[Fwd: Macleans article : How computers make our kids stupid]

 From the TTCS list.  Should be interesting for our resident primary 
school teachers.


Allan.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [ttcs] Macleans article : How computers make our kids stupid
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005 09:10:51 -0400
From: Dev Anand Teelucksingh <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
Organization: Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society
To: [email protected]

Interesting read, given the importance placed on having computers in
primary school with internet access at primary schools - Dev T

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How computers make our kids stupid
June 06, 2005, SUE FERGUSON, Macleans

There's growing evidence that too much cyber-time dumbs down our children

The first thing you notice opening the door to Les Black's classroom is
the smell. It's a dank, earthy aroma from a dozen planters perched on
shelves or suspended from the ceiling. Sunlight filters through a row of
wood-framed windows onto the 27 fourth-graders. A boy standing at the
front relates the story of his grandfather's life, impressing upon his
audience that the old man did not always act within the letter of the
law. His classmates squirm in their seats. Some fiddle with pencils. One
boy thoughtfully caresses a papier mâché snake resting on his desk.
Behind the presenter is a chalkboard and, above it, the age-old series
of placards displaying the alphabet, exquisitely drawn in cursive form.

This scene in a private school in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill is not
unlike thousands of others across Canada. But wait a minute -- something
is strangely amiss. Where are the keyboards? Where are the darkened
screens framed by dull grey plastic? The tangle of cables cascading over
the backs of the tables? How strange: a classroom without a gigabyte in
sight, not even on the teacher's desk. How will these children ever get
a job? How will their teachers ever instill in them a love of learning?

Read rest of article :
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/education/article.jsp?content=20050606_106930_106930

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dev T



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