Re: [Nolug] boat anchor laptops

On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 06:32:42AM -0600, Dave Prentice wrote:
> Ron,
> I've been teaching for 10 years so I can't talk about what happened
> decades ago, but you are right about the kind of schools where I have
> been. There are just not enough facilities and teachers to go around.
> For instance, recommendations from the Amer. Chem. Society call for no
> more than 24 students in a lab class because it's too hard for a teacher
> to make sure everybody is working safely. Sure would be nice! Rather
> than risk injury and lawsuits, most teachers have the students do only
> really safe activities themselves. The other things that could be
> interesting are either not done or done as a demo by the teacher only.
> Rant: Many of those making up educational policy nationwide seem to
> think that if you put a computer in front of a student, he/she will
> magically learn by osmosis through the screen. That's ridiculous.
> Speaking as a technophile since a young age and a computer geek since
> college in 1970: I would rather see a few hundred thousand dollars spent
> in a school/district to hire a few more teachers and fix up the labs
> than see tens of millions of dollars spent on computers that will be
> used mostly as expensive email terminals.

I agree. It's often used as an excuse for more money or poor
intruction. Computers will save the world! Yeah right.

Brett

> (BTW, Joey, I'm not against computers, just against people who think
> they are magic. I plan to donate a boat anchor laptop for your Haiti
> project.)
> Dave P.
>
>
> Ron Johnson wrote:
> >On 12/17/08 23:50, Dave Prentice wrote:
> >>Ron,
> >>Lots of times stuff doesn't get done in school not because of
> >>anybody's sensibilities, but because of logistical reasons. It's
> >>tough to supervise 34 students and maintain safety and order while
> >>they do experiments. With smaller class sizes we could do more
> >>hands-on activities.
> >
> >And probably not enough places at the work tables. But hasn't that
> >always been a problem in public schools?
> >
> >>Dave Prentice
> >>
> >>Ron Johnson wrote:
> >>>On 12/17/08 10:44, Jeremy (mailing list box) wrote:
> >>>>Ron Johnson wrote:
> >>>>>This "I refuse to dissect a frog because it's inhumane" cr*p
> >>>>>really p*sses me off. With a wussy culture like this, no wonder
> >>>>>the country is sliding into 2nd-world status.
> >>>>
> >>>>Virtual dissections exist for other reasons Ron. Sometimes a Bio
> >>>>teacher would like to show a dissection that requires an animal
> >>>>that is difficult to acquire. Other times, schools don't have
> >>>>the facilities and resources to actually have a dissection.
> >>>
> >>>I don't buy those rationalizations.
> >
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-- 
B. Estrade
Louisiana Optical Network Initiative
+1.225.578.1920 aim: bz743
:wq
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