14 May
1998
14 May
'98
8:40 a.m.
I will say Amen to that, considering that I just mailed 9 boxes of
MS-DOS 3.3 which were still shrinkwrapped and beign thrown away by
my school. THat has to be $500 right there that could have been used
on pencils. I won't complain about the fate the DOS 3.1 boxes met...
or
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>
> Personally, I believe the "computer literacy in schools is
everything"
movement is a
result of inept teachers and a haywire NEA.
Amen!
students should be introduced to computers
(read: word
processors/calculators) until the first year of high school after
mastering basic reading, comprehension, writing and math skills.
The problem with introducing elementary and middle school kids to
computers so early is that they either a) know more than the lab admin, b) aren't allowed to use them in any constructive
way. I'm only in the
tenth grade, but I've already seen seven new labs installed in area
schools.
The school districts almost ALWAYS spend WAY too much
on new computers,
mainly from the worst vendors, only to have to replace them when the
warranty runs out (with very little usage, BTW). The computers simply
aren't used until high school, when word processing/database,
programming,
and other such courses are offered. Anything before is
mainly a waste
of
money.
What about the 'net? I don't understand why people think that the
internet is such a great "tool" that will help schools. Just do a
search
for "barbie" on Yahoo. Or, for that matter,
try "video" or something
general. Especially considering that most schools don't use any
Internet blocking software..
It takes most people a long time to get used to using search engines in
such a
way to get what they want. Most people in my school
don't have any
idea how to
use the 'net, and could care less. That is the
general attitude at
most
schools that I have been to.
In other words, most of the money spent on computer equipment is a
waste.