Saturday, October 31, 2015
Tech was never the point
This article on tech in ed is peculiarly written, and stupidly ignores racial differences, but uses constants and variables properly to reach one important conclusion:
The most recent OECD-PISA report ... found no appreciable improvements in student achievement in reading, mathematics, or science in the countries that had invested heavily in information and communication technologies (ICT) for Education.Yup. This was already true in the '70s when the first teaching machines were a fad. After a couple years of intensive use, no discernible improvement in performance. Technology does matter to some extent. Basic math needs to use calculators, and writing needs to use full-size keyboards. Without those devices you're wasting a terrific amount of time. There is a good muscle-memory argument for handwriting, but it's sort of luxurious. Shouldn't worry about it until the more important things are in order. What's the important thing? CURRICULUM. And I don't mean details like which evil avant-garde authors to read or which falsely described historical periods to focus on. Authors and history shouldn't be part of school, except possibly as optional outside reading or special projects. I mean just TWO QUESTIONS. 1. WHAT DO YOU DO? 2. WHEN DO YOU DO IT? The correct answer to 1 is WORK. Real-life activities. Practice various jobs, practice housekeeping, practice running a family, practice running a business. The correct answer to 2 is WHEN KIDS ARE READY. All school activities should be staged in the context of real life, but talent for occupations appears at age 9. That's when the serious practice starts, that's when the divided tracks split, and that's when you start the gradual expansion into subsidiary skills like effective communication and math.
Labels: Experiential education
¶ 3:39 PM
