The San Jose Mercury News has an article about a pilot program in a Palo Alto elementary school where 50 sixth graders use iBooks. One student told the reporter about what he sees as one of the benefits: "My handwriting isn't that good, and with this I can write faster and be neater!"
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Oh great, so now the kid doesn't have to practice handwriting to get better. Good idea.
This child's quote is illustrative of the one of the many reasons why computers do not belong in schools prior to high school. What a remarkable waste of public dollars! Can you name even one other purchase that a school makes that costs even half as much that is virtually obsolete every three years?
anybody who is thinking knows that by not writing on a regular basis, handwriting legibilty goes down. Mine is absolutely horrible and was not that good to begin with. I now force myself to write longhand just so my handwriting does not deteriorate any more than it already has.
"Oh yeah - now Apple helps produce students who can't write. Just great."
I read it this way: "Oh yeah - now Apple helps children communicate who might otherwise be self-conscious about their writing skills."
If a sixth grader hasn't learned to write yet, using an iBook--or any computer--isn't the problem.
Computers in schools are great things. Go take a look at a school sometime; I'd wager you'll find FAR more old Macs still in use (3 years+) than you will Windows machines. Macs hold their value much, much better than any other personal computer in the world.
what the h*** do primary school kids need a computer for? they should be learning their 3R's first. 1 ibook would have purchased how many physical books that could have educated how many years of students? at least Bill Gates is honest enough to admit now that those seeking a technological (nee computational) solution to the problem of education are naive or, worst, exploitive. one needs to understand the fundamentals, and there is no royal road to doing so.
This money was raised from contributions - not from public dollars. I commend the school for stepping out and trying something new. The kids are excited about learning and are being equipped for tomorrow's world. I'm sure the teachers are balancing the keyboarding with the longhand...
"Oh great, so now the kid doesn't have to practice handwriting to get better. Good idea."
Go see your doctor for a hand-written script sometime. Dollars to donuts the kid in this story writes far more neatly than your average M.D. or lawyer.
"what the h*** do primary school kids need a computer for?"
Really! Why the h*** should any of these kids be exposed any earlier than necessary to technology that will likely dominate their educational and professional lives?! What are these teachers thinking? Ignorant b*******!!!
I'm sure none of these kids go home and sit down in front of computers to do their homework. Naaaaah.
how do you do your homework on a computer? type your essays? the content is the same - focus on the CONTENT, not the APPEARANCE. why not just send them to a DeVry academy and be done with it, let them learrn data entry and word processing skills oh yeah! that's why america's clock is going to be cleaned this century, because you are raising a generation on uneducated people. computers are tools to get a job done, not an end in to themselves. no matter, all america's enemies are no doubt smugly satisfied that 20 years from now all the technological breakthroughs will no longer be in america, because with children educated like this, what do you think you'll get? Of course, those contributing here are presumably adults, yet i've been amazed at the low level of thinking, so maybe things are already at rock bottom?
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just great
Oh yeah - now Apple helps produce students who can't write. Just great.