My Grandmother was cautious when I told her that I had something to show her. As I unwrapped the new computer her comment was “looks like one of those damn T.V. sets.” When I showed her what the computer was capable of doing her comment was “that contraption is the product of the devil.” My grandmother was 83 years old at the time.
When I read the article Computers in the classroom, I thought of my grandmother and how she could look at something and categorize very quickly on it’s appearance rather than what its greater use could be. Most of what my grandmother was concentrating on was information that she received in newspapers that wrote for a certain educational group. She would have loved this article because it cosigns all her fears about technology.
The part of the article that really caught my attention was when she ridiculed Sylvan Learning Centers for rewarding students for doing work that other kids do for free. Well first of all these centers are for students that have made up their minds that they can’t do certain kinds of educational concepts. So, somebody said that’s use the computer to come up with a way to make them understand these concepts. While at the same time learn ways to motivate these non-believers. It is the job of the educator to find the carrots that will lead our children to academic fruition. The bottom line is that by the sixth grade students should know that they are in school to get a job.
I felt there was one part of the article was right on time. Who will have access to the computers? There was a digital divide when this article was written and it still exists today. This argument does not help her position on computers though, if they are not important than why is there a digital divide. It would seem to me that the schools without the computers would be doing better. The facts according to numerous surveys would show that where there are no computers academic scores begin to fall.

Where does change start?

This is a question that I have indirectly asked 5th and 6th grade students. I asked them to tell me one thing in their school or their neighborhood that they would like to change to make their education or community better. Next I asked them to tell me who would be the person who could make this change. Finally I asked them how do they see themselves as part of this change. How do you see yourself as part of the changes that need to happen in the world?