[CS-FSLUG] NI: Novell Linux to be in Indiana Schools

[JD Runyan]

David Aikema wrote:
> On 8/17/05, Nathan T. <celerate at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>Can someone tell me exactly what the reasoning behind giving every kid
>>a computer is these days.
> 
> 
> I think that a fair number of people tend to have in their minds that
> a computer will necessarily improve the quality of education, rather
> than seeing it as simply a tool.

You are right, and they are wrong. Kids need to do things the hard way, 
and often to learn it well. A computer guarantees that there is a 
calculator available, and a dictionary at times when they should 
probably be learning to do arithmetic and spelling.

> My expectation is that as part of the move to these laptops, the
> schools will likely also be utilizing some electronic versions of
> textbooks - and likely also some more interactive activities (perhaps
> even testing)

Teachers tend to like things to change little and slowly(Understandably 
so with the time it takes to perfect a lesson plan). I would not expect 
them to utilize the computers in the classroom for much more than  word 
processing. The tests won't be CBT, but will be word processor versions 
of the old tests. The fun teachers will find some silly things to do 
with them, and the clever ones will find ways to use them mostly in math 
and science for spectacular instructive visuals. I also see the 
potential for art teachers to use them to teach art history with great 
access to images of great works.

> Textbooks - what kids currently tend to be getting - also do cost a
> substantial amount of money ($100 - $150 on average perhaps).  I think
> that a computer would be a much larger target than a textbook though
> due to the difference in percieved value and ease of resale.

In a poorer school a textbook can be used for a decade or more in many 
subject areas, while a computer has a much shorter life span. I am not 
sure that this is wise unless they can move all of their textbooks to 
the computer at a substantial per student savings. As it is now, 
supplementary textbooks can be kept in the classroom, and their don't 
have to be as many as there are students. Licensing textbooks may prove 
it necessary to license these for every student who will use them, and I 
suspect the textbook vendors will subtract slightly less than the cost 
of printing from the price of the licenses to use electronic versions.

>>If parents are buying their kids a computer that's different, but when
>>the government raises everyone's taxes so it can give every student an
>>expensive iBook or IBM/Toshiba laptop you have to ask yourself what is
>>going on here, and what was wrong with the old system of having
>>computers in the school library and labs. Rather than loan out
> 
> 
> I guess that here the old argument of how the rich and the poor should
> be differentiated (if at all) within the educational system.  The
> university that I go to have computing labs for those taking Computing
> Science courses which are open 24/7, and additional labs open most
> days from 8am - 11:45 pm, but when I was in high school most of those
> labs would be shut down shortly after the school day ended (5pm
> probably being the latest that you could be around).  If you want to
> have students working with electronic documents, the limited hours of
> operation of a school computer lab might not work out (and if the
> students live far from the school they may not be easily able to make
> it to the labs when they are open).

If schools are doing their primary job, then almost rich and the poor 
will receive similar experiences. The better off ones may have some 
extras, but Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic will be covered equally 
well. We all know this isn't happening in a large number of schools, and 
computers in my opinion will simply serve as a distraction from this 
point. The rich on the other hand will be going to the best private 
school, and will receive advantages that the rest won't.  This is an 
undeniable fact of life even in countries where public school is more 
compulsory than it is here. There is always a class of people who will 
get special treatment either by their birth or personal/family achievement.

>>or over lunch worked for years, was a lot cheaper, and didn't mean
>>that mugging a kid meant at least a $500 profit.
> 
> 
> This might be a situation where some sort of DRM might come in handy,
> if you could make the hardware with biometric sensors limiting access
> to only the appropriate student (it wouldn't surprise me if this would
> eventually be hacked - even if integrated into the hardware - but it
> should be at least a deterrent).
> 

The first thing that will happen on all of these PCs is each student 
will get an IM client installed, and note passing will be a whole lot 
harder to stop.

All in all I think most computer spending in the schools is a waste of 
tax payer money, even when the equipment is donated. To many students 
are graduating without the core skills to survive. Colleges are having 
greater and greater numbers having to take remedial classes. More and 
more college programs have become vocational programs versus true 
academic degrees. I have worked with a lot of CS grads who mostly 
learned the latest and greatest languages, and little of the theory and 
building blocks of Language and software design. I was fortunate to have 
grown up in the years just before this became the norm where I was 
raised, and received a solid education, but I fear for my children 
generation, and their ability to succeed in a world that never stands 
still.

-- 
"I know, a proof is a proof. What kind of a proof is a proof? A proof is 
a proof and when you have a good proof it's because it's proven."
--Jean Chetien