__/ [ Donn Miller ] on Saturday 09 September 2006 14:38 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> For a moment there, owing to the subject line, I thought we were
>> discussing Episode 1 of Seinfeld. *smile* As for the 'bad news', it's
>> Microsoft's attempt to create a Microsoft dev factory. But people are not
>> dumb, so they will ultimately see through nd recoil in disgust. If
>> Microsoft wants to turn education into a self-serving tool, they'll be
>> harshly criticised.
>
> Educators today face enough challenges. It's more difficult than ever
> to keep students' attention long enough for them to learn. Younger
> people (17 and under) get bored real easily. It's almost like you've
> got to be an entertainer as well as teacher. Teachers today have to
> pull out all the stops, and use Power Point and things like that in
> addition to a traditional lecture. As a student, I don't think I'd like
> to see a regular "old-school" lecture with the guy writing on the board
> the entire time. It's very difficult to write everything on the board
> fast enough and legible enough. It takes too much time. Better to do
> some presentation via computer, and save the board for things like
> examples. Or, maybe perhaps project the overhead projector onto the
> board (provided it's the white dry-erase variety) and write some things
> over top of the image.
>
> Laptops are one of the hurdles teachers have to overcome/compete with.
> I can see attention spans were starting to lapse in the 80's, and even
> perhaps late 70's. Today it's very difficult. Having students in the
> class with laptops is not always good, because you can never tell what
> they're doing. Are they emailing, browsing unrelated sites, or paying
> attention to the lecture?
Donn,
Your post reminds me of the following:
http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000764.html
Is anyone listening? WiFi and the new ADD
I'm not opposing to use of technology in the classroom. /Au contraire/. I
never ever use paper because I am aware of the merits of digital,
'indexable' data. My critique refers to the branding of school, as well as
the spin. You can't permit education to be possessed by a company and have
people surrender or have their knowledge owned /per se/.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2006/4/23/3719
Welcome to college, here's your Windows Live account
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | Useless fact: 85% of plant life in in the oceans
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE GNU/Linux ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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