A note from a tenth grade student ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: shantanu jha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Jul 28, 2006 11:12 PM Subject: Re: $14 Million Study Proves (???) Student LaptopsIneffectiveAcademically To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The fundamental problem with laptops and mathematics/science is that there is just not enough computer science taught today. It is impossible to be a mathematician or scientist these days without being heavily involved in the use of computer modeling. Every mathematician, scientist, and engineer will have to become fluent in the use of Mathematica, Maple, MATLAB, or some other computer algebra system, and this cannot be done without computer science. The links between mathematics and computer science are incredibly far-reaching as well, giving considerable pedagogical value to the use of computers in mathematics. For example, any given "for" or "while" loop we use is basically a finite induction process directly analogous to the method of inductive proof we use constantly in mathematics. Recursion, another oft used computer science technique, appears often when we deal with generating functions and recurrence relations - which, in turn, are two of the areas of mathematics that lend themselves best to analysis via computer science methods. I'll only comment briefly on reading. There is no good reason that one can't read as much with the use of a laptop and the internet than with a book. Give someone a laptop with internet access, and they have a key to an immense amount of online material. Whether it is reading the classics or reading a math textbook, there is almost always an online alternative that is cheaper than buying a book. Merely go to http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/ and search for any great work of literature and it shall be found. Of course, everything I said does not apply to the average student. However, for the student that enjoys the tools that laptops offer for academics, it is an invaluable tool. I think introducing technology into schools today suffers from much the same problem as U.S public schools do on a broader level - no matter what new and innovative teaching method you may have, the students that don't want to learn will not. While engaging the students with images and technology may help, the students have to meet you half way there.
At 2:01 PM -0400 7/23/06, John Thompson wrote: >"Reading and mathematics are probably the two areas where you would least >expect to find a positive impact on test scores." -- Why is that? > John We carried out research in 10 one-to-one laptop schools, and reviewed research from hundreds of others. Laptops are least frequently used in mathematics instruction. With rare use, there is little chance that they would help raise test scores. (Why they are rarely used in mathematics instruction is another question, but I guess that most teachers find the range of software and online resources for teaching math unhelpful, especially given the way most US math instruction is geared. One exception is Gometer's Sketchpad, but that is mostly used at the high school level, and the majority of one-to-one laptop programs are in middle schools.) As for reading, one major contributor to reading gains is extensive reading -- and that much more easily takes place from books, rather than the screen. Computer-based intensive reading tutorial programs are usually so mind-numbing that teachers and students fail to implement them well. There are of course some creative ways to use laptops to promote reading comprehension , yet much more common and frequent uses of laptops are to develop research skills, writing skills, data analysis skills, etc. And laptop use often takes place in classrooms that emphasize multimedia/multimodal literacy. None of this means that laptop use will hinder reading scores, but it's also unlikely that it will raise scores -- especially in the first year of implementation. Mark -- _________________________________ https://www.linkedin.com/in/satishjha
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