What is Digg?50 Comments
- tuxchick, on 12/09/2008, -0/+33I've had some experience working with K-12 teachers, and believe me Ken is not even scratching the surface of the ignorance and pigheadedness that infests public education. While I've had the privilege of working with a few smart teachers who could see beyond the ends of their own limitations, and who believed in subversive values such as critical thinking, educated opinions, and freedom of thought, they were a minority. I'm amazed that kids survive school at all.
- richaoj, on 12/10/2008, -0/+27HAHA the AISD website runs on Apache. There is no such thing as free software. Someone should tell their IT department.
- crapuccino, on 12/09/2008, -0/+25Can I digg this article twice?
- thenixedreport, on 12/09/2008, -0/+24Wow. It's a good thing that the e-mail address of the teacher in question wasn't revealed. I could only imagine the amount of hate mail they'd be getting by now.
- MistaMatt90, on 12/10/2008, -0/+18This needs to hit the front page.
- huertanix, on 12/10/2008, -0/+16Back in college the school's local Linux user group gave out copies of Knoppix at one of the school's spring break parties (this was DeVry, so the party had to come to us instead of flying out to Cabo like frat boys). Every professor thought it was awesome and asked for a copy. Every technology person who works in public education tells me the same thing: K-12 teachers are mostly not brilliant. Welcome to America...
- thenixedreport, on 12/10/2008, -1/+14@huertanix: I know what you mean. The problem is that teachers often wind up doing the exact opposite of what they intend to do in the first place: educate and inspire. When there's a smart kid in class, they're often punished, because it makes it "harder" for the preach.... er... teacher to glide along on their chosen path. I'm not saying this of all teachers. There are some who want to help and inspire at the moment.
- mentat, on 12/10/2008, -0/+11"they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older verison of Windows and that way, your computers would actually be of service to those receiving them..."
Yeah, tell that to everyone who's trying to buy XP for their PCs.
I suddenly want to install Linux on my Macs (MBP and iBook) and go around demonstrating them. - Spr0k3t, on 12/10/2008, -0/+10Stupid teacher. This just makes me want to burn a couple hundred live discs and demo them at my local college once a week.
- oldhick, on 12/10/2008, -0/+9You guys realize that the FOSS movement and most Linux distros do little to no advertising right? I mean this lady is certainly ignorant but I'm hardly as shocked as most of you appear to be. How would a middle school/high school teacher be expected to know about GNU, FOSS, and Linux in general?
Unfortunately no one in the MSM really report on Linux. You're not going to see I'm a penguin/I'm a PC/I'm a Mac commercials anytime soon, so I think most people are really in the dark about what happens outside of the Microsoft/Mac world.
It's a shame, but it's not that surprising. - Waiting2awake, on 12/10/2008, -1/+10Most don't... that is the problem.
- ArthurSucks, on 12/10/2008, -0/+8Thank god this is not the majority of teachers. It only takes a few rotten tomatoes to ruin the vegetable garden.
- Krissam, on 12/10/2008, -0/+8I think i just broke my nose for facepalming this hard.
- Alheithinn, on 12/10/2008, -0/+8I, too, have a lot of experience with public school teachers K-12 (having raised two children) and we found that in general, the older teachers were more set in their ways and less able to cope with new ideas. Unsurprisingly, the younger teachers were more open to new ideas and our favorite teacher quit because the other teachers treated her like a pariah.
Another young teacher sat with us through a conference with the school psychologist (our son suffered from ADHD and oppositional defiant behavior). After listening to the "specialist" (who was one of those fresh out of college and I know everything types) and waiting until she had left the room, the teacher turned to us and said, "forget everything she said and let's solve this problem." This was music to our ears. I'm not sure one of the older teachers would have been as willing to disregard the silly ideas of the "specialist" (who was not sure had ever actually SEEN a child).
My point is, there are good and bad apples. Teachers aren't paid a lot and though some of them are very good, of the others you can honestly say "you get what you pay for." A gal I used to work with was going to college to be a teacher. To put it bluntly, she was none too bright. A nice gal, but nice alone doesn't get the job done.
I want my kids to be taught to reason, not to swallow "doctrine" whole and unexamined. This child with the Linux was displaying what every child should be exposed to - reasoning, a concept the teacher in question is obviously unfamiliar with. And we're just touching the tip of the iceberg here. And that is why my four year old will be home schooled. I've lost faith in public schools. - Tw3ek, on 12/10/2008, -0/+7"I am sure if you contacted Microsoft, they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older verison of Windows and that way, your computers would actually be of service to those receiving them..."
