North Carolina School District Has Success With MacBook Air Initiative

[maelstromr]

Quite obviously you ignored every item in my post.

How is the news source credible when the chairman and CEO of the news source is actively seeking to profiteer from his own "news".

How come the whole state had THE SAME INCREASES as MGSD without MBA?

So basically you have an opinion that you don't want to research, analyze or face challenges.

WHAT RESEARCH DO YOU HAVE TO BASE ANY OF YOUR OPINIONS. YOU OFFER NOTHING TO SUPPORT YOUR REGURGITATED EDUCATION PROFITEERING DRIVEL!

Go ahead and read what I posted...we'll wait...and try again.

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Quite obviously you ignored every item in my post.

How is the news source credible when the chairman and CEO of the news source is actively seeking to profiteer from his own "news".

How come the whole state had THE SAME INCREASES as MGSD without MBA?

So basically you have an opinion that you don't want to research, analyze or face challenges.

WHAT RESEARCH DO YOU HAVE TO BASE ANY OF YOUR OPINIONS. YOU OFFER NOTHING TO SUPPORT YOUR REGURGITATED EDUCATION PROFITEERING DRIVEL!

And while we're at it, what IS your point? That with the macbook air program a district can show the exact same performance as other schools, but with significant savings to tax payers? Sign me up!

 

[guzhogi]

I've got a radical idea (somewhat kidding about): get rid of the whole school system as we know it. No teachers, no principals, no nothing. Just give each kid an iPad, MBA or other kind of computer. Have an app that lets you download different subject areas (i.e. science, math, literature, computer science, etc.) at different levels of difficulty. Once you think you've mastered a certain level in a subject, you take a test and, if you pass, go on to the next level. Maybe make level 1 be kindergarten and level 10 be high school senior or something. Something like certification exams that exist for Apple Certified Technology Coordinator or CCNA exams, etc.

This way, kids can learn at their own pace, with parents (and eventually kids when they turn 18) and industry can decide which curriculum you want/need to learn. So if you want to learn evolution, you can. If you want to learn intelligent design instead, fine. Plus, since it's self paced, smart, dedicated kids can advance as quickly as they need while kids who aren't as dedicated won't be rewarded by going to the next level.

And then maybe the app could interface with job search sites like careers builder or monster.com and see jobs that you're qualified for.

Plus, instead of having all the thousands/millions of teachers out there taking up billions of tax dollars, we'd just need maybe a few hundred people to create the curriculum, and write the app. Plus, this has the added benefit of having every kid learning the same info.

Obviously, teachers will make a big deal about this. Plus, how would a computer program be able to grade papers or other subjective things?

Before anyone flames me, just know that I have serious doubts on whether this'll work. It'll require massive amounts of planning and whatever to even get off the ground. Plus, there's something to say about actual interaction between a student & teacher. Sometimes it's better to ask a person a question instead of a computer when you don't understand something.

 

[coachingguy]

Now America can have a real reason for not knowing there is somewhere called "the rest of the world"

It's funny, I teach both Physical and Human Geography. I haven't used hanging wall maps in years. The biggest issues, usability - it's a wall hanging that kids sit in their desks and look at - It's static, size, replacement costs and errors.

With iPads (I have a class set), laptops and things like Google Earth and other similar apps/web 2.0 tools, the students can engage the geography, interact with it. Not to mention the quality of the detail is FAR, FAR superior. Look at it this way, which would you rather use? The Walmart Road Atlas or your GPS?

As far as technology in a K-12 setting and the loss of human interaction... Watch today's kids, they all have cell phones, except they don't call each, it's all texting, FB and Twitter. This generation does very little "face to face"... The generations of teachers "Standing and Delivering" for a period is over. If teachers are still teaching that way... I feel bad for their kids.

Just my .02¢

Coachingguy

 

[coffey]

Let Computers do what they do best and let teachers do what they do best.

So this article has elicited a barrage of messages on issues of more or less teachers and whether it is good to replace teachers with computers.

What we are seeing is what we saw in manufacturing. Computers and robots can do many things better than humans. But in using them for some things, it alleviates humans from doing those things and allows humans to focus their attention on the things that they do better than the automation tools.

I think we are seeing the same thing in Moorsville. By alleviating teachers of mundane tasks and allocating some tasks to computers, it allows teachers to actually spend more time with students. While many people rail against the loss of 37 teachers, it may well be that even with that, students are getting more one on one attention from teachers and in fact that is a secondary reason they are learning better. The first reason being whatever new effects are realized by having the computers.

One more thing, how many middle and high schools does Mooresville have. It could be that the loss of 37 teachers is one per school and the increase in class size is minimal.

