[Vision2020] Survivor: The Classroom Version

Art Deco deco at moscow.com
Mon Apr 4 16:04:02 PDT 2011


See, for example:

http://trendstasteandtravel.com/9232/laptop-and-tablet-pc-to-be-elected/

While no one can predict with certainty what will happen in the tech word, the trend is clearly towards tablets.  Coming improvements will make typing much easier, voice commands will also add to their ease-of-use attraction, as will glassesless 3-D.

Part of the point is that the expectation is that students will use laptops.  Some probably will, but peer pressure, wanna-be-like desires, and the sexiness of tablets as opposed to the nerdiness of laptops can be counted on to make this experiment much less successful than Luna and his political sheep have claimed.

In the early seventies, I worked for Honeywell which marketed time-sharing services to schools.  It was very successful, but this service was used mainly so that students could learn to program.  The educational software available then, just like a lot of the educational software now, sucked.  The designers of this software, then and now, failed to understand, among other things, the precepts found in The Analysis of Behavior by B. F. Skinner.

w.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Paul Rumelhart 
  To: Art Deco ; Vision 2020 
  Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 1:47 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Survivor: The Classroom Version


  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

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                   http://www.fsr.net                       
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