Too bad it's a chore to even purchase a copy of XP for a new machine. If more people could see the features of Linux, I'm sure cases like this wouldn't be as common as they are. - johnbender, on 12/10/2008, -0/+6Why the confiscation? Why not: "Timmy put that stuff away and work on studying?", that would be acceptable in my opinion, but this lady went completely nuts.
- MattBD, on 12/10/2008, -0/+6As Einstein said, it's a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
- crapuccino, on 12/10/2008, -0/+6In the UK, because the schools are measured and monitored, the kids are taught to the test. That's all they do. Get them ready to pass the exam.
There is no underlying rational though process instilled in them.
Recently there was an experiment conducted with kids taking a current chemistry exam, and a chemistry exam from the '60s. No frills, no off-the-wall stuff, just bog standard chemistry that hasn't changed in a long time. The scores were high on the current test. Most of them failed the one from the '60s.
The problem is that the kids aren't being taught the groundwork of the subject - they don't really understand what's happening. They just pattern-match the questions and fill in the blanks from whatever they can remember.
I don't blame the kids, and (generally) I don't blame the teachers. When schools budgets are decided by pass rates, this is what happens. Goaling drives behaviour. - inactive, on 12/10/2008, -0/+6Back in the 90's, my mother was head Librarian for a school District. She was also the "Technology Liason". She was supposedly THE technology source for the entire district.
She would routinely call me, saying "my Adobe isn't working", or "my Microsoft won't print". That kind of stuff. She knew how to order a Macintosh, that was about it.
I am only talking a decade ago, and this was a VERY large school district in California. None of this is surprising to me in the least. - gronya, on 12/10/2008, -0/+6Some one tell me it is a spoof..... please...
- YodaJones, on 12/10/2008, -0/+5an un-educated educator. Way to go ignoramus.
- jflaker, on 12/10/2008, -0/+5It is ABSOLUTELY amazing how UNINFORMED people can be....
JUST ---WOW--- - MattBD, on 12/10/2008, -0/+5I'd like to see what would happen if someone actually did contact MS for older copies of Windows. They're trying to discourage vendors from selling XP, so I don't see them giving away older versions.
- MattBD, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4I had a teacher at school who used to give us spelling tests, when she couldn't spell herself. One time, she told us monitor was spelt M-O-N-I-T-E-R. Naturally, being a smart alec, I piped up and said:
"No, it's M-O-N-I-T-O-R"
"No, it's with an E, I'm sure.
"Well, lets look in the dictionary." And lo and behold, there it was, M-O-N-I-T-O-R. But the teacher decided to be petty:
"Well, anyone who spelt it my way gets a point anyway."
She was the worst teacher I ever had, needless to say. But there are plenty of teachers who take exception if kids are more knowledgeable than them about something. Fortunately, when parents evening came round my dad gave her a real roasting.
If I had a kid and their teacher gave them that kind of *****, I'd be furious. - johnbender, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4There have been studies that show critical thinking is linked directly to irreverence. Kids who tend to challenge the systems they find themselves in are generally smarter.
- MattBD, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4You're right. I'm shouting this.
- sbader, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4People will pay for the best and the brightest in technology but not in teaching.
- Zippo, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4And people say Mac users can be smug.
That said, he's definitely right in some cases. This teacher needs a serious lesson in the outside world...
Even though I'm not a Linux user, I'm all for the spread of free, open source software. And yes, it actually is free! - JTMON, on 12/10/2008, -0/+4This needs to be front paged for numerous reasons:
Teachers are not cops and should not spend a major amount of time trying to persue charges against their own students. She should be suspended for that comment alone as it sounds like she is on a personal crusade to get this kid rather than just calling the cops which a normal teacher would do.
She should not be enforcing, nor preaching her personal opinions on computer technology on her students, period. I'm sure the school has a policy in place and that is what she should be going by. Besides that, she is talking out of her ass about things that she has no clue about. Imagine if we could ALL try to be little cops and we just harrassed and took people's things BEFORE we even knew the law. I really would love some info on the school or her so I could call or email them at least. This is rediculous.
I use windows and rarely use linux but I know it and I do like it. It IS a windows world but that's what happens when the world is a bunch of sheep. Regardless, she should not be comparing it to a version she used in college and what if she wasn't trained correctly, just didn't like it etc...a person with the authority such as hers should be more objective. She sounds young and I wouldn't be surprised if she is. Yet another issue we face, first it's babies having babies..now it's babies TEACHING babies. - PHJames88, on 12/10/2008, -0/+3Wow.
