“Schools should stop trying to reinvent the wheel”
Schools all over America are trying to come up with new and improved ways to teach your children. Let’s go over the latest brilliant ideas from the not so brilliant minds of those running our schools…
Many states are in the process of passing bills that would create a virtual classroom for students where children would go online for lessons. We’re talking 4th graders to high school kids. Schoolteachers would use computers to assist in their instruction; they would give lessons live over the Internet to students in their own homes. A certified teacher would work with students and communicate with them through e-mail and telephone conversations. The lessons would take place over the computer and both the student and teacher could have the ability to use the web cam and see one another…
Bad idea junior!! You go to school for two reasons: (1) to learn, and (2) to socialize with other children. Kids need to learn to co-exist with other kids; they need to learn to share and play with each other. Kids also need to learn to deal with the school bully. Sitting at home in front of a computer accomplishes none of that!
I don’t believe kids can learn like this. There are too many distractions at home. The dog is barking – the cat is tearing up the couch – the phone is ringing – the student has other windows open on the computer, looking at other web sites while he is getting “a lesson” – the TV is on – a younger sibling is running around the house playing “pretend” – dad has his girlfriend in the back room – mom is chilling with the pool boy outside – grandpa is snoring away on the coach – grandma is baking a pie and complaining that grandpa drools when he sleeps!
Many parents want these virtual classrooms so they can keep their kids out of the real world. I guess this is similar to home schooling. I have never been a fan of home schooling. Have you ever seen the National Spelling Bee on ABC/ESPN?? Those kids are all home schooled, and what a pack of nerds!!
Getting an education is great…but if you don’t know how to hang out and co-exist with other kids, how important and fulfilling is that ‘A’ you just received in your on-line English class??
Gaydos
Gaydos: I have listened to you for about a year now and I really appreciate your views. Your sence of humor just gets me through the afternoon. I’ve read your blog above and just had to comment. We live out here in Peoria and our district has just annouced that we will have 700-900 in cuts in our district. Our elementary school, where my kids attend, has been told that they will lose at least 23 of their staff. They are looking at 40-45 kids per classroom next year. My son now is in 3rd grade with 29 in his class and 18 are boys. How on earth will they be able to handle another 10 or so in class?… Hence the computers, hence, home schooling, which I agree 100% does nothing for their socialization skills. My son does have trouble fitting in with others and I can’t image what would happen with larger classrroom sizes and/or now learning via the computer. We have gone way overboard on trying to “improve” our system. Kids want to learn, but they need to still be able to enjoy it. They need to get to know other kids and how to fit in, AND they need to be exposed to the music, PE, art, and library programs, these are vital to their learning process. I truly think we need to stick to the basics and the simplicity of learning. Let our kids be kids for a little while, and yet give them every opportunity that we can.
Thank you,
Bethany Saire
Let us get this straight from the top. It is NOT the teachers who want this. or the teachers reinventing the wheel. Trained teachers are being left behind because the bottom line is looming over their heads. We’re trained in psychology, brain learning, best practices, learning styles, multiple intelligences, etc. We are trained to teach students how to learn, how to ask questions, and how to get along with the people around them. When you have lawmakers and accountants making decisions in the classroom, that is when it all goes wrong. At the high school level, yes, you can take a few online classes, but as a kid? You need to be self-guided, and most of the students would not be. How would we accout for the students? What is to say that the parents aren’t doing the work? Or that they aren’t just copying. Students need intellectual interaction, they need to learn how to work in a cohesive group.
It is rediculous. I knew a family that homeschooled their son because people picked on him. He’s now a teenager and my dad tells me about how winy and self-centered he is.
I know a lot of people would force their older kids to “CPSKOOL” just so that they can babysit while the parents work or mess around.
I’m sorry, but I don’t trust many parents today to watch out for education. A few would do well, but how many parents now actually watch their kids?
sincerely, Mel
Gaydos,
You can write a blog, but not show up to work? They besmirched you left and right and then up and down.
Shame on you Junior!
This would be just another giant step for America in dumbing itself down. A GIANT step. It would enhance our existing community of antisocial, uneducated opportunists (cheaters), who expect everything to be delivered to them. Brilliant.
The concept of virtual classrooms is just another example of “educator think” that has been at the root of many education problems since the early 1960’s. It basically says “If a little bit is good, a whole lot must be better.” For students living in rural areas without access to a chemistry teacher, or students confined to home for medical reasons, etc. virtual classrooms make a lot of sense. For science demonstrations or specific instructional reviews that students may access from home to reinforce classroom instruction a great case for computer access to learning can be made. But when “educator think” takes over, the proposal is extended to all, and without considering the impact on the average situation, a new vision of education is touted and another step toward mediocrity is taken.