Comments on: Computers don't boost poor kids' grades

By: Amritas

Amritas — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:06:16 +0000

Part of the attraction of computers lies in the fact that they (and their software) are known quantities. Administrators can find out how much they cost and put them in their budgets. And spending money always creates the impression of Doing Something for the Children. Computers are a procurement-based solution for a human problem. One can order X number of computers from a manufacturer (possibly at a nice discount!), but one can’t order good teaching or good parenting, or even figure out how much they cost.

By: pm

pm — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:08:01 +0000

In our school district, teachers often give children books as gifts. This practice doesn’t seem to have hurt them or helped them academically, as the standardized reading scores are flat over the last six years. Perhaps the children are only spending a little time looking at the pictures. The city I live in also has an excellent library system with lots of books. However, this excellent library system with lots of books doesn’t seem to have raised standardized reading scores either. Perhaps its all the computers that they’ve installed? I’d guess not as the scores were low and stable before the computers came. Well at least things aren’t so bad, as the students are not entertaining themselves by burning the books.

Ok, enough sarcasm. Points taken:

1. Some tools are more flexible than others
2. Tools need a purpose
3. We really care more about the purpose than the tool

By: Computer Training and Information » Blog Archive » Late breaking news

Computer Training and Information » Blog Archive » Late breaking news — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:10:01 +0000

[...] Computers dont boost poor kids grades [...]

By: BadaBing

BadaBing — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:44:00 +0000

I wish the administration would take every damn computer out of my classroom and toss them into the recycling bin. They’re a distraction and I don’t need them or use them. Learning requires hard work and the ability to focus. Computers loaded up with the best educational software in the solar system can’t replace the hard work and time that must be invested if kids are to learn how to read, write and do math. Computer literacy? Don’t make me laugh.

By: SuperSub

SuperSub — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:50:12 +0000

Dawn-
“Forget programs that try to inject school into homes, spend the money helping parents do their job instead.”

Or maybe we can stop spending money to motivate parents to do their job out of necessity.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:55:07 +0000

Well…dud…

When my private school student was required to purchase a computer for high school…I was waiting to see if the school would tell the parents the computer would NOT help improve the students’ academic performance. I did not have to say a thing. They told the parents the truth.

What did happen was my son no longer had to carry home the ridiculously large textbooks (yes, they do come with CD Rom but how many schools hand them out?). It did make it easier for him to submit his homework (yes, electronically) and he saved several trees.

For us it did everything we were told it would

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:36:05 +0000

half Canadian said:
—I think that this is pertinent:

â€œIf a parent was at home to supervise, the negative effects were diminished significantly.â€

How about parents in every home before we worry about computers?—

Bingo! I’m amazed at how that got lost in all this. The computers are beside the point. It’s the parents that matter. Forget programs that try to inject school into homes, spend the money helping parents do their job instead.

By: allen

allen — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:35:20 +0000

I think the readership of Slate would’ve been better served if the author of the article delved into the reasons why computers continue to show up in public education despite the fact that there’s not a single success story or, indeed, much notion of what success would look like were it to occur.

By: NYC Educator

NYC Educator — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:53:59 +0000

I don’t know if we should give a laptop to every child or not. But I sure would like to see one in every classroom, even if it’s a trailer or a closet (Ideally, I’d like a real classroom too).

By: NDC

NDC — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:17:19 +0000

At the risk of sounding unbelievably harsh, but what are the chances of actually making the choice you’ve described?

How many countries or domestic school systems are competently teaching math and high level reading and not also teaching computer literacy almost incidentally along the way?

I think we ought to adopt the use of technology in so far as it serves other educational ends but never as an end in itself. Anyone with any experience with technology probably realizes that complete mastery of any particular program or system is largely pointless as an end in itself, unless you are the guy paid to keep the equipment functioning.