My conversations with colleagues and parents sometimes get into what computer skills schools should teach students. The conversations are almost always contain this bit of dialogue.
“We need to have Microsoft Office on student computers?”
“Why?”
“Because they’ll need it when they get into the real world.”
Setting aside the fact that we have no idea what the “real world” will be 10 years from now, I have serious issues with this conversation.
We should not confuse teaching a specific program (operating system, office programs, whatever) with teaching useful computer skills (or to use education lingo, 21st century learning).
Dan Grover’s most excellent post “Towards a Grand Uniform Theory of N00bs” does an excellent job and summing up the problem.
I think I can speak for most of my generation in saying that computer classes in high schools, colleges, and community centers are universally worthless. Courses for young people are usually taught by out-of-touch adults with a much less advanced understanding of the things they’re teaching than their students. The only kind of teacher likely to be more incompetent than a computer teacher is a gym teacher. But that’s not the problem.
The real problem is that these courses often teach a specific operating system or a specific office suite in an extremely facile manner. They’re glorified typing courses. That means when Microsoft changes the locations of buttons in Word, students’ knowledge is obsolete. Even programming courses in high school (and many colleges) are tied to specific programming languages, not general concepts. A good course teaches a mix of theory and application, but most computer courses can’t even handle application right.
His solution?
To create a computer course for laymen that does not do them a disservice, it should be rooted in things that we can reasonably anticipate will not change. I’m not quite sure what those are but the stumbling blocks outlined in the previous section are a good place to start. It should combine practical computer skills and general information literacy. It should be required and it should be rigorous, not a blowoff course.
Imagine how many fewer bank accounts or email accounts would be hacked if a section on the final exam gave students URLs and asked them to identify the domain name, the subdomains, the path, the port, and the protocol. This sounds like esoteric technobabble at first. But if high school students are expected to know how many valence electrons molybdenum has or how to define trigonometric functions in terms of each other, it’s highly practical by comparison.
Teaching students how a hierarchical file system works would make sense. It could even briefly cover the directory structures on each popular OS at the time and where things go. I have my doubts on how long the idea will last, but I’m betting at least another 15 years.
There’s a good bit more (I encourage everyone to read the article), but his post captures a lot of my background thoughts when it comes to computer education and learning.
Because the fact is that there are shared concepts to our digital world. Form and function work in very similar ways across different systems. Identifying what’s shared and consistent (and rooted) will help students prepare for the next big thing that comes their way.
Grand Unified Theory of N00bs…an incredible article on people who just don’t get basic computer concepts. This one’s important from a school district’s perspective (as in how the district interacts with the community). Additionally, part of the article very thoughtfully tackles why computer education in schools is terrible (for a bit more of my 2 cents, see this post).
Doug Johnson contemplates how to avoid printing and save districts gobs of money. Of interesting note is his reflection on how much google apps may end up saving his district.
Go ahead kids and bash those teachers on Facebook…a judge rules that students are protected by the 1st amendment when they criticize their teacher on Facebook.
Dan Myers Annual Report is published…there is a certain sub group of individuals who like to parse their year out and sift through it to see what conclusions can be made. This particular way of parsing started, I believe, with Nick Felton. Anyway, I find this interesting because it could play into a social studies lesson, a philosophy lesson, and a math lesson. An interesting way to become introspective.
Writing for the Web…and completely fantastic collection of everything known about writing for the web. I would consider this a must “glance through” and file for later for every teacher.
A short list of Netiquette…a nice, short summary of internet etiquette that I wouldn’t mind folding into what we’re doing at Oak Hills.
QR Codes in learning…I’ve a small group of relatives who believe that QR codes are a sign of the end times, but here’s a random post on how they might be used in education.
From Arun Basil Lal…too good not to share.
How To Write An Awesome Blog Post
View more presentations from Arun Basil Lal.
Fewer high school students take computer education classes…American high school students typically have a wide understanding of technology, but a very shallow comprehension of it as well. This bodes ill for our future (and how much do I wish I’d taken a computer programming class in high school).
And the NY Times writes about how Computer Science is affecting every job…and shouldn’t we be training students on programming (note: not how to use an excel document).
