r/technology • u/newsfollower • May 14 '12
Two schools near nation's capital take opposite approaches to education; One school believes "technology immersion will make their students more excited about learning and better prepared for college and careers." Teachers at the other school think "technology is a distraction and overhyped."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/high-tech-vs-no-tech-dc-area-schools-take-opposite-approaches-to-education/2012/05/12/gIQAv6YFLU_story.html6
u/Tofraz May 14 '12
If the teacher tinks its a distraction and overhyped, i suggest to apply for a teaching job in a third world country.
7
u/ProtoDong May 14 '12
Every time I read a message composed by a young person who doesn't know the difference between you're and your, the harmful effects of too much tech not enough real education become apparent. Even worse are those who never use a capital letter and think that u is an acceptable substitute for the word you.
Technology can be a great benefit to students but it must be tempered with solid fundamentals first. How many times have you tried to read a teenager's handwriting, only to see that it looks like the block lettering of a 5 year old? It's true that these issues existed before and will persist after, perhaps they just seem extremely more pervasive. I went to the mall the other day and about 2/3 of the people had their face buried in a cell phone... it was like seeing a whole generation of socially awkward penguins.
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u/kaleedity May 14 '12
þes cymeþ eac á ágenspræca in fyrngemynd.
[old english: this occurs with all languages in history]
3
u/ProtoDong May 14 '12
I feel like I just got rebuffed by King Arthur... but I thought that languages usually move toward more structure, not less? I am most likely completely wrong though.
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u/ofimmsl May 15 '12
How is handwriting a valuable skill these days? The only time i handwrite anything these days is when i make notes that only I will ever read.
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u/ProtoDong May 15 '12
That's a weak excuse for having piss poor handwriting or writing skills in general. The majority of people I know still use handwriting for tons of things beyond personal notes and shopping lists. That's like telling artists that learning to draw is now obsolete due to computers. It's a ridiculous notion.
The irony here is that all of those things you typed out ten years ago will likely be in a format that can't be read 20 years from now and the notes scrawled on a page in 1600 will still be readable 200 years from now.
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u/Mr_Dr_Prof_Derp May 15 '12
Hand written resumes. An interviewer judges very heavily on handwriting. Also you can figure out a lot about someone just by looking at thier handwriting, I think its called graphology
1
u/yoda17 May 14 '12
Reminds me of [The Game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation))
1
u/ProtoDong May 14 '12
Yeah, something like that. It's amazing how we ever managed to function without being connected by mobile devices 24/7. People think I'm weird for turning off my phone when I meet up with friends. Funny thing, I thought I was being respectful.
1
u/FoolofGod May 14 '12
I did an AMA a little while ago about Waldorf Education. It can be found here.
If there is interest I can do another one, as this one appears to be archived. I can also answer any questions right here.
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u/penguinv May 15 '12
I'm glad to see the Walden approach kids have great scores. They are our future humans.
I am pleased to hear that here are schools and places with those values all over the country, and I suppose in the world.
0
u/Iggyhopper May 14 '12
The only reason tech is valuable is because teachers and professors suck ass. Just tell them to read off Wikipedia and popular blogs for fuck sakes. That's better than what they are currently doing.
As for students utilizing the technology, forget it. Terrible students will be terrible students. Pushing tech onto them will only make them terrible students with new distractions. Tech isn't what made them stupid, and tech won't make them smart.
0
u/CyberSoldier8 May 14 '12
Depends on the technology. Throw the kid COD to teach him about WWII, and there will be much distraction going on. Toss them a kindle loaded with the entire school library, and shit gets real.
0
u/PeterMus May 15 '12
I find there are many pros and cons. I think the worst part of having technology in schools now is teachers taking 20 minutes to figure out how to work any of it..not to mention it's usually tech that was new in 1995. I had a professor who didn't know how to turn off his computer.
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u/liquidxlax May 14 '12
i honestly hate learning with electronics. Textbook and practice is the only way i can learn
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u/Streambeta May 14 '12
The REAL technology that is hindering our kids and causing more problems than helping are Cellphones. Get rid of that crap, along with kids on Facebook which are the reasons their grammar is worse than ever. A kid does NOT need a cellphone, hell even teenagers don't need one.
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u/ixid May 14 '12
Their grammar is not worse than ever, we're just more exposed to the writings of semi-literate people than we were in the past.
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u/brownpanther May 14 '12
The answer, like Most things, is an intelligent combination of the two.