Mr. School Bureaucrat, Tear Down That Wall!
Recently Gardner Campbell and I were tweeting about the myopic view that some public school officials have about the Internet.
It’s amazing that in todays world there are school officials that don’t see the value in using the collaborative and experiential aspects of the Internet to create a more engaged and excited student. In Henrico County they provide Apple Macintosh laptops for all of the middle school students and Dell Laptops for the high school students. An amazing feat all on its own. But then they hamper the students usage blocking the use of google search and they talk down (or outright ignore) the value of wikipedia.
Back in February 2007
It’s time to devise ways to elevate our students and make them net savvy. Let’s work to create a more engaged student. Let them discover the value and fun of learning. Lets not put road blocks in their way.
Let me know how your school district embraces or denies the reality of our modern world!
Technorati Tags: education, children, technology
Posted by DaddyOh in Critical Thinking, Education, Technology |
September 9th, 2007 at 12:31 am
I work for HCPS as an instructional technology resource teacher. It is odd what ends up blocked. We now block the google translation services because students were using it to look up foreign equivalents for material that’s blocked by our filter. It’s sad what ends up happening.
In reality though, I don’t see it so much as a problem with the school administration- although they play a part. If you look at the path HCPS has traveled. The media and key parent groups have played the major role in driving us to the situation we’re currently in. It seems like most admins will bow to the most vocal community pressure. We need to start working on the community if we really want anything to change.
We’re trying to do that with our new parent training but I’m not sure we can get the vocal support we need to counter what’s been going on for so long.
My two cents anyway,
Tom
September 9th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Tom,
Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, we have two forces (some times extreme ones) working in opposite directions to make some filtering necessary. Students that try their hardest to get to material that the community has deemed inappropriate and as well vocal citizens that sometimes take extreme positions on content restriction, not unlike our current national political landscape.
I get that these students in most cases are not yet adults. However soon they will be. And they need to be able to work in a world that provides access to any content imaginable (and some that is hard to imagine), incredible technology and rapid change. They need to learn to deal with this world. Schools and parents need to work together to train our youth in the proper use of technology, proper behaviors and character. And yes the parents are ultimately responsible for character and behavior development.
As my children progress through the school system in Henrico I will be a voice for reason. Recently I had the privilege to hear Dr. Spence speak to both the incoming freshman and their parents at Deep Run. Actually I left with a tear of joy in my eye and warm feelings that my oldest was going to the best school possible. So given my initial comments I think we are lucky to be in such a modern and effective school district.