America: Back to the Basics of Life
I've seen some really weird things on Quibblo, and elsewhere, where people get downright morbid, saying all sorts of things about nuclear war and global warming. This is my response to all that.
None of what they're saying helps. This will, if you let it.
Okay. Here goes.
Technology needs to go.
By this I mean computers in every schoolroom, smart boards, projectors, cellphones, ipods, and electronical devices of that sort. They aren't necessary, and run up huge bills for schools.
Just think of the cost a school has to pay to get every classroom, or most of them, a smart board. Now they also have to pay for hours of continuous use of said smartboards, and when any or all of them have problems or fail, they have to pay for the maintenance and the replacement costs, all for something unnecessary.
Chalk boards are just fine for use, and there are fewer problems with teensy amounts of chalk dust than with the problems you get with the fumes from the markers you need for a white board. Chalk you can use up, the entire stick can be used until it's dust in your hand. A marker can too easily dry up, run out of ink, or be otherwise destroyed.
Chalk is quite cheap, and the boards can be used for ages and ages.
Laptops in the classroom are another ridiculous unnecessary. The cost for a school to purchase, run, and maintain these things is enormous. They have to keep an internet connection going, and they start dumping worthwhile books from their libraries into the trash--quite literally.
Cellphones and other personal electronic devices are a distraction in the classroom, and a hardship on the worthwhile teacher. To a teacher who really isn't teaching, these devices are okay. But a solid education is hard enough to get, and with half the classroom doing something else unrelated to the class makes it harder.
What should happen is that anyone with any such device should have to be taken home by their parents immediately. If parents had to leave work, or home, or whatever that really does need doing, to come and bring their child home from school, personal devices such as cellphones and ipods would quickly disappear from the school system, and many problems teachers claim would dissolve altogether.
Another thing that needs going from the teacher's domain is the computer itself. Grades and notes can and should be kept in a book. Grade books should be kept in pairs--one at the school, locked in a drawer or cabinet, and another copy, either at the teacher's home, or somewhere as safe. Paper records are easier to spot changes on--handwriting differences and the marks left by rewriting something--while an electronic record is just there. It would be so easy to change things, and you can't tell. The writing doesn't differ--it's all in the same type! Records in the dentist's office, in a surgery, or any setting for that matter, should all be paper.
Yes, a fire can destroy, but you can stop the fire. If only half the records are gone, that's alright then. We have a start. But if the fire gets the computer or the wires, it's all gone. Medical records aren't allowed to have backups outside the workplace because of patient privacy. Which means if it's wiped, it's gone for good.
Also, if you drop the computer, and it gets broken, it's done for. You can drop the notebook, the file, or whatever it is, and it isn't going to be destroyed. It's, at most, going to be wrinkled.
Thoughts?
Technology needs to go.
By this I mean computers in every schoolroom, smart boards, projectors, cellphones, ipods, and electronical devices of that sort. They aren't necessary, and run up huge bills for schools.
Just think of the cost a school has to pay to get every classroom, or most of them, a smart board. Now they also have to pay for hours of continuous use of said smartboards, and when any or all of them have problems or fail, they have to pay for the maintenance and the replacement costs, all for something unnecessary.
Chalk boards are just fine for use, and there are fewer problems with teensy amounts of chalk dust than with the problems you get with the fumes from the markers you need for a white board. Chalk you can use up, the entire stick can be used until it's dust in your hand. A marker can too easily dry up, run out of ink, or be otherwise destroyed.
Chalk is quite cheap, and the boards can be used for ages and ages.
Laptops in the classroom are another ridiculous unnecessary. The cost for a school to purchase, run, and maintain these things is enormous. They have to keep an internet connection going, and they start dumping worthwhile books from their libraries into the trash--quite literally.
Cellphones and other personal electronic devices are a distraction in the classroom, and a hardship on the worthwhile teacher. To a teacher who really isn't teaching, these devices are okay. But a solid education is hard enough to get, and with half the classroom doing something else unrelated to the class makes it harder.
What should happen is that anyone with any such device should have to be taken home by their parents immediately. If parents had to leave work, or home, or whatever that really does need doing, to come and bring their child home from school, personal devices such as cellphones and ipods would quickly disappear from the school system, and many problems teachers claim would dissolve altogether.
Another thing that needs going from the teacher's domain is the computer itself. Grades and notes can and should be kept in a book. Grade books should be kept in pairs--one at the school, locked in a drawer or cabinet, and another copy, either at the teacher's home, or somewhere as safe. Paper records are easier to spot changes on--handwriting differences and the marks left by rewriting something--while an electronic record is just there. It would be so easy to change things, and you can't tell. The writing doesn't differ--it's all in the same type! Records in the dentist's office, in a surgery, or any setting for that matter, should all be paper.
Yes, a fire can destroy, but you can stop the fire. If only half the records are gone, that's alright then. We have a start. But if the fire gets the computer or the wires, it's all gone. Medical records aren't allowed to have backups outside the workplace because of patient privacy. Which means if it's wiped, it's gone for good.
Also, if you drop the computer, and it gets broken, it's done for. You can drop the notebook, the file, or whatever it is, and it isn't going to be destroyed. It's, at most, going to be wrinkled.
Thoughts?
5 Comments
AGREED!!!!! But, I could never COMPLETLY agree to this thought because music is my life.
But music doesn't have to be a part of your school day!! You can wait until after school to listen to your 'tunes.' Do you really need music to distract you while you're trying to work out a difficult algebra problem? Before anyone says it, I know music helps concentrate---but they also say it is classical music, not rap, pop, country, or anything else.
i agree with the thought about not having technology at school.
but at the same time for teachers and people in the office it's easier for people to take attendence, keep track of records and enter grades.
but to be honest, i could live without a computer but not without a phone b/c that's how i call my parents to let them know i'm safe/home, or to call friends really quick to know where to meet them if we're hanging out or if they're already there.
i agree with you, there's just +s and -s
omg in all the school's in my statee to every year 9 student they give you a laptop to keep till you finish year 12how about that for technology oh and btw all socialising is blocked xcept quibblo im on mine (laptop) right now and its only supposed to be for studying but everyone at school hacks in and goes on msn and fb haha cheeky even me LOL
That is not funny, nor is it good. I don't care if it whatever is blocked, I'm talking cost here. Plus everyone's supposed to be going all green.....where is that electricity coming from, hm? How do you make electricity, hm? That's why electricity-powered cars AREN'T eco-friendly!