[edi581] Clifford Stoll
- From: Charlotte Dixson <charpit64@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: edi581@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 19:56:21 -0800 (PST)
Mr. Stoll seems to have a bad attitude. While I
am not the biggest fan of computers in the classroom,
I do feel they should be there. Some of his arguments
against using them are weak. He says that they take
time away from the student to teacher time. If
teachers just told the kids to go work on the
computers and left them alone, this might be true. In
most of the cases that I have seen, this is not the
case. The teacher needs to instruct the students on
what to do. When kids are left on their own, it is
often a time when the teacher is spending quality time
with smaller groups, allowing for more of a one on one
teaching time. Another of his arguments suggests that
if we want to raise kids who can't read we should put
them on the computer. If a kid can't read a book, how
can he/she read what's on the computer?
To this day I would rather go to a library and
look up information than try to sort through the
millions of pages of information you can get on the
internet. It is also somewhat difficult to judge if
the information from a web site is reliable. We need
to teach students how to judge this.
Are we spending too much money on computers? I'd
have to say yes. Of course I probably only go to
schools where computers are plentiful. Many of these
schools have computer labs as well as several
computers in each classroom. One school I go to has
them in the art room. I could understand this if it
were a high school, but it's an elementary school. I
feel it is not necessary to have them in each
location. I believe the lab to be sufficient with
maybe one or two computers in each class. While this
may be a little off the subject, I cannot stand to see
the amount of paper that is wasted in our paper-less
society. If allowed, or they can sneak it, students
would print anything and everything they see on
computers. Ink is very expensive.
Computers are everywhere. We need to allow
students the opportunity to use them so they are able
to learn how they work. Not all students have access
to them at home. The author suggests that students
should read more books, I agree. I wonder, though ,
if he's been to a library lately. Most of the ones I
go to require at least a minimal of computer knowledge
as there are fewer and fewer traditional card
catalogue available to the public.
I don't like the idea of using computers just for
the sake of learning how to use computers. I believe
that everything done on a computer should be done with
other learning in mind. There isn't enough time in
the schools today to teach any one subject by itself.
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