[edi581] scary stoll article
- From: "Marie Nestor" <mnestor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <edi581@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2003 15:46:22 -0500
First off, Clifford Stoll sounds like a whack job who enjoys making
people angry. For goodness sakes, he accused the interviewer of using
cliffnotes to get his degree!
but i digress...
Needless to say i don't agree with most of his arguments. to say that
computers don't belong in schools is ridiculous. computers play a HUGE
role in our society and their role gets larger and larger everyday. to
deprive our kids of technological learning experiences would be near
neglectful.
i teach second grade and i have seen kids that can't "write" compose
wonderful stories and poems because they didn't have to worry about
writing neatly. Mr. Stoll seems to forget that writing legibly isn't
the same thing as writing. and if a child looks something up on the web
and is presented with the information, doesn't he or she then have to
READ what they found? why does reading have to be solely done in books?
there are several programs which have games which teach kids phonetic
skills needed for literacy. how is playing a board game with the same
purpose any different than playing the game on a computer?
why should we ignore this vast system of information? i personally use
the internet for information all the time. why can't students? aren't
we trying to teach them how to function in society? isn't being able to
find and locate information the real sign of intellegence as we
discussed in class?
for Stoll to say that inner city kids shouldn't have computers because
they get stolen and broken is equally ridiculous. i guess you should
take out bathroom stalls because kids write graffiti on them. how much
do schools spend on bathroom stalls i wonder?
i don't think that you can just rely on the fact that kids have exposure
to computers outside of school, because the fact of the matter is that
1/2 the kids in my class don't get the opportunity to use a computer and
they probably won't outside of school.
and to say that computers take away from student-teacher contact is also
not true. there are always times when teachers need to meet with small
groups and the kids are working independently. why not be at a
computer? what is the big deal? it's not like the kids come in the
room in the morning and sit at the computer untilt he end of the day!
my kids are on the computer for 15-20 minutes at a time. and they often
sit together and work on something. there goes his teaching kids to be
anti-social point.
the only thing i agree with stoll on is the amount that is spent on
computers. wif a school has to get rid or art or music (granted i have
never heard of a school ousting art or music for computers) in order to
obtain computers than i would say the money is not well spent. there
are several issues of importance that schools face today, but one is not
more important than the other. face the facts, schools shouldn't have
to choose between getting a computer or a sandbox. but thanks to
federal and state aid being what it is...we have to do just that.
marie nestor
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Class website: http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/taylor/suny/
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