Hi Bob,
-> I think it is not so much a question of necessity, in the sense that
-> text books, paper, pencils are necessary, as it is a question of
-> enhancing direct instruction.
I tend to agree.
-> One computer in a classroom offers or allows very little or no time
-> for individual student use.  What it can (should?) be used for is an
-> alternative or out and out replacement for those odious overheads.
Hmm. I don't know about that. I use my overhead quite effectively, and
it is very legible. There are ways to do Geometry demonstrations of
_some_ topics that mimic (or roughly approximate) the advantages of
computer animation. However, there are certain things one simply can't
do with the overhead projector. (I don't know why you call them odious?
I prefer mine to the chalkboard! They are a useful tool.)
Where I tread with caution, is the certainty that the computer can give
high quality images for all students. We have some overhead projector
panels at our school. I borrowed one from the physics teacher for the
recent Internet demo I did for the math department. It was not a
satisfactory image, IMO. It was too dim and I had to turn the lights off
and close the window blinds to get something that was barely
serviceable. Granted, there may be better options. I will be looking
into that this summer, hoping to find some better method of projecting
brighter and clearer images from the computer for all students to wee.
-> I have seen creative elementary teachers using MECC software really
-> grab the attention of the whole class in science lessons; in
-> spelling, in teaching reading, even in that driest of subjects - math
-> - :-/ Elementary kids are products of the "video" age. I can't quote
-> ANY research but I'd guess that kids easily get 50% or _more_ of
-> their information from looking at and listening to TV (non junk TV);
-> video tapes and, for what has to be an increasing number, cd-rom's.
Again, I go with caution here. While some video presentation can be
good, it's novelty wears off quickly. My experience with graphing
calculators is that the kids quickly tire of the presentations if it is
all demonstration by the teacher. Without an opportunity for the kids to
actually use the tools themselves, for "what if..." type of discovery,
they quickly become bored and lose interest again. And I don't blame
them. It looks like the teacher is the one having all the fun, pushing
all the buttons on the machine.
-> Unlike (the guy's name just went flying .. Bob something) who posted
-> his draft for a 6th grade computer class I don't envision teaching
-> typing at the elementary level;
......
-> (elementary age kids hands won't make the stretch to all the keys
-> anyway so why bother - it's not something they need to know YET)
I agree. The kids can learn typing skills in jr. or early sr. high.
That's when I learned. My two children just hunt-and-peck for now, and
the amount of typing they do for school essays and reports is so small
that it really doesn't matter.
-> What I can easily see is that same teacher using the machine to
-> reinforce direct teaching, to provide her/him with an alternative to
-> the "traditional" method of teaching x, y, or z. Access to the
-> machine in the classroom is used as an incentive for this or that.
-> What most of the kids don't realize is that whatever they "get to do"
-> has been pre-selected just for them by the teacher to, again,
-> reinforce a possibly weak area.
This seems reasonable. I believe that my children's teachers are doing
this to some extent. (They have a few computers in each classroom at
their school. Mostly Apples and Macs, I guess.)
-> I asked her to find out from the teacher of the course what the drive
-> capability was of the machine the disk would be used in and what the
-> OS was and I'd format a disk and give it to her.  The response was
-> "just a blank formatted disk will be fine" NOT... I did a 360, 720,
-> 1.0 and 1.44 and sent them all in with her; one of them must have
-> done the trick or else she found someone at school to reformat one.
I recently had the same problem with a textbook publisher. I was talking
on the phone to someone who was telling me that the software that used
to be included with their textbook is now only available by downloading
off their Web site. I asked if the programs all fit onto one floppy. She
said "yes. a 3.5 inch disk." I asked if it needed to be 1.4 Meg
formatted. This really confused her and she repeated several times that
it needed to be a 3.5 inch disk and sounded like she thought _I_ didn't
know what I was talking about. Simple case, I believe, of someone now
having a new task added to their job in a field they are not completely
comfortable or competent in. Same for teachers in the scenario you
describe above.
-> He was in a classroom with 25 other kids...including him, only 6 had
-> access to a computer at home.  All 6 did their projects using their
-> home computers.  There just wasn't enough expertise, time or
-> equipment at school to allow the rest to do the same kind of
-> work...don't get me wrong they all did the work and it was fine, its
-> just that the 6 stood above...
Hmm. I wonder if this is a case of things being in the "eye of the
beholder". Simply because some reports were done on computer and
_looked_ nicer, doesn't mean they were better. Content is more important
than appearance to a large extent. Are you implying that the kids
working without a computer are naturally at a disadvantage to present a
nice looking report? I wonder if you aren't a bit biased toward the
technology?
Our two kids have their own computer. (The only pentium in the house is
theirs. Mom and Dad are working with a 386 and a 486.) I know my son's
schoolwork looks much nicer when he does it on the computer, since his
handwriting is of very poor quality. He often prefers to type his work
on the computer instead of doing his writing by hand. But I'm not
convinced that having access to a computer automatically implies for all
kids and advantage in report writing.
Sheila
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