<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt">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.<br><br>Paul<br><div><br></div><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><br><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Art Deco <deco@moscow.com><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Vision 2020 <vision2020@moscow.com><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Mon, April 4, 2011 1:04:53 PM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Vision2020] Survivor: The Classroom Version<br></font><br>
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<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">Sue,</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">There is another aspect to consider:</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">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?</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">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.</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">Many students will want the sexiness and
ease-of-use of a tablet, not a clunky laptop which will be considered
unacceptably nerdish. </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">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.</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">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.</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </div><font face="Verdana" size="2">
<div><br>Wayne A. Fox<br>1009 Karen Lane<br>PO Box 9421<br>Moscow, ID
83843</div>
<div> </div>
</font><div><font face="Verdana" size="2"><a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:waf@moscow.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</a><br>208
882-7975<br></font></div>
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<div style="FONT:10pt arial;">----- Original Message ----- </div>
<div style="FONT:10pt arial;BACKGROUND:#e4e4e4;"><b>From:</b>
<a rel="nofollow" title="suehovey@moscow.com" ymailto="mailto:suehovey@moscow.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:suehovey@moscow.com">Sue Hovey</a>
</div>
<div style="FONT:10pt arial;"><b>To:</b> <a rel="nofollow" title="thansen@moscow.com" ymailto="mailto:thansen@moscow.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">Tom Hansen</a> ; <a rel="nofollow" title="vision2020@moscow.com" ymailto="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Moscow Vision
2020</a> </div>
<div style="FONT:10pt arial;"><b>Sent:</b> Monday, April 04, 2011 12:40
PM</div>
<div style="FONT:10pt arial;"><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Vision2020] Survivor: The
Classroom Version</div>
<div><br></div>There is significant art to teaching, but there is much
science, as well. <br>Were that not true, teachers really wouldn't need all
the education our <br>profession insists we have: knowledge of how
children learn, content <br>knowledge in the subjects we teach, new research
in adolescent brain <br>development (at some point their ability to
reason really does overtake <br>their hormone level--sometimes it can be
as late as age 50, but it usually <br>happens,) strategies for working with
new English learners, all those pieces <br>of knowledge and much, much
more. The art is knowing when to use them.<br><br>Just a foretaste of
what is to come: I have already written 5 letters of <br>recommendation
for outstanding teachers in Idaho who see the writing on the <br>wall and are
seeking jobs out of state, another has been notified she has <br>been
hired in Alaska, two more have lost their jobs for next year because of
<br>loss of state funding. And the Legislature, the governor, and Tom
Luna are <br>still plotting. Just imagine how happy next year's teachers
will be with <br>their snazzy new state-provided computer they don't need or
want--I don't <br>know a teacher who doesn't already have a personal computer;
and the <br>classroom next door empty because the teacher has been replaced
with that <br>new piece of junk that doesn't do what it should because the
Internet hookup <br>hasn't been installed. Oh happy day!!!<br><br>Sue
H<br><br>-----Original Message----- <br>From: Tom Hansen<br>Sent: Monday,
April 04, 2011 8:52 AM<br>To: Moscow Vision 2020<br>Subject: [Vision2020]
Survivor: The Classroom Version<br><br>I would like to preface this posting
with a reference to a comment made by<br>one our state legislators, whose name
escapes me, at last Friday's House<br>debate on Senate Bill 1184 (The "Luna
Plan, Part 3") . . .<br><br>"Teaching is not a science. It is an
art."<br><br>-------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Survivor:
The Classroom Version<br><br>Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor"
show? Three businessmen<br>and three businesswomen will be dropped in an
elementary school classroom<br>for one school year. Each business person
will be provided with a copy of<br>his/her school district's curriculum and a
class of 20-25 students.<br><br>Each class will have a minimum of five
learning-disabled children, three<br>with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two
who speak limited English. Two<br>students will be labeled with severe
behavior problems.<br><br>Each business person must complete lesson plans at
least three days in<br>advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives,
and modify, organize,<br>or create their materials accordingly. They will be
required to teach<br>students, handle misconduct, implement technology,
document attendance,<br>write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin
boards, compute grades,<br>complete report cards, document benchmarks,
communicate with parents, and<br>arrange parent conferences. They must also
stand in their doorway between<br>class changes to monitor the
hallways.<br><br>In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills,
and "Code<br>Red" drills for shooting attacks each month.<br><br>They must
attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum<br>development
meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and<br>strive to get
their two non-English speaking children proficient enough to<br>take the SOLS
tests. If they are sick or having a bad day, they must not<br>let it
show.<br><br>Each day they must incorporate reading, language arts, math,
science, and<br>social studies into the program, plus teach their own required
physical<br>education, music, and art. They must maintain discipline and
provide an<br>educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at
all times.<br>If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, or if
they do<br>poorly on numerous standardized tests (on which their "merit pay"
salary<br>will be determined), the teacher will be held
responsible.<br><br>The business people will only have access to the public
golf course on the<br>weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be
able to afford it.<br>There will be no access to vendors who want to take them
out to lunch, and<br>lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not
counted as part of<br>their work day and may include playground
responsibilities. The business<br>people will be permitted to use a
student restroom, as long as another<br>survival candidate can supervise their
class.<br><br>If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary
materials<br>before or after school, only. However, they cannot surpass their
monthly<br>limit of copies. The business people must continually advance
their<br>education, working toward an advanced degree, at their expense and
on<br>their own time.<br><br>The winner of this season of this "Survivor" will
be allowed to return to<br>his/her cushy business world job.<br><br>Pass this
to your friends who think teaching is easy and to the ones that<br>know it is
hard.<br><br>-------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Seeya
round town, Moscow.<br><br>Tom Hansen<br>Moscow, Idaho<br><br>“The mediocre
teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior<br>teacher
demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”<br><br>- William Arthur Ward,
American Scholar<br><br><br><br>“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may
remember; involve me and I'll<br>understand.”<br><br>- Chinese
Proverb<br><br><br><br>“More important than the curriculum is the question of
the methods of<br>teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is
given”<br><br>- Bertrand Russell<br><br><br><br>“The test of a good teacher is
not how many questions he can ask his<br>pupils that they will answer readily,
but how many questions he inspires<br>them to ask him which he finds it hard
to answer”<br><br>- Alice Wellington
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