Arizona school goes all wireless - no textbooks

[yoda313]

Hi,

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050711/ap_on_hi_te/no_textbooks

I don't know. I hope they have one heck of a firewall to block out all nonschool websites. And what about text messenging??? They better be able to lock all of that stuff off. I mean you can just see them:

--------
Joe - Hey suzy you got the answer to number 3????

Suzy - sure its 4500 lbs....
-----

Also all that typing in a classroom???? If its for a computer class you expect it but what about regular lectures??? The keyboard would drown out some lecturers. Plus I hope they uninstalled SOLITAIRE

Kevin

[thecoalman]

The admin can log all that stuff Yoda. They're better of passing the classic paper note.

[yoda313]

Hi,

Yeah I guess. Its just that completely abandoning tradition is a little tough.

Kevin

[thecoalman]

Hi,

Yeah I guess. Its just that completely abandoning tradition is a little tough.

Kevin

Disagree.... out with the old and in with the new. Textbooks are really expensive, with all the money they are going to save they'll be able to provide each student with a computer. This is something that I think is very important, there are a lot of kids that don't have them. Every kid should have a computer.... otherwise they are going to be at a huge disadvantage in the future.

[yoda313]

Hi,

Actually in the article it says the laptops they are using are three hundred dollars more than the textbooks.

Kevin

(per student I assume)

[thecoalman]

Hi,

Actually in the article it says the laptops they are using are three hundred dollars more than the textbooks.

Kevin

(per student I assume)

What are they buying, Alienware. ahh I see now, they're getting laptops, guess that would be needed. Still money well spent IMO.

[zzyzzx]

I think it's a silly waste of taxpayers money.

[Conquest10]

"But we visited other schools using laptops. And at the schools with laptops, students were just more engaged than at non-laptop schools,"

I think this has to do more with the unorthodox way of teaching that comes with no textbooks.

When in high school, I hated going to classes. You just sat there and read from textbooks. No discussion about anything. Just read it out loud and then for homework complete the questions at the end of every chapter. The younger teachers were different, they sometimes did that but they encouraged disscussion more than anything else.

When in college, I immediately realized why those younger teachers were like that. There are textbooks in college, but you are responsible for reading it on your own time. Class time is spent on actually discussing what you read and looking at different ways to look at things. That is something that is severly lacking in grammar and high school.

So I think this is a good thing. Anything that promotes actual interaction between students and instructors and not just memorisation and spitting back the facts on a piece of paper.

[lordsmurf]

I think it's a silly waste of taxpayers money.

Yeah.

[BJ_M]

well many textbooks are out of date - or are just plain wrong, so there might be some good to come of this ..

[thecoalman]

When in high school, I hated going to classes. You just sat there and read from textbooks. No discussion about anything. Just read it out loud and then for homework complete the questions at the end of every chapter. The younger teachers were different, they sometimes did that but they encouraged disscussion more than anything else.

Same here, school was terrible. I had this "nutty" teacher in school that taught math. It was the one class I can think of throughout all 12 years that I looked forward too. He'd get on a subject besides math and be gone for the entire class length, usually revolved around math in some way. You may not of learned math but you always learned something. He always had eveyones attention too. At one point we started playing the stock market, he invested his money for us however we asked. I forget what the prize was, I think a pizza party for the class with the most money at the end of the year.

If every teacher taught the way he did kids would only have to be in school for a couple of hours a day. At one point he was a customer of mine, I was very happy to tell him this.

Edit: He wasn't young though, proably mid to upper thirties.

[Conquest10]

well many textbooks are out of date - or are just plain wrong, so there might be some good to come of this ..

Tell me about it. I used to have books that listed the upper part of Asia as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

[zzyzzx]

well many textbooks are out of date - or are just plain wrong, so there might be some good to come of this ..

Nah, just a free laptop for your kid at the taxpayers expense.

[yoda313]

well many textbooks are out of date - or are just plain wrong, so there might be some good to come of this ..

Nah, just a free laptop for your kid at the taxpayers expense.

Hi,

Would they be assigned like textbooks??? Would they be for the semester/year and then returned? Then wiped and redistributed the next year? Then it would have new life and not travel with one student. More economical that way. Though they'd have to add new laptops for new students. But if a student moved to another district then they'd have to return the laptop. The article doesn't really state that information.

Kevin

[thecoalman]

well many textbooks are out of date - or are just plain wrong, so there might be some good to come of this ..

Nah, just a free laptop for your kid at the taxpayers expense.

You sound like my Grandmother :P when they wanted to put up an arena at the taxpayers expense... which BTW was an overwhelming success. It's one of the most popular venues in country on a per capita basis. Especially for hockey. Only trouble is it was built smaller than they wanted because they never did get the taxpayer support. It was quite funny, old people versus the young people.


If you expect these kids to grow up and be productive citizens of the future and to insure the future of this country they need whatever tools we can give them now. Granted some can afford it but many can't. If one of them that can't just happens to be some sort of genius but is stuck in 1st gear because he/she doesn't have the tools they need that is bigger waste than a million computers.

If you want some real life examples just look at the difference in statistics for graduation, post graduation achievment, crime, etc etc in areas of affluence and poverty. I often wondered what would be the result if they took a school from a highly affluent area and plopped it down in the middle of a ghetto and started out with those kids going to that school from kintergarten up. Obviously the enviroment outside of the school has an influence too but I would imagine the results would be much better than what you see now.

[zzyzzx]

I'd be in favor of the laptop prpgram if parents had to pay for it.

[BJ_M]

Teaching Math In 1950

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost
of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1960

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is $80. Did he make a profit?

Teaching Math In 1980

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of
production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment:
Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math In 1990

By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20.
What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for
class participation after answering the question: How did
the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the
trees. (There are no wrong answers.)

Teaching Math In 2005

El hachero vende un camion carga por $100. La cuesta de production es…..........

[thecoalman]

Teaching Math In 1950

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost
of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

------

By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20.
What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for
class participation after answering the question: How did
the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the
trees. (There are no wrong answers.)

Teaching Math In 2005

El hachero vende un camion carga por $100. La cuesta de production es…..........

ROFLMAO..... there are no wrong answers.....

[stiltman]

Now that made me laugh