Post your responses:
- Is this a good model? Do you think technology is helpful or harmful to children's elementary education? Explain.
- How does this relate to the ideas we've been discussing in Brave New World?
Sunday, October 23, 2011
10/24 Homework Assignment
Click on the link below to read the NY Times article about a school that chooses to keep technology out of the classroom:
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1.) I think this is a good model because it’s not like these kids are in high school. High schoolers may need technology a bit more, to do research and type papers for class. But I think the only use an elementary school kid would have for the computer is to play games. But I don’t think it’s completely harmless because they may need to know just a little about using computers; like if they suddenly start having to use computers in middle school, the kids won’t know how to use them. So I don’t think elementary school kids need computers in school, but they might need to know some computer skills for future reference.
ReplyDelete2.) This relates to Brave New World because, with the conditioning for example, they’re teaching kids things they won’t really need until they’re much older. With computers, kids don’t need to be raised on them in order to use them; they can still be taught at a much later age. And with conditioning, they don’t need to be conditioned because even if they’re taught “ending is better than mending” at a later age, they would still pick up on it, and learn what to do and what not to do.
Personally, I sympathize with the article (especially the bit about children only playing games on computers) and agree that technology can be very harmful to kids at a young age. Technology is helpful, but a kid shouldn't dream of being on it as soon as they get home or have nothing else to do. Personally I see people using smartphones all day in school and usually don't really pay attention much in class so miss several key announcements made by the teacher. In the BNW kids are restricted from using other teaching aids depending on their caste. Epsilons never see books because they don't need it for their future. In Waldorf's technology is discouraged but not banned, however the children are denied access to things that other people have deemed harmful to their education.
ReplyDelete1.I think the article provides an interesting view on the school’s ideas about technology. I also find it a bit ironic it’s in Silicon Valley. Although; in the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty hard to judge. Quite a few people make a large income; heck attending that school for eight years costs about the same price as one year of college. It is to be expected, however. After all these people work for Google ™ and Apple. I’m not surprised they can also pay for quality colleges Although I wonder why they include Cal. Berkeley considering it is cheaper tuition for them because they are considered in-state students…?(this throws out the window the idea of the school itself providing quality information though). The school compensates for the lack of technology in schools with really unique life skills like knitting; but I personally argue the “skills” you learn is a bit… farfetched. It is also suggesting that technology is strictly for entertainment; which I completely disagree with. Coming from a background where technology opened new doors for education I believe this is a step below of opening a new door to allow visual and musical learners in particular.
ReplyDelete2. In context of A Brave New World the article and the book both share this sense of limiting technology. In the case of A Brave New World it is more class orientated (applies to Epsilons and Deltas). More importantly, I want to emphasize how they both share a sense of “censorship.” Where you have A Brave New World “censoring” ideas and emotions that would harm the society. In the article you have the community banning heavy use of technology because it “distracts you from learning.”
1.) I honestly don't think this is a good model at all. You can't be hiding these kinds from such a huge part of the world all their life and then expect them to just learn everything when they 'come of age.' Did they seriously compare technology to R rated movies? That's completely ridiculous, they're not showing their kids porn at school, and they're also not teaching anybody through "An app on an iPad." The technology we have is here to aide us in anyway possible its not here to TEACH us as we clearly still have our teachers here with their jobs. At home, sure, you can argue that technology may be distracting - the hypocritical parents sitting around in a circle too preoccupied by their gadgets to pay attention to their child should know all about it. I'm not saying you NEED technology in order to effectively teach kids but to deny the fact that it helps a great deal and has made a lot of things easier and new things possible would be pretty ignorant. But wait! Its okay to keep these kids completely deprived of the technology the rest of the world is constantly using because according to Mr. Eagle from the article "“At Google and all these places, we make technology as brain-dead easy to use as possible." So you don't have to worry just make sure you get your kids are learning their fractions by eating cake, and then when they get older we'll just make technology for brain dead zombies so that they won't have to figure out anything for themselves from that point on. And then they too can immerse themselves in their cellphones while ignoring their kids and telling them to go learn everything caveman-style. Oh, and don't forget you'll have to pay about the same amount as 2 years of college just to get your kids through high school where they'll have less available to them than public schools. Where exactly is all that money going too again?
ReplyDelete2.) This is trying to relate to Brave New World because technically you'd start losing some of what it means to be human if we all started being educated by machines. But as of right now at least, the technology in schools is there to help and not to act as the teachers like the article is trying to say. I'm sure by trying to keep things 'old fashioned' it does in a way make sure that we don't lose touch with reality, but there's no need to go to such extremes as Waldorf schools because there's really no proof as to whether or not their method substantially reaches out to kids better and result in a better education overall. In a way, though, keeping the kids from technology vaguely reminds me of how they conditioned the babies to hate books in 'Brave New World'. As far as I see it they're keeping the kids away from further knowledge...until they graduate high school of course.