[Edu-sig] gimme more computers (rant)

[kirby urner]

<< SNIP >>

But the marketing of the Big Money Firms in IT-industry will pay off some
> time. Hey, lets burn lots of money for more computers in school - sounds
> GREAT.
>
> Crazy...
>
> Christian
>
>
>
I think many students would be better served if the emphasis were on
creating for them a safe personal workspace, with plenty of bandwidth to
the outside world, with opportunities for 2-way interactions (so not just
receiving broadcast television, as in the "mindless consumer couch potato"
model of the late 1900s).

In a comfortable middle class household, Johnny already has a heated
bedroom with a desk, books, and computer, but has to leave this workspace
to rub shoulders with peers in a daycare setting we call "school".

Said school may censor Youtube and/or otherwise block access to
information, so for many school-goers the experience of school is of
burning an expensive fuel to frequent a less information-rich environment
than their own comfortable bedrooms.

However many children are doubled up with siblings, and have cold, cramped
accommodations with little space for reflection, study, and private
contemplation.

Having the state funnel all the money to these daycare centers i.e.
state-run "schools" (often similar to state-run prisons in their
administrative structures and food) versus addressing these low living
standards that inhibit scholarship, would seem a poor policy, one based on
misguided priorities.

In Alaska, where students may be too spread out to make "school" a
practicality, the state reimburses home expenses for computer and musical
instrument rental.  Johnny in effect becomes an income-earner for the
family in terms of making the household eligible for these services.
Getting an education means directly investing in the quality of life at
home.

A teacher-mentor may visit once every week or two.

I think we should tease apart "spending on connectivity devices" (such a
mobile phones, tablets, laptops) from "building up an inventory of such
devices in school buildings" (as in stockpiling schools with computer
equipment).

These are not the same thing, even if both approaches involve investing in
connectivity and computation devices (a smartphone is also a scientific
calculator, and a compass).

Another use case:  here in Portland, Free Geek tutors both minors and
adults in how to disassemble and reassemble computers from donated
hardware.  Build five and the sixth is yours to keep (or maybe it's build
four and the fifth is yours).

Kids get a "Freek Box" to take home, with support classes in Ubuntu.

"Schools" are not involved yet here we have an incubator for Portland's
IT-minded subcultures of tomorrow (and today -- Free Geek has been around
for a generation already).

Also, again in Portland, although schools may have computers, chances are
they don't teach mathematics and programming as a combined subject.  We
have another institution called Saturday Academy that pilots courses of
that genre.

Sure, in some of the better schools you'll find the math + programming mix,
but it's still esoteric, even in 2014 with all the needed software free,
and hardware quite inexpensive.

So that's another reason to not throw a lot of money at putting computers
in schools:  the adults who staff them generally don't have enough skills
to make good use of them.

Better that Sally should stay home and watch instructional Youtubes about a
math + programming approach to STEM.  She just won't find that at her local
day care center.  Why waste Sally's time?

Kirby
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