(on Sun, 20 Jan 2002 21:55:15 -0600) Eva Young <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yesterday's paper has an interesting oped about Computers in Schools: > > Every school budget is finite. So is every school day. When schools add > computer instruction, they do so by cutting something demonstrably > beneficial to young children.
Eva, thanks for the quotes from the article. I think it is important to
point out that this was *not* a StarTribune editorial but a piece written
by Heather Martens and Madalyn Cioci.
And for what its worth, I think they are completely 100% wrong. The
Minneapolis schools have huge problems with basic discipline and
attendance-- and bickering about computer labs is the least of our
concerns. All the DARE nonsense and moral propaganda in the form of "peace
makers" programs hasn't done and isn't likely to do ANY good. Cut that
first. Then look at combining music and gym to have more dance and
theater-- which can be combined with art by having kids make sets, masks,
etc.
And frankly, in a society where computers have achieved some measure of
prominence as a tool and where computer professionals are decently
compensated (and seem likely to continue to be well paid), taking
computers out of the Minneapolis Public Schools is to guarantee that so
many of the state's children most in need of a push will simply be left
behind as their suburban counterparts continue to have wide access to
computers. I'm guessing that even if suburban children don't spend much
time on computers at school, they are more likely to have one at home.
These people want to handicap Minneapolis' kids (thankfully they can't
harm mine, she has a computer of her own at home). To take away a valuable
tool for practicing basic skills and for research and for writing is to
degrade the quality of education for those children.
Are computers being used to help drill spelling or arithmetic? They can
provide accuracy and timing that no human can match. The internet is the
biggest library in the world. I understand that penmanship is important,
but why do writing exercises by hand? Is the point to be able to form
letters or to learn to compose stories and essays? There is a reason most
professional writers use computers these days, they vastly aid
composition. Finally, you can't use a computer if you can't read (although
some operating systems seem to be doing their best to eliminate that
necessity)... using a computer is reading practice! Forget taking the
computers out, are we even using them fully yet?
-- Michael Libby, over North.
______Michael_C_Libby__{_x_(at)_ichimunki_(dot)_com_}______
| "even monkeys fall from trees" : "saru mo ki kara ochiru" |
| public key at http://www.ichimunki.com/public.key |
|_Fingerprint: D946FE20 79EE2109 161BFAFB E02956F4 A330AA73_|
msg07351/pgp00000.pgp
Description: PGP signature
