Florida law requires schools to offer online courses to children in every grade, even as young as kindergarten.
There is no evidence or research to support this mandate.
None.
Wonder if this has anything to do with the political power of Jeb Bush, now the nation’s leading enthusiast for online learning? Wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that his Foundation for Excellence in Education is heavily funded by technology corporations?
Remember how he and his lobbyist facilitated the introduction of virtual schooling into Maine? If you forgot, please read the link. It was a heckuva job.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Can you spell
C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T– O-F–I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T
???
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They can’t. They have to rely on spell check.
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Zing! Good one.
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Now that the election is over, we have to work as hard as we can to stop these carpetbaggers.
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School, by yourself, in front of a computer for 13 years. That sounds as bleak as homeschooling. There is just so much kids learn in school that a computer cannot teach—-sharing, competition, empathy, getting along with others, just becoming fully human. I cannot imagine a little child getting a real education this way although as a supplement it would be great. High school maybe and definitely for professional children who travel for their work—-Olympians, TV and movie stars, musicians. But this just does not seem to be right for the average child or even most gifted or special needs kids. And especially not in elementary school. Plus, it just invites child abuse. I loved online learning, but I was in graduate school.
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It’s amazing in some ways how conflicts of interest like this are ignored, or even accepted, by people that are impacted by stuff like this. It looks like it would be obvious what is going on if people would just follow the money. But, on a more practical matter for school districts that have to do this, how do you even go about teaching a kindergarten child online? Children are probably better with technology then they are given credit for, but doesn’t a child that young need socialization with other kids? Wouldn’t they need contact with a teacher more then just a few times a year to develop, never mind learn? I’d love to see if someone can answer these questions in more ways than just writing a check and putting it in someone’s pocket. It really does seem like virtual insanity.
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This is just another thing for schools to do to eat up resources. Another thing that charter schools will not be required to do.
It will be like the old days of having a set of encyclopedias in the book case and no one looks at them.
The state repeatedly chips away at public schools with unfunded mandates. Then the state complains about the cost of education.
When computers came into the schools, it was expected to decrease paper, improve efficiency and free up time for other duties. None of that has come to pass. The result has been more work, more pressure and more stress. This leads to burn out and more turn over. Which is great for schools and the pension plan. The pay roll is smaller and fewer people will qualify for a pension. Government is crazy like a fox.
The public school system is designed to fail. The charter school system is designed to succeed, but that has for the most part not happened.
I’m retired and I never thought things would get this bad so fast.
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“The public school system is designed to fail. The charter school system is designed to succeed, but that has for the most part not happened.”–This has got to be the silliest thing I have ever read. Public schools are being “designed” to “fail”–on purpose through schemes like charter schools. Charter schools, which are private schools, are lousy substitutes because there is no evidence they are better and are mostly much worse.
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Human beings learn to become human beings, with all that means in every dimension of human potential, by interacting with other human beings.
I used to believe in the potential of communication technology to enhance human interaction, but that was when I imagined that technology would be under the control of learners, teachers, and those who have a grasp of what educating the whole human being really means.
I still believe in that potential, but only if the design and control can be wrested from the hands of corporate hucksters who care nothing for the future of humanity.
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Why is it that the fiscally Conservative party is always so willing to throw our tax money around?
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I’m guessing there is some sort of misnomer involved.
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You forgot to add “willy nilly” to the end of your question.
Actually they’re experts at throwing money around willy nilly. Check out the “defense” budget.
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Who could have ever guessed that Obama would be worse for public education than George W Bush or that George would not be the worst of the Bush clan?
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There’s a reason the mittster lost. The economy is not going to get any better and more likely than not get worse. That way ol Jebber can come to the rescue in ’16. Just what we need another bushie. We’ve had enough of their crap the last 80 years.
Look, the the big oil companies were instructed to help Obama (and he’s been a lackey for them). The price of a gallon of gas was close to $4 a few months ago and it crept down to 2.97 here a few days before the election. Now the day after it was back up to 3.19. Yep, I wear a tin foil hat, for sure.
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I believe that you hit the nail right on the head with your “Virtual Insanity” posting. Thanks!
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The answer is YES.
And they keep saying that teachers unions contributing to campaigns and then sitting across from them in the negotiating process is a conflict of interest….
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Online educational lessons and activities have shown to help different learners. I know a little girl who took online preschool classes and she can read as well as a 2nd or 3rd grader, and she’s only in kindergarten. It’s not a conflict of interest, there are many, many success stories. welcome to the 21st century.
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twinklecat1, how does online education invite child abuse? How do you know online school is bleak? How do you know homeschool is bleak? If it’s good enough for olympians and celebrities, why isn’t it good enough for gifted, special needs, or average children (I say all children are gifted, BTW)? And why does Ravitch keep writing anti-online education articles? Hmmm, maybe it’s because they are actually successful overall. Yes, know she is a teachers’ union appologist who gets paid well to say what they want to hear.
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Whether we like it or not, technology illiterate people will be swept to the alleys and byways of life. Those who are homeless, displaced, or otherwise impoverished have far less access to computers. We are limited to two one-hour sessions at our public library. Some days, particularly when it’s busy, I must either complete all of my online job applications and job searching within this two-hour limit, or I’m just screwed. The monthly cost of a WiFi subscription is, now, often more than I am able to earn in a month. I am dependent on whatever my public library can offer me.
While I realize the political implications of this mandate, and the concerns about whether or not research supports it, for those of us whose only access to technology, or the Internet, itself, is through public libraries, or that provided through schools, I fail to see how children could suffer as a result of a technology mandate. And contrary to what many people believe, not all cell phones are Web endowed. Phone services that provide phones for “the poor” often provide phones that simply allow one to make phone calls — and with a very limited amount of minutes per month. “Unlimited data” and all the other perks cost money.
Children pick up technology skills as easily as they pick up language skills. I’m quite tech savvy, but had to ask a first-grader to program my phone the other day. It was both impressive and humbling. A four-year-old acquaintance of mine, who might otherwise have gone to a fairly substandard school, recently got into a fancy day school ($40,000/year) not only because she’s bright, but she’s also computer literate. It’s no longer enough to know how to read and write, or to have been exposed to great literature. No one ever “attains” ‘information literacy’ — it is something that must constantly and vigilantly updated, tweaked, and renewed.
So, yes, there are problems with this mandate, but when I look around at all my impoverished neighbors (myself included) and their children — the ones who can’t afford iPhones and fancy laptops, it’s not the mandate that makes me shudder, but rather the question of how these children are supposed to compete with the ones who have unfettered access to the Web not only at school, but at home, and any type of technology their parents are willing to purchase for them. Currently, I have access to a basic cell phone that is fairly well-endowed, and literally, the first Kindle ever made — and to my dismay, it’s dying and I can’t replace it (though I can still read my Kindle books on my [dying] laptop…
From where I grovel, this matter is much more complex than some people seem to realize…
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