I agree completely with this reader’s comment, in response to the post about Waldorf schools. The computer has a very important role in our lives. We will call upon it daily, and in many cases, hourly, and by the minute. Many of us will spend our waking hours in front of a computer. But a computer should not be at the center of education. It is a tool and should be used as a tool. Above all, children need healthy cognitive, emotional, social and psychological development. To the extent the computer aids in that process of development, good. To the extent that it is extraneous, so be it. The computer is a tool (I repeat) and should not be our master. We should use it wisely and not allow it to use us.
| As one who concentrates his study on the intersection of technology and culture, I see schools like Waldorf as an extremely positive development. We who have not grown up with computers fear that our children will not know how to use them if we don’t teach them… which is, if you look at computers today and at children today, a completely unfounded fear.Yes, there are those who see computers as the tool of the future for education but, here too, a quick look will show that computers will never succeed as the center of education. They never have… and computer-assisted learning has been around for fifty years (the programmed instruction and teaching machine people may not have had the sophisticated hardware of today, but many of the concepts were the same).Just because computers are part of our lives we don’t have to make them the center of our education, or even part of it. Personally, I do see a role for computers in schools, but I would rather get rid of them completely than make them the driving force. |
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This past year the new superintendent was pushing (I believe due to parental pressure which can be quite strong in a small town) to allow the students at the high school unlimited access to their cell phones, Ipads, MP3’s etc. . . . And second semester it was decreed to be so. Now during passing period there is a lot less person to person, social interaction with many students texting or just lost in their own little musical world. It is indeed quite disheartening to see. They have supposedly allowed the teacher to set usage rules in his/her own class but the students, even the supposed “top” students, use them as they see fit almost always inappropriately. So do I interrupt the class time to address the issue or do I ignore it?
This year the students aren’t going to like what I will be doing because the rule will be that before you set foot in the door you will put the technology away and not use it unless explicitly allowed by me. And no, I’m not a Luddite, but I have music related to the Spanish speaking world on as they come in and for me, that’s part of the curriculum and I want them to experience it.
Could you go as far as having them check their tech devices at the door? Good for you, in setting down some new ground rules.
No, I wouldn’t go that far as that would be impossible, way too time consuming, to handle efficiently and effectively, not to mention the fact that if something happened to one guess who would be liable.
But it is going to be a battle the first few days. I’ll let the administrators know to expect to see a student or two if they give me any grief about it. (I hardly ever send discipline issues to the office but I think this is going to be a time that I will.)
I note that among my most technological friends, that many of them have chosen Waldorf or other low technology schools for their kids, when they choose something other than the local school.
Last year I had my GT class using their personal devices to access edModo which is a social network that is secured for teachers and students. Of course it requires a LOT of work in monitoring that the kids are using the devices for what was intended. I have to say I had a very good turnout for assignments and student interactions. Technology will never replace a caring guiding person leading the class, but it does facilitate things. In the class I mentioned I had one student who did not participate very openly in a verbal discussion but given the “facebook like” interface she was submitting good quality journals and lab reports. I say there has to be a healthy balance and I agree it can not be the end all be all in instruction.
I worry about the technology plan template that has expectations like, “All staff will do two lessons a week using computer-driven instruction.” That’s silly. Maybe the 6th grade teacher should do 4 lessons a week and maybe the Kindergarten teacher shouldn’t use it at all. The lesson is the lesson, and the computer is just a tool like books or pens or paint or glue and macaroni.