On Mon, Mar 21, 2005 at 11:56:31PM -0500, Stephen Fisher wrote: > Here's an interesting twist on the new push for more computers in the > classroom. > > Here is another one along the same lines
>http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1206/p11s01-legn.html > >Headline: Contrarian finding: Computers are a drag on learning >Byline: G. Jeffrey MacDonald Correspondent of The Christian Science >Date: 12/06/2004 > >For all the schools and parents who have together invested billions to >give children a learning edge through the latest computer technology, a >mammoth new study by German researchers brings some sobering news: Too >much exposure to computers might spell trouble for the developing mind. [...] or a much longer piece by Todd Oppenheimer on "The Computer Delusion" in The Atlantic, which no longer is freely available on their website but can be found here: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0026.html Myself, I would be happy if my daughter didn't touch a computer in school until at least grade 6 or 7, perhaps later. My own personal rant is that with all the talk about computers in schools, there doesn't seem to be as much focus on modifying the elementary school math curriculum. If people are worried about their kids being ready for using computers, there's lots that can probably be done there. Like for instance introducing kids to the concept of recursion as young as possible, before their minds start to rot. Gather them around and make them play out the "Towers of Hanoi" problem (http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/towersOfHanoi.html and a million other sites on the web.). Or maybe spend some time on the sort of discrete math taught in college-level computer science courses (which doesn't require computers). It's more interesting than memorizing multiplication tables, and can be much more creative. The PENNlincs group at Penn's Institute for Research in Cognitive Science has done some work along these lines, and from the little I've heard it sounds great, although I really need to learn more. I'm also in favor of bringing back slide rules so that kids will have to learn how logarithms work. Seth ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
