Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:39:51 -0800 From: Garrett Cooper <youshi10@u.washington.edu> To: Kevin Kinsey <kdk@daleco.biz> Cc: Chuck Robey <chuckr@chuckr.org>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: One Laptop Per Child Message-ID: <4738AC07.7030307@u.washington.edu> In-Reply-To: <4738A9E6.30001@daleco.biz> References: <20071111195501.46d58539@p4> <200711120704.lAC744lR082341@banyan.cs.ait.ac.th> <4738A434.8020204@chuckr.org> <4738A9E6.30001@daleco.biz>
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Kevin Kinsey wrote: > Chuck Robey wrote: > >>>> I am usually not the one to bring up these things but I feel very >>>> strongly about this. Starting Monday, November 12 this website is >>>> offering a give one get one deal. I believe the money will be well >>>> invested. YMMV >>>> >>>> http://xogiving.org/ >>> >>> That is a difficult issue, while this is an opportunity, I doubt this >>> is the most needed thing to provide education. We are talking giving >>> laptop to people who do not even have electricity in some cases... >> >> You ought to actually _visit_ one or more of the schools that have >> practical computers for the kids. At least in my own experience, >> well, it's very disillusioning. The teachers have only a vague >> notion about what a compuiter is, so basically the students are given >> some games to waste their time with, and graded on how quiet they >> are while playing. The teachers themselves are usually actually >> frightened of the machines, so they react negatively to anyone who >> volunteers to teach computers. >> >> I wish it wasn't this way. Maybe it's just in the schools I visited? >> If so, anyone have a better experience? Until I hear of some, I >> won't contribute to any "computers for kids" deal, because it only >> benefits big computer companies, who sell the machines, not the kids. > > I'd say that it is possible your observations have clued you in on > a large problem. Of course, it's likely not that way everywhere, but > one result of a lack of teacher education re: computers is that people > tend to think that they are computer literate if they can handle an > office suite and use a pointy-clicky interface to build web "pages" > --- which explains a few things about the culture at large. > > Another problem is that use of the Internet for research in > writing papers, etc. often misses the crucial "old school" step > of actually writing notes based on the books your read before > you begin the paper. Recently I read a report by a 9th grader that > was composed mostly of direct quotes from Wikipedia, et al, with > no attribution whatsoever. "Copy n Paste" may work in elementary > art classes, but it's no good in academic research unless great > pains are taken to ensure understanding and proper attribution. > > And, this may be near the real heart of the issue. I don't think > that many school administrators feel that games, educational or not, > are the reason that schools should have computers. I think that, in > large extent, computers were added when some of them discovered that > the Internet could give you more volumes of information than the > school library, without leaving your seat or requiring a hall pass. > > And that is why teachers should be a little more geeky, perhaps. > Plugging a child's computer into the network without knowledgeable > and *personal* guidance will pretty much guarantee that most kids > end up on the baser end of the 'Net, rather than the best. And, > for the most part, teachers are no less busy than they were 10, > 20, or 30 years ago. > > My $.02, > > Kevin Kinsey Could you guys please redirect this discussion to chat@? Thanks... -Garrett
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