fri, Oct 22, 2004 at 12:44:47PM -0500, Geoff Strickler wrote: > > It's the software, stupid. > > > > I've been a proponent of using computers in the classroom for years and I > > still am, but I'm also jaded by the realities of how they've been > > (mis-)used. I've recently experienced what I believe is the next great step > > in education. SuperTeaching (http://www.superteaching.org). > > It's a multi-media classroom that brings together a lot of different > > elements that have been individually shown to improve attention > > span, retention, learning speed, etc. > > I went through about half of the materials on the website before > giving up. Perhaps they are bad at retaining audiences who aren't > held captive. ;-) > > On a serious note: I've seen a lot of technology in the classroom > in my days as a student, and guess what? Usually the stuff goes > unused. This includes gizmos like video disc players, which were > only ever used in one unit of one course; computers which sat in > the back of classrooms unused, because teachers had no way to use > them except as incentives for students to get their work done. I > even remember science labs with Apple II computers and gizmos to > register the speed and temperature of things, which were used once > or twice a year, even though an old fashioned thermometer and stop > watch would be just as effective and much cheaper. The problem > with technology in the classroom is the novelty factor: they will > work for a small number of students who are interested in something > because it is new. As soon as the system is widely deployed and > used all of the time, it looses it's effectiveness. That is the > problem with entertaining students rather than teaching them. > > Is "SuperTeaching" going to be any different? I highly doubt it. > As far as I could see, the intent of the system is to throw as much > multimedia content at kids to prevent their minds from wandering. > If it works now, and the site didn't point to any independent > studies as far as I could see, it is because it is a novelty. Just > like televisions were once novelties. And just like producing > material for television is hard, producing material for this system > is going to be hard. I'm willing to bet that systems which are in > use, five years down the road, will be as glorified projectors for > PowerPoint presentations. Furthermore, the system is expensive to > setup. They are talking about $150,000 for one classroom. Assuming > largish classes of 30 students at five classes per day, you would > be able to handle 150 students at a time. Assuming that the system > lasts for 10 years without maintainance, that is $100 per student > per year. If you wanted to use the system for all of the student's > courses, that would be about $500 per student per year. That > amounts to about 5% to 10% of a school's budget for a student. It > doesn't increase the student-teacher interaction either. It is > also a safe bet that maintainance costs will be sky high too. > Those projectors are not cheap, and complex combinations of technology > are susceptible to failure. > > Let's go back to that study thingy: you need to do research in > order to prove something works. This company doesn't present a > study on their website, meerly a proposal for a study. This is > inspite of claims that it improves results for a certain class of > students, and it has been approved for federal funding because of > that. Schools are required to turn over test data (uh, shouldn't > this be a privacy issue) in order for the company to try to prove > that it works down the road. Is it just me, or does this send > mixed messages? On top of that, they expect to use the classroom > as a showroom during classes. The fact that the company claims to > be a non-profit doesn't inspire confidence when they are tied to > a number of organisations which may or may not be. On top of that, > the cited costs do cover full installation. > > But why should I complain? I was one of those students using > otherwise untouched Apple II's all those years ago. > > 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? 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