Jay Mathews gripes about teachers rejecting the internet…and honestly, how often do teachers post their homework assignments to the web?
Keeping America’s Edge…a thoughtful analysis of the past century and an interesting (and somewhat scary) explanation of the futures we face as a country. This is a tough article and takes time to chew over. Interesting recommendation: deregulate schools.
Legislators wake up to the fact that open courseware can save a lot of money…but won’t those big (lobbying) textbook companies loose money?
This blog’s been quiet because my wife and I traveled to Colombia to adopt our 2 daughters, Monica and Kelly, and I haven’t had time for follow the tech/education news. But I’m now back at work and ready to contribute!
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| From A day at the River |
With all the rumors and hype of Tablets being the Next Big Thing in technology, here’s a very fascinating video/commercial demonstrating how a tablet (or a smart phone?) could be used in the classroom.
A glimpse at the next step for the internet.
Sometime in the future I plan to get into the fine points of creating and using video for class (and peer) instruction. I’m still in the experimental stages, but have definitely been convinced of the handiness of some basic video editing software, a flip video, and the ever handy vimeo.com.
Personal geek hero of mine, Dan Myer, posted a very clever “how he does it” video on his blog. I highly encourage those interested to check it out.
Professional Conference Video With Semi-Professional Equipment from Dan Meyer on Vimeo.
6 Practical Reasons why Art Ed is Important…written by my personal brain/education hero, Dan Willingham.
Horses out the barn…in which Doug Johnson lists trends in education that are becoming reality. Very well said.
More Honor Students are going to Community Colleges…because you can save a boatload of money. Another example of how economics are changing the learning playing field.
How much do dropouts cost a city?…a study that opens with this whopper: “If half the students who dropped out of the class of 2008 had graduated, they would have generated $4.1 billion more in wages and $536 million in state and local taxes nationally in one average year of their working lives.”
Retaining Next-Gen Teachers is an impossible dream…a very sad and pessimistic post on why schools (particularly public, inner-city) won’t keep next-generation teachers in the classroom. The post has a ring of truth to me (although it’s countered by the current economic realities and the joy of having a steady job). Hmmmm, food for thought.
Blackboard and Desire2Learn drop the knives…lawsuits are dropped and both companies agree to cross-license their technology. The question of whether they should have the patents in the 1st place remains unresolved.
Pittsburgh looks at taxing tuition…interesting article on how Pittsburgh is looking at fulfilling its pension dues. Low risk tax increase (students don’t typically vote locally).
The Idiots Guide to Google Wave…because – at first – it’s hard to wrap your mind around. I still can’t figure if this will be one of those ground breaking technologies that will complete reshape the technological/societal world over the next decade…or a complete flop. I do give props to Google for trying to take on the antiquated technology of email.
Great presentation that summarizes much of the information I’m finding with eLearning. From Cathy Moore’s site “making change“.
How to save the world with elearning scenarios
View more documents from Cathy Moore.
Who owns the lesson plans?…a NY Times article that details the budding market place of teacher lesson plans. Hmmm, wonder how much I could get for my American History PPTs?
Robert Cringley joins other prophets in predicting the downfall of post-2ndary education…great quote: “What drives the education industry is producing degrees while what drives the computer industry is producing products and services.” Substitute “computer” for any industry and you got cause for concern.
Wikis in the work place…an interesting article that tackles common miss-perceptions people have of using wikis for work. A good read, particularly because I think this will be the future trend in education. It just makes sense.
6th Sense Technologies…umm, okay, I’m a science fiction geek so I knew this was coming. I just didn’t realize it was here. When this technology starts coming into education, school is going to be so much fun.
100 Ways to use Facebook in the classroom…yes, Facebook can be used for education.
Seth Godin features a post on how to loose an argument. Personal favorites:
- Forget the pitfalls of Godwin’s law. Any time you mention Hitler or even Communist China or Bill O’Reilly, you’ve lost.
- Bring up the slippery slope. Actually, the slope isn’t that slippery. People don’t end up marrying dogs, becoming cannibals or harvesting organs because of changes in organization, technology or law.
Anytime I read a comment in the newspaper or on someone’s blog that features those two point I immediately stop reading or giving any intellectual credit to the writer.
