Hi: Let's not crticize the journalists either! The article with the headline about the study proving that laptops were ineffective was a letter written by Donna Garner, who is a teacher. After searching for a couple of minutes, I haven't turned up any trace of it being published anywhere. Ironically, she also writes the curriculum for www.mystudyhall.com. Bob Hirshon AAAS
>>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/26 12:22 am >>> Folks, Let's not criticize the Texas research, since it was the first year of a multi-year study with only partial implementation in the initial year. We all have great hopes that the study of technology immersion will yield useful information. We should give it a year or two. Historically, significant interventions -- technology, curriculum, pedagogy -- often result in lower test scores during their initial year, as teachers learn anew and change their standard practice. Let's go after the journalists who look for a story hook that will capture an audience, regardless of how much they misconstrue our findings. We, as researchers, have an obligation to work with journalists to help them find powerful hooks for complex and difficult stories. We need to simplify how we portray our research and clearly state our conclusions and methods, incorporating our qualifiers as we need to. We need to take our time, checking periodically for comprehension, offering to be available for further questions, and providing written summaries when possible. As someone who has been studying the use and impact of one-to-one laptop programs for the past ten years, I was disturbed by the reportage and the conclusions drawn by the reporter; and as someone who conducts evaluations of professional development for science journalists, I realize how much work is needed to prepare and inform those who will be presenting our findings to the general public. Most of the time, we're happy just to be mentioned -- and have our name spelled correctly. Saul ======================================================== Saul Rockman / Rockman Et Al [EMAIL PROTECTED] 49 Geary Street, Suite 530 San Francisco, CA 94108 ph (415) 544-0788 fax (415) 544-0789 www.rockman.com Cell: 415/407-7033 ======================================================== On Jul 23, 2006, at 12:27 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >I am not sure who decided upon the efficacy of the laptop study or who >thought of the headline, but I believe anyone familiar with the basic >tenets of science would have a good laugh at the idea that such a >study 'proves' anything. Even 'hard science' reearchers of a research >study for which one can have rigorous controls in place to account for >unforeseen variables would not use the word prove after one study. In >education, there are so many variables--unforeseen, unseen, >unrecognized, hidden, ideological, etc., that most of such research is >bogus. How about a study to see if students of well-paid teachers >performed 'better' than poorly-paid ones? You won't see such a study >because state legislatures don't want to pay teachers more money. > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
