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FranklyDigitalJan 5, 2011
don't know If I could do this, but like the idea of the experiment...
bitternumbJan 5, 2011
Its not the gadgets that we have its the educational system that is the problem.
agmlauncherJan 5, 2011
Yes and no. Gadgets and screens have been shown to reduce attention spans. You also can't allow kids to be texting during class, so you therefore must confiscate the phones as the kids enter the building, which is effectively like going back to 1983 technology.
However, schools need to do a better job of teaching kids how to do proper research on the internet. The internet is an incredibly powerful learning tool and learning resource that should be leveraged to its fullest extent at an early age.
skidooerJan 5, 2011
The value of class is questionable at best. While some may learn best in the environment, they make up only a subset of all the students present.
It is an interesting problem because those who do learn best in class are the people who work their way through school, through college, and eventually become the teachers and policy makers. They do not understand what it is like to have a different learning style. Those who do learn in that matter waste their childhood in class, losing valuable time that could have been better spent keeping up with their peers education.
That lost time means that most outside of the in-class learners are left without the knowledge and skills needed to attain the status necessary to make the changes necessary for future generations. It is not impossible, but the odds are stacked against that type of person. Someone who is able to pull through, despite the odds, likely has bigger goals they want to attain.
And so the cycle continues...Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountJan 6, 2011
yeah...you are right! No business person or person with a regular job have ever learned their knowledge in class! Gotcha!
Clearly you are just one of those little bitches who thinks it makes you more intelligent to ALWAYS buck the establisment. Everything the masses does is stupid! Yup. That's your story and you are sticking to it!
cardozaJan 6, 2011
Skidooer has a point. I see the same problems in higher ed. Lectures and powerpoints are far from perfect. Schools often teach students how to take tests but may fail at developing leadership and critical thinking skills. Students also dont learn the same way. The educational system is slow to change because it is stubborn and archaic. You should research some articles about John Dewey and experiential education.
davecanadaJan 6, 2011
I hear ya. "Daydreams" was on every report card; aced every fall, flunked every spring; not even 8 credits to my name. Years later I find myself in the ouchie-ouchie tax brackets, supervising PhDs. Oh, and I think I read the same Malcolm Gladwell book that you did ;)
Closed AccountJan 6, 2011
"which is effectively like going back to 1983 technology."
So..in your world, there were no technological advancements between 1983 and, say, 2004 or so when everyone carried cell phones at all times, even young students?Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
ConsequentialJan 6, 2011
Obviously no. Cell phones, Computers, etc. are all tools available to students and teachers. These tools make our lives easier and while they can be used detrimentally, the responsibility lies with the person using the tools not the technology. If someone runs over and kills another person in a car do we propose banning cars? No we send that person to jail or take away their license.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountJan 6, 2011
How does having a cell phone in the classroom help them learn.
ConsequentialJan 6, 2011
I'm not saying it does. If children are not successful because cell phones are distracting them, then cell phones shouldn't be allowed in the classroom. I'm just saying it's a big step between getting rid of cell phones and getting rid of computers.
elcadJan 6, 2011
To many parents have supported cell phones in the school for then to go away. Doesn't matter if they are a distraction, parents will still blame teachers.
atomic1fireJan 6, 2011
Parents should know the line between having something available for emergencies, and giving you kids a free pass to ignore the math teacher.
Part of the problem is some parents will even text their kids in class.
You know what they did in 1983.
Called the office if it was seriously important.
I like the idea of kids having a way to call for a ride quickly, or call to have permission to go to a friends house.
I also understand that texting is a good way to understand what a persons plans are.
But some of it is laying down the rules so that the student knows how to act responsibly.
If the parents can not get their kids to put their phones away in class, fine, let the schools take the phones away and then return them at the end of the day, or when the parent picks them up, or whatever.
Teachers should be able to teach without some self absorbed kid tweeting his status to his GF
norman619Jan 5, 2011
It's the outdated system and that Teacher's Union dick firmly suck in the ass of the public education system. both need to be dealt with to provide kids a better education.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
teqmock5Jan 6, 2011
Word. As explained by Sir Ken Robinson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
protogenxlJan 5, 2011
This is Heavy.........
reaper527Jan 5, 2011
why is everything so heavy? is there some problem with the earth's gravitational pull in your time period?
(on a side note, that movie is 1985, not 83)
rudegarJan 5, 2011
I don't think I could survive for a week with Michael Jackson Experience video game :S
kalvinbJan 5, 2011
Students need paper, pencil, pen and a course sufficient calculator within the classroom.
Teachers highly benefit productivity-wise from smart boards and a computer in the classroom.