- thenixedreport, on 12/10/2008, -0/+3@sbader: Just look at the Holden School District in Missouri, and you'll see exactly what you're talking about. :)
- ashgtx, on 12/10/2008, -0/+3It will
i worked for nostradamus - Vadi0, on 12/10/2008, -0/+3Tell me about it.
- wooshring, on 12/10/2008, -0/+3"I am sure if you contacted Microsoft, they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older verison of Windows"
This is a joke....right? We have to get this up to the front page! - SusanCopp, on 12/10/2008, -1/+3The Linux Movement is on and has been. Open source all the way. Microsoft no longer has a captive audience or user base or should I say is finding their captive audience shrink. Google is giving them a run for their money as well.They have great products incorporated in their gmail, calendar, spreadsheets, etc... and Google has some nice people work for them and represent them.
- shinkou, on 12/11/2008, -0/+2Can anyone verify the credibility of this incident? I'm not saying the story is fake, but I found it so uncomfortable to believe it's true. :( If teachers nowadays were all like that, then I'll teach my kids at home. Please, someone tell me please it's just a fiction for entertainment purposes.
- cawpin, on 12/10/2008, -3/+5That has happened here too. The "No Child Left Behind" program was a great idea but implemented very badly.
Also, from the Austin Independent School District's (AISD) website:
Bailey Middle School
DONSBACH, KAREN - T-7/8 SCI- GEN - 512-414-4990
JACKSON, KAREN - T-MS/6 MATH - 512-414-4990
Covington Middle School
HARRIS, KAREN - T-7/8 LANG ARTS - 512-841-3686
Kealing Middle School
SCHIPPER, KAREN - T-7/8 CHOIR - 512-414-3214
Kealing Magnet Program
SCHIPPER, KAREN - T-7/8 CHOIR - 512-414-3180
Martin Middle School
BAILEY, KAREN - T-7/8 P.E. - 512-414-3243
BRENNAN, KAREN - T-HS/SE R/I - 512-414-3243
Mendez Middle School
TERRY, KAREN - T-MS/6 SOC SCI - 512-414-3284
Murchison Middle School
CASE, KAREN - T-7/8 THEATER - 512-414-3254
GREEN, KAREN - T-7/8 LIFE SCI - 512-414-3254
NOYES, KAREN - LIBRARIAN- MS - 512-414-3254
New Southwest M.S. Middle School
No names listed
O. Henry Middle School
AIDMAN, KAREN - MS ASST PRIN - 512-414-3229
CIESLA, KAREN - T-7/8 MATH - 512-414-3229
Small Middle School
GREATHOUSE, KAREN - T-MS/SE LIFE SK - (512) 841-6750
That's every Karen in a middle school in AISD. I'm betting on a Math or Science teacher. However, with the level of ignorance toward technology displayed, it could well be an English teacher. - Neo139, on 12/11/2008, -0/+2This MUST be in the front page
- zoydberg, on 12/11/2008, -0/+2I'm glad my school couldn't afford Windows, we had K12LTSP which is the best thing that could come to schools. You can PXE boot with a bunch of older machines and have a completely customized OS
http://k12ltsp.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page - TnTBass, on 12/11/2008, -0/+1Yes, here is digg story with a link to the actual blog:
http://digg.com/linux_unix/Teacher_threatens_to_ca ... - TnTBass, on 12/11/2008, -0/+1"You're not going to see I'm a penguin/I'm a PC/I'm a Mac commercials anytime soon"
Hopefully not, because they're all the same thing.
However, the outrage for me comes from the fact that this lady, being an educator of children, does not do ANY research. She could have Googled "Is Linux Free" and she would be presented with many results, starting with Linux.org.
You may forgive her ignorance, but I would hope most people would hold the teachers of their children up to a higher standard than that. I guarantee she had to do at least one research paper to make it through University. - thenixedreport, on 12/11/2008, -0/+1It's not fiction. It's real.
- darkened, on 12/24/2008, -0/+1Totally awesome observation.
- brokenheadstuff, on 12/11/2008, -1/+1i think the back face would sting more
- kinkyfunk77, on 12/12/2008, -0/+0defently going to the front page
- Zuwxiv, on 12/10/2008, -1/+1They need to be hit in the front face.
- wooshring, on 12/10/2008, -2/+1"I am sure if you contacted Microsoft, they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older verison of Windows"
Might as well get an abacus while you're at it!
This is a joke....right? We have to get this up to the front page! - roymckenzie, on 12/10/2008, -2/+1haha, i know! I wish we could track her down.
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