School districts spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on technology, sometimes into the millions. We are continually told how important it is that our districts have the latest and greatest technology, that each child has an iPad.
I disagree, strongly.
With the birth of technology in our schools I see children that can no longer add without a calculator, cannot sign their own name because they’ve forgotten cursive, cannot spell because they have Spellcheck, cannot lose themselves in a book because it’s not on some hand-held device. I see teachers that cannot guide students in reading selections unless they refer to computer algorithms, classrooms filled with children sitting at computers, and teachers sitting in the corner. Wouldn’t it be great if we spent that money on teachers who love to teach?
Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels this way.
The chief technology officer of eBay and employees of Silicon giants such as Apple, Google and Yahoo, send their children to schools where a computer cannot be found. They are not allowed in classrooms and their use at home is frowned upon.
Why? Computers restrict creative thinking and human interaction, shorten attention spans and limit problem-solving abilities.
The one thing technology is good for? Data collection. Common Core testing through PARCC and Smarter Balanced begins in the next school year, and is the vehicle for nationwide student data collection, academic and nonacademic.
Parents have the right to opt out of this testing, and should insist the state offer an alternative form of testing. Prior to adopting Common Core, Massachusetts and Indiana consistently ranked as having the top schools in the country. Those pre-Common Core standards and assessments can be adopted, at no cost. But maybe that’s the problem. There’s no money to be made in that sensible scenario.
Marianne Gasiecki,
Mansfield, OH