I wasn't sure about smart boards until I started using them in various classrooms. They're vastly superior to chalkboards and white boards for presenting information and working out things with students or having them do it. White board markers simply don't last and are expensive. Chalk is a pain.
In theory you could simply use a tablet PC rather than a $10K smart board. But that presents potential problems when you're passing it around to students.
atomic1fireJan 6, 2011
Smart boards seem like a good idea because it can keep attention on the teacher, not the technology,
everyone has had to stare at the board before, so whether it is a chalk board, or smart board system, it shouldn't matter.
The teacher also has more options when it comes to entertainment, and education (who hasn't had a teacher who showed a movie or gave the kids a break before the holiday) If the school cuts the costs down (like a wiimote smart board, as opposed to a convoluted thousand dollar system) then as long as the teacher knows what they are doing, the system runs fine.
However, Computers are an awesome student tool, and sometimes, the kids know more then the teachers.
ishratnJan 5, 2011
no i dont think so
reaper527Jan 5, 2011
so, what exactly did these kids learn from this? what a waste of class time (where does chicago rank in the public school system again? gee, i wonder why that is)Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
norman619Jan 5, 2011
This issue is system wide.
reaper527Jan 5, 2011
yeah, i wouldn't necessarily argue against that. i tend to think i came from one of the better public school systems (massachusetts), but they are all really flawed.
my main point was that this "experiment" doesn't do anything to improve that.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
stk198323Jan 5, 2011
Did you ever tried to teach students?
Believe me, if I could use all the time I waste telling people to stop using there cell phone and to close down there laptop and listen, just by the time I would have saved I could see a few sections more in each chapter.
And I teach to university students... imagine in school!
I graduated in 2001 but yet when I went to school there was already time wasted telling people to stop listening to music in class and to listen... I can't imagine how many problems they must have now!
atomic1fireJan 6, 2011
I had a few tech college teachers with the rule that if the students did use laptops, they had to show them the notes. (after class or email, depended on the teacher)
Plus at-least in the case of college level it's the students responsibility to pass the class.
The student is the one paying for it.
stk198323Jan 6, 2011
Yes and so are the OTHER students... which are bothered by the one using the laptop / cell phone / ipod / etc.
Should the teachers let one student distract the rest of the class?
And as much as I like the way your teacher dealt with the situation, in my case I know our university would say that this would constitute an infringment on the student right to privacy (yeah go figure...).
augmentJan 5, 2011
Valid opinion, however I'd say that the educational merit here is qualified not quantified. It's like going to an art museum. Will you learn something for the next exam? Maybe not, but will you experience something that you couldn't get out of an art history textbook? Hopefully.
jedi1196Jan 5, 2011
They could have just watched an old TV episode from the 80s or 50s and noted the lack of technology and how that impacted the characters and the story and how things differed generally.
butchthevizslaJan 5, 2011
when I was a kid I had to walk 5 miles to school, and 5 miles to get back home every day - up hill. in the snow.
norman619Jan 5, 2011
both ways
trdrstvJan 5, 2011
WITHOUT a GPS in my pocket!
crock2Jan 6, 2011
You're lucky it was the same distance each way!
kapi4allJan 5, 2011
This is so true.They should do that. Today kids are technology junkies who spend 8 hours per day surfing, playing video games and sending mobile messages. I'm happy cause I was born earlier, so I had normal childhood.
stk198323Jan 5, 2011
What's so sad is that even if they pass there life on computers/ipod/cell phone, they can't even figure out what to do when the computer doesn't behave ''as it should''...
It would be like someone driving a car for a living and not knowing how to change his oil... oh wait bad comparison!
meccaydnaJan 6, 2011
hey now. I have a step sister that tried jumping her car battery by hooking the engines together...
goweigusJan 5, 2011
Me too. We were coming of age as the N64 got popular and computer games were hardly mainstream yet. We spent most of our time playing with Lego Bricks or running around outside hunting dinosaurs with broken squirt and Nerf guns while building tree forts/houses in the woods.
atomic1fireJan 6, 2011
I grew up with technology, but before that, I played with toys and watched cartoons. people have been saying the same thing about excessive television and candy.
crock2Jan 6, 2011
Who's to say your childhood was normal? Maybe this IS the new normal. Times are always changing....
