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Date Posted:
Friday July 25, 2003 10:08:14 AM
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The analogy of a house presupposes the necessity of computers in the school environment. Not to be polemic, but can someone point out, please, a few reputable studies which indicate that computers enhance learning?
I hear this claim over and over, but my weak little mind can only think of one or two *limited* domains where computers could assist learning (those domains would involve helping students who require more repetition than the "average" student in certain memorization tasks, such as geography, multiplication tables, etc. A computer could be more patient than Mother Theresa in many of these cases and would be of benefit to these students).
I fear that computers are too often used in the classroom like television is: an escape for the teacher. It has been shown that television learning is far inferior than one-on-one teaching by a caring educator (be it a public educator, a parent, or some other concerned adult). I think those of us "in the industry" too often ask "what is a computer good for?" and try to wedge it into domains where it clearly does not belong, instead of asking "I have a problem, how can I solve my problem?"
Because of this intrusion, we create more problems by assuming that computers must be good for education (because they're so cool!) and bypass traditional reasoning skills in solving educational dilemmas. This isn't to say that there is no place for them. I believe there are some narrow domains where a television can be useful and a computer is no different.
But to blindly trust legislators (who have been bought and paid for by technologists), district administrators, and "educational software" writers that "this computer will make your kids smarter" is simply foolish. Those of us interested in improving public education would do well to demand our tax dollars used in paying quality teachers a higher salary, hiring more of them, rather than wasting the billions of dollars annually on purchasing, maintaining, upgrading, and supporting bad circuitry (as the essay to which this is a reply pointed out so well).
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