As a household we do have our share of computers, however, the problem lately has been the fact that my husband now procrastinates and ties up the only computer in the house that is connected to the internet. (Yes, I am going to purchase a wireless router with my stimulus check…) Just as I was preparing to write about my thoughts on the Stoll book, dear hubby came in and told me that he had two notebooks and a powerpoint presentation to put together. At first I thought, oh great I am not going to be able to read because I will be stuck doing his powerpoint. After turning over the computer to him, I was able to read the book (actually snuck into the livingroom) and was very proud of him with he showed me the final product of his powerpoint. It was the first that he has ever created and he didn’t even ask for my help. Uh oh, I may lose my position as the technical person, well at least 21st century learner, in my house if I am not careful.
My first thoughts on the Stoll book, more will follow, are that he has a very pessimistic view of computers, but one that may be honored by some. My point is this, we may have become so reliate on computers that we have forgotten the basics. Take math for example. While I am not the biggest supporter of math, I do believe that one should know how to count back change. He mentioned early in the book (page 6) that we are raising a “nation of dolts.” The last time I went to my local major retail store the cashier didn’t enter the right amount of money that I had given him. He proceeded to take out a piece of paper and instead of doing the math, he was using dots. Yes, I am serious. So if we are teaching to the test, which we are (in some cases) then all the students are truly learning is how to fill in a dot/bubble. There seems to be some truth in what Stoll is saying.
More to come later. I am in the second half of the book, but have many more thoughts to share about the first half.
