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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>We live in an age of great and accelerating
change. The availability of computer and media is changing and will
continue to change the way we do many things including education.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>In order to take advantage of what life now
offers in this country including education, not just computer literacy, but
adept computer skills are necessary.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>Many of us participate in and believe that life
long learning is an important pubic policy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>I think that in principle requiring high school
students to take two online courses which places the responsibility on the
student themselves is generally good public policy. Given the current
trends, such experience opens the door more widely for life long
education.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>However, I several concerns, here are
two:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>1. Not all online courses
are of the same quality. Some are garbage, fully of inaccurate information
and very poorly designed despite the hype that comes from their
producers/agents/political friends. Where there is a profit motive, there
will be a real chance that hyped up, marginal courses will be foisted on many
students by either corrupt and/or ignorant public officials. A little
Goggling will show the problems that have already occurred in this area, and
have plagued this area since the 1970s when online instruction via timesharing
became available.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>2. There are a lot of
elements that contribute to a quality, or even a mediocre education.
Individual help, encouragement, monitoring, care, and concern that comes from
good teachers are perhaps the most important of these. It is doubtful
that any online program can ever produce the effects of individual attention and
motivation that teachers provide. Teachers also are able to recognize
other problems such as child abuse, malnutrition, mental health problems,
etc that at this time computer programs are unable to. There is a
real danger, given the conservative swing in politics, that
ignorant/arrogant/corrupt public officials will sharply reduce the number and
the quality of teachers available in order to save a few bucks and to steer
business to cronies or experts at hype. The long range consequences of
this, in my opinion, would be disastrous.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>w.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title="mailto:areaman@moscow.com
CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="mailto:areaman@moscow.com">Dan Carscallen</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 15, 2011 10:06 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Task force tweaks education
reform</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Y’know,
Elk City is served by a state highway, and gets pretty regular service from the
ITD snow plows. I think it’s pretty rare that you *<B>can’t</B>* get
there.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Not
that I’m speaking for or against any of these education reforms, but sheesh, it
is a relatively accessible place. I think First Step has even made some
pretty good inroads to that area with high-speed and wireless service (they’re
everywhere!).<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Going
beyond Elk City, now you might be talking about some
difficulty.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">DC<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt">
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com] <B>On
Behalf Of </B>Tom Hansen<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:02
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Janesta<BR><B>Cc:</B> Moscow Vision 2020; Penni
Cyr<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Task force tweaks education
reform<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>And just who is going to respond to . .
.<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>"Hi. This is Mary Jones of Elk City. My son's
laptop is having problems and he is scheduled for an online class exam in a
couple days. How soon can you get somebody here to repair
it?"<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal> . . . in
FEBRUARY.<o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>Seeya round town, Moscow.<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>Moscow, Idaho<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>"If not us, who?<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>If not now, when?"<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>- Unknown<o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal><BR>On Dec 15, 2011, at 8:54 AM,
Janesta <<A href="mailto:janesta@gmail.com">janesta@gmail.com</A>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">
<DIV>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal>A friend told me years ago...
Back in the day... *laugh* not sure of the EXACT date, once a student in Elk
City became high school age, they would attend high school in Grangeville.
This would consist of finding a family to live with, then, going home on
weekends.<BR><BR>Computers would be great for students in Elk City.
<BR><BR>*thinking*<BR><BR>Hmmm.. I wonder if there is a regular connection
during winter?<BR><BR>Janesta<BR><BR><o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 6:43 PM, Tom Hansen <<A
href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">thansen@moscow.com</A>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>As Randy Newman would say, "It's all just a matter of . .
.<BR><BR>Political Science"<BR><A
href="http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/Political_Science.mp3">http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/Political_Science.mp3</A><BR><BR>Tom
Hansen<BR>Moscow, Idaho<BR><BR>"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the
Optimist expects it to change<BR>and the Realist adjusts his sails."<BR><BR>-
Author Unknown<o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<P
class=MsoNormal><BR>=======================================================<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet,<BR> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.<BR>
<A href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</A><BR>
mailto:<A
href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>=======================================================<o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>=======================================================<BR> List
services made available by First Step Internet,<BR> serving the communities
of the Palouse since
1994.<BR>
http://www.fsr.net<BR>
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================</BODY></HTML>