Washington Post
February 10, 2008
Author: Patrick Welsh
T.C. William's High School in Alexandria, Virginia, is one of the most expensive high schools in the nation. Last year, the school moved into a new building that cost 98 million dollars. When I first heard the cost it blew my mind. This school is filled with all the technological advances that are on the market today. They have LCD projectors, a high tech cafeteria, lap tops for every student, and a "school pad." While I would expect the teachers to be estatic over all of these advances, the opposite is the truth. They feel that much of the learning process is being taken away by the technology. The teachers feel that this is creating a lazy breed of people because students are looking for the easy answer to everything, and not taking the time to sit down and absorb learning. Mr. Welsh went on to state that even the administration is turning to things like email, rather than face to face conversation. While the technology looks good in the headlines, most of the staff feels that the students could be given more of a quality education without it. While I think it is important to be proficient with the technologies of today, I find nothing wrong with paper and a pen. Everything in moderation is usually key.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
That is rediculous. Technology is making learning easier today but there is only so much that you really need. With all that what is the point of the kids going to school? Why not just broadcast everything via the internet?
The fact that they are spending millions of dollars on things such as laptops and lcd projectors makes LSU look like a dump. And it is a high school? We need to talk to Bobby Jindal about getting laptops from the university. Even though they have all the good things I agree with the teachers in that it is making a lazy breed of students. One thing they can't buy is a championship team... Go tigers.
While I do agree that is a lot of money to spend in the construction of a school, at least the money is being spent. I recently read the College Sustainability Report card which estimated Harvard University's endowment to be $36 Billion(no typo). While education costs have risen exponentially over the last decade, many of these endowments grow by as much as %20 which amounts to great sums of money which could be used to lower education costs. It's really not fair when some public university's get all the money they need and others have to ask teachers to pay for their own materials.
There is a line between advanced learning and extravagance. And it seems a high school of this magnitude could obviously be injuring the learning process. When everything is so easy, students come to expect everything to be that way. Although I do not go to that school or have any evidence, I can imagine that the classroom interaction might be a lot duller.
I agree with you. Technological innovations for learning, should be well balanced with old school learning tools, like the chalkboard and pen and paper. It is important nowadays to use technology to help us maximize our learning potential, but learning with technology should only take place after a firm foot has been planted in traditional learning practices. you have to learn to write before you can type, walk before you can run, etc. if we can learn to balance the pen and paper with the computer, our learning potential will be greatly increased, and all types of people will benefit equally in learning.
Post a Comment