PCs and education

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gordon C. Thomasson, Ph.D." <gthomas1 () stny rr com>
Date: May 6, 2007 6:54:32 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: PCs and education

Dave,
I know it is heresy for (most?) IP-people, but this should be  
confronted honestly. With ever-shrinking education budgets (in terms  
of $-buying power, energy costs, etc.), honest cost-benefit analysis  
must be done and faced-up to. Even with the fabled $100 (now the even  
more fabled $10) PC, the question is not just can computers be  
afforded financially, but educationally. I'm sure a hidden camera in  
the back of my college classroom (I'm NOT suggesting one) would show  
some of those apparently studious laptops have something other than  
course notes on the screen. And as for IM-ing ...
Gordon C. Thomasson, Ph.D.


Are PCs, especially laptops, good for schools? The general issue is  
EFFECTIVENESS -- both program and cost. In short, what is the NET  
effect on schooling (not just learning) and on taxes (do we get good  
value?). More and more the answer seems to be "no". The /NY Times/  
story (excerpts below) reports another challenge, pointing to a wide  
range of problems, including instructional, curricular, disciplinary,  
and fiscal.
tal-

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html?ei=5087% 
0A&em=&en=e81b274bb8b5effb&ex=1178424000 <http://www.nytimes.com/ 
2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html?ei=5087% 
0A&em=&en=e81b274bb8b5effb&ex=1178424000>
/NY Times/ May 4, 2007

*Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops
*By WINNIE HU
.....

So the Liverpool Central School District, just outside Syracuse, has  
decided to phase out laptops starting this fall, joining a handful of  
other schools around the country that adopted one-to-one computing  
programs and are now *abandoning them as educationally empty ? and  
worse*.
....
"After seven years, there was *literally no evidence it had any  
impact on student achievement ? none*," said Mark Lawson, the school  
board president here in Liverpool, one of the first districts in New  
York State to experiment with putting technology directly into  
students' hands. "The teachers were telling us when there's a one-to- 
one relationship between the student and the laptop, the box gets in  
the way. It's a *distraction to the educational process*."
.....
Yet school officials here and in several other places said laptops  
had been abused by students, did not fit into lesson plans, and  
showed little, if any, measurable effect on grades and test scores at  
a time of increased pressure to meet state standards. Districts have  
dropped laptop programs after resistance from teachers, logistical  
and technical problems, and escalating maintenance costs.
Such disappointments are the latest example of how technology is  
often embraced by philanthropists and political leaders as a quick  
fix ....




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