> > What the hell do K-12 students need a laptop for? Sometimes there seems to > be a frantic belief in throwing money at our schools' problems, and that > computers will be a magic pill that will make everything all better. > > At this point I don't think it's about the purpose for which the kids need the computer so much as about why the teachers need the kids to have them. I grew up using computers. I got my first when I was 6 yrs old and I haven't been far from one since. I know that this isn't true for /most/ people my age, but it is more and more the case. Kids these days really are 'digital natives' (with apologies to whichever author I stole that from).
They are using computers in all kinds of aspects of everyday life starting at a very young age. Anything that brings school more in line with their everyday lives will improve the impact of the education. How many kids have you known that did poorly at math because they just didn't care enough to learn? I've know quite a few, and almost all at some point said "I'm not going to need this in real life, so why bother?" So if kids are going to have access to computers everywhere, what's going to make them believe in a computerless educational system enough to put forth any effort? I don't disagree that teachers need to learn to use the computers effectively in the classroom, but I definitely believe that as a society we are well beyond the point where we should be questioning whether or not computers should play a role in the next generation's education. /thor
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