Now get off my lawn! :)
frankwhite8536Jan 6, 2011
Regarding the comment about a "normal" childhood: I have a friend whos a high school teacher and I asked him about ADHD. He said if half the kids are getting diagnosed, maybe it's us who are wrong and this is evolution. Kind of like the real story to "I Am Legend".
mstrdiggJan 6, 2011
I believe that was the idea in one of Dean Koontz's novels. Something about autism or downs (can't remember) being the next step in evolution and we're mistakenly marking it as weakness/something to be fixed. I don't recall the name of the book, but I remember that scenario most out of the whole book.
rsthivaJan 5, 2011
Let''s see, when I was in the 6th grade, there was no color television, the first TV transmission from Washington DC to New York was made, personal computers were unheard of (the first large computer, the ENIAC was produced), most people had party-line telephones where several families shared the same phone line, most movies were in black and white, and there was no McDonald's. The most popular entertainment form was the radio broadcast of shows like the Shadow, Whistler, Fibber McGee and Molly, etc. Wonder how today's kids would take to that lifestyle.
stk198323Jan 5, 2011
Considering the quality of radio these day's... I would tend to understand there lack of motivation for using it as there main entertainment media!
atomic1fireJan 6, 2011
I suppose if it was written well.
I'm surprised no one has tried to combine the words internet and radio show.
I wonder if people would actually listen to an "episode" of something on their iPod.
I know what a podcast is, but Most of that is people talking about stuff, not scripted entertainment.
dwrtzJan 5, 2011
it bothers me how often cell phones make noise in class. even when the teacher explicitly states that they need to be turned off.
how hard is it to put your phone on vibrate?
zetamaleJan 5, 2011
In high school one of my favorite things was when someone's phone went off and then watching the teacher's ensuing hunt of the idiot who couldn't figure out that calls couldn't be answered and so maybe the phone should be off during school. It was even better when I could figure out who it was before the teacher and then watching him/her squirm.
aronnycJan 6, 2011
Happens to adults too, in movie theaters.
crumbworksJan 6, 2011
"how hard is it to put your phone on vibrate?"
Even easier than you think. Some modern smartphone software can make such changes based on your input GPS info, so you can tell it "when in this zone, automatically set to vibrate." The feature itself is great for when in places like schools, church, movie theatres, etc.
jedi1196Jan 5, 2011
I disagree with the cable nonsense. I had interactive cable in 83. I didn't have as many channels but the actual level of content was about the same. I got my Sci-Fi reruns from an out of town broadcast station rather than SyFy or AMC.
HBO and cable goes back to the 70s.
You had fewer channels of both but a more diverse schedule. You didn't have 5 of them showing the same movie over and over in rotation. Now there are more channels but many are of no interest to me or bogus shopping/religious/spanish channels, or I only care about 1 show they carry.
Quality vs Quantity.
cabo82Jan 5, 2011
For kids, technology as a medium of learning is awesome, computers and internet has open and shorten the distance between a person and a library/encyclopedia/book. The down side of technology is that the age where kids have access to it is decreasing. Kids shouldn't have open cellphones, meaning if a kid has one, it should be those that have pre-configured numbers such as parents or family members only, thats it, with a build in gps for the parents to know where their kids are at.
There are a lot of things that people can do that not require technology, any form of art requires personal experience and travel, that we don't get to do much when connected to a computer at home. Here is were the parents come in and have to educate their kids and guide them to explore and take them out places, education starts at home, then school, and finally self thought.
jagedlionJan 6, 2011
The big problem with the short distances is that kids do not understand the value in learning anything a priori. The idea of math sense etc doesn't really matter. Should they have a problem, they can just look up the answer.
While that is true for some things in real life, in general there is a large amount of knowledge that you will be expected to know without reference material and it is harder and harder to impress that.
cabo82Jan 6, 2011
Kids need to learn the importance of knowledge will give them advantage and edge later in life when asked something or put in a situation they don't know something, they can look it up faster if they have the basic knowledge and/or understand better the new information.
Calculators need to be set aside in a math class or full problem solving has to be required, not just a multiple choice test. Internet is awesome for research, but they need to know that you cant just believe everything that is on the web, they need to know how and where to look for reliable sources.
In the US the education system from k-12 need to change, for a student to graduate should need at least Trigonometry or Pre-calculus not basic algebra which is the minimum requirement i think. they also should finish having knowledge of Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography and more.
theyac3Jan 5, 2011
That's shocking
gordonvJan 5, 2011
Instead of people bashing technology in school, what I'd really like to see is someone develop really good teaching software in the field of Mathematics. Specifically from Algebra to Masters Level Calculus.
trdrstvJan 5, 2011
Welcome to Freshman Science. Everyone grab some copper, as our first lesson is "How to turn the room into a Faraday cage."
mheykJan 6, 2011
Dont you mean 1984 dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn boom tishhh I'll be here all week try the fish.
coryglennJan 6, 2011
Never forget to "refresh" your free time.
Closed AccountJan 6, 2011
The vast majority of people don't have smart phones...so I guess yes...they could give that up.
