No, really...

I know this is late, mostly because I was going to take a pass this week, but this article has been gnawing on me for a bit and reading comments on others, I have to.

Large Hadron Collider

Ok, you all know I hate technology, but maybe not the reasons why. This article felt like a good idea, like the particle accelerator
at CERN, but also what happens when that power gets into the wrong hands or is used the wrong way? Even the good guys could accidentally create a black hole with that thing, and then what?

Here are my questions/problems with this idea of implementing technology:

How can people be taught to communicate and interact when they're staring at a screen and tapping messages out? I am a Facebook un-fan. Yes, I do have a page and in my defense, it has been good in communicating with a specific group of people I see once a year. I have 29 friends there. One is my mom, one my sister, and only because my sis lives soooo far away. What I hate about it, is people put things on there they would never dare say to another person face to face. It makes them bold and opinionated, without the consequence of seeing the look of disappointment on their conversational partners. When did it become so hard to actually make time to get together with our friends and neighbors and how will children know how to do that if they are never taught to get away from their screens, even at school? Will the cafeteria be filled with children staring at screens while eating as they text the person sitting next to them?

Which one?

How many platforms are going to be utilized? Will they be compatible  Will we have interface wars like Google and Apple? In four classes I have taken so far from WSU, I have had to learn how to use three different platforms to participate. As far as I can see, no data from each transfers to the other, plus, dummy me, I have to spend hours at each one figuring out how it works before I even start the class. I know kids are smarter than I in that regard, but my questions still stand.

How will information transfer when students move? This one is kind of related to the one above. We all know kids move between school and between districts. How can we transfer their data between platforms? Do students take their tablets with them when they move? What happens when they go from the super-awesome-everyone-has-a-tablet school, to the regular one that can't yet afford that program? What happens to their data? And what use is it to the new school?

Screen time for kids should be limited! That's not a question. I have no research quotes to back this up, but I am sure that many kids have spent too much time being overstimulated by a screen, be it tv, computer or video games. I truly think this has contributed to the rash, nay, epidemic of ADHD that has been running rampant in our youth. I know this is a bold statement and I have done very little research on it. My own children get less than two hours of tv a week. When they get more than that, they get antsy and overactive. Instead, they go outside and play or create things with their toys.

Well, are you?

When the power goes out...? While this is a highly unlikely scenario, we only have three power grids in the US, one of them shared with Canada (Texas actually has its very own!). With the
increasing demand for electric to power our new cars, new gadgets and all the regular stuff we've been using power for forever, the grids become stressed. Some cities have experience rolling black-outs and brown-outs. How is this good for an electrically based education system. (No, I'm not a Prepper, but I do believe in being prepared). One of the funniest things I ever get to see is what happens when a store's cash register stops thinking for the clerk. I end up having to count my own change back to myself. Yes, I have a sardonic sense of humor, but why are people relying on a machine to do math for them when they have the most sophisticated computer on the planet? Teachers have this computer available to them as well, and many use it and use it well!! Why use a sub-par computer in competition to this one?

That being said...
I really do think technology can help to improve the education of children. They are so used to using tech already, it would only be a small step for most of them from texting and web browsing to classroom blog discussion and educational games. Teachers must learn to adapt and use the resources available.

Nook or Kindle?

Putting text books onto tablets is a great idea! Saves paper, updates can be done automatically, speech
readers can talk the student through the book if they have trouble with reading (though, we have to remember, the kid still needs to know how to read!), kids can even take notes right there on the screen.

Will the tech of our education follow us digitally in the next 50 years? I hope not, actually. We should all get to start again, anew, when we age out of school, but it could be handy, if used correctly.