 

[CFreymarc]

I don't think Steve knew any more than the teachers in the US' parochial education system. There's very little difference between a text book and an ebook no matter 'interactive' it might be - they are both based on the fallacy that teaching is the transfer of information, which further confuses education with training.

... the length of this shows academic drudge ...

Academia is the product of education too and the suspicion of academics pretty much lays bare the anti-intellectualism present in some debates in your country. In the end, education helps to develop intellect and anti-academia is really a form of anti-education (who likes the smart guy?).

Academics in the USA have become so detached from American society and market dynamics, anyone with tenure just runs toward an ideal without any moral nor market correction does not deserve to influence society.

 

[William7]

I dont see anywhere where it states there is less interaction between students and teachers. You could make the same argument for someone learning from a text book instead of a teacher.

They achieved better educational results than they were before, with all those amazing teachers they let go. Honestly am I the only one who had some lousy teachers? I specifically remember multiple social studies classes in middle school that consisted of the teacher putting up a transparency for us to copy by hand. I would gladly have traded her job for a computer.

As someone still in school i can agree completely with this. I have many many lousy teachers and spend more time teaching myself the lessons every night then i did watching the teachers put slides up at school.

A computer would also be much more preferable to a 26 pound backpack. Also i think most people who are commenting on this are missing the point the computers are not replacing teachers they are replacing textbooks, ws and all paper and pencil products used in school.

i can say that less students per class is extremely beneficial but unless there are 15 students or less all is lost and the how big really doesnt matter anymore, this comes from experience. parents cant watch 25 kids neither can teachers.

also i agree that the most important factor of all is the parents push for the student to excel.

 

[lilcosco08]

Also i think most people who are commenting on this are missing the point the computers are not replacing teachers they are replacing textbooks, ws and all paper and pencil products used in school.

False.

The Mooresville Graded School District paid for the initiative by eliminating 65 jobs, including 37 teaching positions, and accepting larger class sizes.

 

[Aussieiphone]

Crazy.

For those who can't see the big picture of how wrong the method for obtaining the new Airs was and those so willing to blame their learning experiences on others, you obviously weren't listening in class and it would take a philosophical lesson on humanity (you'd need to pay attention to) for you to learn (I'm sorry but the device your reading this on won't be teaching you ).

Suffice to say there were many other methods for obtaining the new notebooks and the figures provided always reminds me of the popular phrase;

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics"

Really tired of selfish people - I hope you're listening. There are always consequences for your actions, waiting just around the next corner (I'll be there to make sure).

 

[charlituna]

I've got a radical idea (somewhat kidding about): get rid of the whole school system as we know it. No teachers, no principals, no nothing. Just give each kid an iPad, MBA or other kind of computer. Have an app that lets you download different subject areas (i.e. science, math, literature, computer science, etc.) at different levels of difficulty. Once you think you've mastered a certain level in a subject, you take a test and, if you pass, go on to the next level. Maybe make level 1 be kindergarten and level 10 be high school senior or something. Something like certification exams that exist for Apple Certified Technology Coordinator or CCNA exams, etc.

The only way for something like this to work is if there was a system that insures that kids are actually studying and not goofing off and taking 3 years to pass a grade. And it has to be something more than just trusting the parents cause even now, many of them are not involved with their kids studies

That said, there may come a day when kids do get to do more independent study type work and can learn about what they want. In fact I think that there should be. Why not give kids 30-60 minutes out of the day a couple of times a week to work on something they pick. So long as it isn't something crazy like a 4th grader trying to write, film and edit a nazi porn flick, or building a bomb.

 

[bpaluzzi]

For those who can't see the big picture of how wrong the method for obtaining the new Airs was and those so willing to blame their learning experiences on others, you obviously weren't listening in class and it would take a philosophical lesson on humanity (you'd need to pay attention to) for you to learn (I'm sorry but the device your reading this on won't be teaching you ).

Suffice to say there were many other methods for obtaining the new notebooks and the figures provided always reminds me of the popular phrase;

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics"

Really tired of selfish people - I hope you're listening. There are always consequences for your actions, waiting just around the next corner (I'll be there to make sure).

Wow, smart AND internet tough. What a combination! Enlighten us.

 

[scott911]

"How about you read the rest of the article -- the part where the students are doing much better..."

I read the who article - you're fooling yourself if you think standardized test scores and the other metrics that article touts as "doing better" are truly meaningful.

I was happy to move from a distinct that was #1 in the region to a town about thirty miles aware that was ranked #9th or something.

why was I happy? - because #9 is the better school, preparing my children for a better life. no question.

but you may not understand this if you were educated by a computer.