Closed AccountJan 6, 2011
buried for a fact again.
unknownmeiJan 6, 2011
I don't see what's wrong with 21st century technology. As long as it's within the limit, there won't be a problem! Just don't let these kids get addicted to videogames/computer whatever. CONTROL!
jagedlionJan 6, 2011
What they are referring to now is one of the most basic, most enforceable types of control.
The first step for someone who over indulges is to go fully the opposite direction. Only then can they go back to a more moderate position.
arkons24Jan 6, 2011
No, schools should all be brought online and use more technology to replace the useless teachers.
hipmanJan 6, 2011
Great, and what about when you have a question?.Talk to a bot?.
arkons24Jan 6, 2011
It's in the book/ materials or you can simply post on the forum or in chat rooms. There's also a ridiculous amount of supplemental material online that will likely answer your question.
It isn't like there won't be anyone to answer questions and such, but they will have much less influence on the material. You know what a nightmare college classes are? Very rarely do you get an engaged and inspiring instructor, most are either a) a TA that barely speaks a word of English or b) a professor more concerned with his research than what he's presenting in class. Either way it is a joke. Let the best and most capable learning instructors create material coupled with online learning applets and allow the TAs/uninterested professors administer the classes. 90% of time spent in classes is a complete waste.
boner79Jan 6, 2011
If I was a teacher I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't hulk smash every student's cell phone out of their hands.
susunJan 6, 2011
No it must not go back cause this is the time to invent the new technology but not to go back for the old one.
amazondhanasJan 6, 2011
very nice
rohannesJan 6, 2011
The only thing confiscating technology does is make the teachers' lives easier.
The students need to learn self-discipline. The phone can just as easily be used to check Wikipedia in class (welcome to hell, teachers), write down homework, set alarms and reminders and discuss the work with class mates.
The technology isn't the problem, and this shortest-distance-between-two-points attitude of these teachers is not going to help anybody. 'Let's ignore reality and go back to 1983', like it's the cleverest idea they've ever heard. Is the ideal to teach the students to live an Amish lifestyle?
dilbertJan 7, 2011
There is no one to teach them self-discipline anymore because mommy and daddy have to work to make ends meet. When they come home they're too tired to even cook them a decent meal.
wkrausmannJan 6, 2011
I'd like to see our children taught in a school where they are getting knowledge from an encyclopedia and aren't taking lessons and assignments from the internet. I'd like to see them use their brains for math instead of a calculator.
KoinonosJan 6, 2011
Since the United States is somewhere around 30-38th in education scores, it would be interesting to randomly observed the top 5 countries school systems.
- Do they allow cell phones?
- Do they have better cirriculum or better teachers?
- Are their teaching environments better in some way?
- Is there a cultural aspect?
- Are their students are motivated to succeed?
I imagine the summary findings of things the top education systems share in common would be a treasure trove of ideas we could enact in America. If we really wanted to get serious about improving.
g8kprJan 6, 2011
People would be surprised at how well they manage without TV and their gadgets. In 1988 I had arranged to spend 2 weeks at my friends cottage up north. Only when I got there, did I find out that they had no TV (I was an avid TV watcher at the time, being only 13. I had a slew of shows I watched). They had no computer (Again, loved my PC, and the multitude of games. No internet then, I was 1 year away from discovering BBS's)
The first day I moaned about how boring it would be, and what would we do when the sun went down, and there was no vcr, or tv to watch. He had been living there since school was out and said he hadn't watched a single show for 5 months. That statement shocked me. However, I was quickly surprised at how easily I distanced myself from media centred technology. I was never bored ever, and after a day, I no longer missed my computer or TV. I had way too much fun. After the two weeks was up, I was able to stay a third week, and would have stayed a fourth or fifth if a family reunion wasn't planned already.
It's good to "go off the grid" from time to time.
bentman78Jan 6, 2011
Yes they should. I had none of those things in school and I did fine. All my teenage niece does now at family functions is spend her entire time on the phone texting or on her laptop on facebook.
bigglespipJan 6, 2011
No.
crock2Jan 6, 2011
From the article: "Kelley e-mailed me with the suggestion that we go technology-free for a week."
Wait -- so she used this modern technology to suggest to her teacher that they all NOT use this modern technology. This is just wrong on so many levels!
aronnycJan 6, 2011
Why stop at 1983? Why don't go further back?
RexoffJan 6, 2011
The had cable in 1983......just saying.
pragpsychAug 16, 2011
yes. everyone "should", meaning they would benefit from doing so by some consistent, agreed-upon variables. but, from that perspective... they "should" stop eating McDonald's... and they actually KNOW that. so, what good is asking such a question, other than a waste of space in the interwebz?
tlk2gJan 6, 2012
www.gadgetpunch.com
tlk2gJan 6, 2012
http://www.gadgetpunch.com/