[Vision2020] Survivor: The Classroom Version
Paul Rumelhart
godshatter at yahoo.com
Mon Apr 4 13:47:43 PDT 2011
While I can't argue that students may find the tablet sexier than the laptop, I
hope it's not true that tablets are on the way in and laptops are on their way
out. It's not a zero-sum game; each tool has it's own place. Tablets are great
for surfing the web while you are commuting to work or for watching videos and
whatnot, but they suck when you have to write a 20 page term paper. Laptops are
by far less portable than tablets (even the smaller netbooks), but their
strength is being a full-fledged PC with an interface that will remain seriously
unmatched for the near to mid future (the keyboard). If you bring a USB mouse
with you, they are very hard to beat as far as input is concerned for a portable
device. While you can more than likely connect a bluetooth keyboard to your
tablet, you've just thrown away it's great strength (it's portability). Small
roll-up keyboards or keyboards on the touch-sensitive surface will never (in my
opinion) compete with a spring-loaded keyboard for ease of typing.
Paul
________________________________
From: Art Deco <deco at moscow.com>
To: Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Mon, April 4, 2011 1:04:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Survivor: The Classroom Version
Sue,
There is another aspect to consider:
If you give 500 students laptops, how many will be lost, stolen, or damaged
during the time (now 4 years) the student is assigned to be using them? How
does the present legislation deal with this problem?
If you Google laptop vs. tablet, it is clear that laptops are on their way out,
and tablets are on the way in. What educational software will work on both
tablets and laptops? One current problem is that most tablets do not have
enough disc storage which means that students' work will be stored in the cloud
with the attendant problems therein; most laptops lack the sexy interface of
tablets.
Many students will want the sexiness and ease-of-use of a tablet, not a clunky
laptop which will be considered unacceptably nerdish.
Technology moves fast. To give someone a technical device today and to expect
it to be usable and liked for 4 years is asking a lot, especially from young
people who are attracted by the newest technology and gadgetry, but turned off
by the passé.
I am not against the use of computers as an aid to education. I think there is
huge potential here. But the Luna plan fails to understand the user reality of
young people; and it also fails to recognize different learning styles which
for some will make learning by computer a difficult task. But this is Idaho
where ignorance and arrogance define many politicians.
Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID 83843
waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975
----- Original Message -----
>From: Sue Hovey
>To: Tom Hansen ; Moscow Vision 2020
>Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 12:40 PM
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Survivor: The Classroom Version
>
>There is significant art to teaching, but there is much science, as well.
>Were that not true, teachers really wouldn't need all the education our
>profession insists we have: knowledge of how children learn, content
>knowledge in the subjects we teach, new research in adolescent brain
>development (at some point their ability to reason really does overtake
>their hormone level--sometimes it can be as late as age 50, but it usually
>happens,) strategies for working with new English learners, all those pieces
>of knowledge and much, much more. The art is knowing when to use them.
>
>Just a foretaste of what is to come: I have already written 5 letters of
>recommendation for outstanding teachers in Idaho who see the writing on the
>wall and are seeking jobs out of state, another has been notified she has
>been hired in Alaska, two more have lost their jobs for next year because of
>loss of state funding. And the Legislature, the governor, and Tom Luna are
>still plotting. Just imagine how happy next year's teachers will be with
>their snazzy new state-provided computer they don't need or want--I don't
>know a teacher who doesn't already have a personal computer; and the
>classroom next door empty because the teacher has been replaced with that
>new piece of junk that doesn't do what it should because the Internet hookup
>hasn't been installed. Oh happy day!!!
>
>Sue H
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tom Hansen
>Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 8:52 AM
>To: Moscow Vision 2020
>Subject: [Vision2020] Survivor: The Classroom Version
>
>I would like to preface this posting with a reference to a comment made by
>one our state legislators, whose name escapes me, at last Friday's House
>debate on Senate Bill 1184 (The "Luna Plan, Part 3") . . .
>
>"Teaching is not a science. It is an art."
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
>
>Survivor: The Classroom Version
>
>Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show? Three businessmen
>and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom
>for one school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of
>his/her school district's curriculum and a class of 20-25 students.
>
>Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three
>with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Two
>students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.
>
>Each business person must complete lesson plans at least three days in
>advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives, and modify, organize,
>or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach
>students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance,
>write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades,
>complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and
>arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between
>class changes to monitor the hallways.
>
>In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and "Code
>Red" drills for shooting attacks each month.
>
>They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum
>development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and
>strive to get their two non-English speaking children proficient enough to
>take the SOLS tests. If they are sick or having a bad day, they must not
>let it show.
>
>Each day they must incorporate reading, language arts, math, science, and
>social studies into the program, plus teach their own required physical
>education, music, and art. They must maintain discipline and provide an
>educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times.
>If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, or if they do
>poorly on numerous standardized tests (on which their "merit pay" salary
>will be determined), the teacher will be held responsible.
>
>The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the
>weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it.
>There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and
>lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of
>their work day and may include playground responsibilities. The business
>people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another
>survival candidate can supervise their class.
>
>If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials
>before or after school, only. However, they cannot surpass their monthly
>limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their
>education, working toward an advanced degree, at their expense and on
>their own time.
>
>The winner of this season of this "Survivor" will be allowed to return to
>his/her cushy business world job.
>
>Pass this to your friends who think teaching is easy and to the ones that
>know it is hard.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
>
>Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
>Tom Hansen
>Moscow, Idaho
>
>“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior
>teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
>
>- William Arthur Ward, American Scholar
>
>
>
>“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll
>understand.”
>
>- Chinese Proverb
>
>
>
>“More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of
>teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given”
>
>- Bertrand Russell
>
>
>
>“The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his
>pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires
>them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer”
>
>- Alice Wellington Rawlings
>
>=======================================================
>List services made available by First Step Internet,
>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>=======================================================
>
>=======================================================
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>=======================================================
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