The reason Education is so bad, is cellphones

[mgh80]

Opening up a book, and doing the effort to research something, and maybe learning something along the way... is a lot different than googling an answer on your phone at school!

Does anyone want to dispute this?

I don't allow students to use their cell phones in my class without my explicit permission. Any other questions?


Although sometimes they are beneficial. Perfect example:

Last year our class was reading a book, and a student was on his phone, so I called him out for it. He told me he was reading the book (for class) on his phone, I then prompted him to read the page he was on...he proceeded to do so perfectly. Granted this isn't always the norm, but there are TONS and TONS of positive educational uses for cell phones (specifically smart phones) in school. The example I gave you is just an easy one for people who're no longer in school to understand. Other examples are kahoot or nearpod. My students LOVE using nearpod.

 

[Spinster]

Because, instead of reading about stuff, and learning, kids use their cellphones.

To look up quick answers and not really think about stuff. Just give an answer. Like some posters here...

It pains me to think what society is going to be like in a few generations.

I tend to agree, to some extent, because kids these days aren't typically all that motivated to hunger for knowledge. Individuals vary in their strengths and weaknesses, and if they hungered for knowledge the Internet is awesome for self education. As they look up whatever, links lead them to more and more info about the topic, so if driven it's all there for them, just a click away.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

There's a lot of pro and con here.

To me, the most important thing the education of our children is lacking is parental guidance - from two parents. A mother and father.

The second is how many teachers and not fully capable in the subjects they teach and dependence upon source material that is highly biased.

At the same time, electronics allow many children to learn things they otherwise wouldn't bother to study. Using a search engine is no different than thumbing through pages in lots and lots of books. As someone who conducts research of some form everyday, I can see how lost someone would be without the internet.

Yeah, my Algebra text is full of liberal indoctrination. [/sarcasm]

 

[MarathonMike]

What do you suppose the ratio of cell phone socializing to studying is these days? 3 to 1? 5 to 1? 10 to 1?

 

[RWS]

I've got two kids. Only 15 months apart. And they are polar opposites in this particular argument.

While they're both very smart, my older one goes the old fashioned way, and is way beyond all others in her grade. The younger one is a bit lazier, though just as much intelligent. But she goes for the quick answers and memorization. That'll get her through school with high grades, but she isn't learning.

And that's the way I looked at it when I was a teenager. There's "book smarts" and there's being intelligent. And sometimes the two can mix. But people who memorized stuff without learning everything about it, just so they could ace a test, were not "smart" to me. To me it took "understanding", and that's a concept that I feel is mostly lost today. And that took research, and time. There's a difference between memorizing something, and understanding what it is about... And that's what I try to instill in my kids (now teenagers).

My older daughter gets it. My younger daughter does not. But she still kicks butt.

I guess I have a good case study on my hands...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Wrong,

The reason education is bad is our educational system doesn't teach discipline anymore to our children. In the old days kids use to be taught that you do something or else...Well, today, what you will see is they simply aint focused on their education or the education of others.

We as a nation need to change this.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Because, instead of reading about stuff, and learning, kids use their cellphones.

To look up quick answers and not really think about stuff. Just give an answer. Like some posters here...

It pains me to think what society is going to be like in a few generations.

Children should not be permitted near electronic information devices before the age of 16.

Bull shit,

In fact we should have more computer classes from earlier ages as computers have become a very important part of our society. It all comes down to discipline and focus on getting things down and self respect.

 

[RWS]

OK... settle down dude. You're saying kinda the same thing I was, and you called it BS.

So please sit down before you hurt yourself...

 

[RWS]

I have been in IT for 30 years. And been into taking stuff apart and making them better since the Commodore 64 days, when stuff started to overheat.

My kids are very computer-savvy. But that doesn't always help in understanding, unless you follow it through. So yes, you need that discipline to not just memorize the easy answer. And that's what I try to do with them.

But the fact is, many people can get away with the easy answers. Until they finally run into that wall. And that wall may be years away, but it is there. And it is a wall they created by not seeing other possibilities, other ideas, and other scenarios or solutions. By not understanding. They just memorize something and dictate that meme as far as it will take them.

 

[DGS49]

(1) Students should be prohibited from having their cell phones in the classroom. Many years ago I read that NYC schools implemented this rule by force, but I have no idea where this stands now. If phones are present, they should obviously be turned off, with severe repercussions for infractions.

(2) The Internet (as accessed by a "smartphone") is a TOOL, and the teacher's job is to teach students how best to use that tool. If bare information is all you need (e.g., name of the 25th President), a smartphone is a fantastic resource to have, but if analysis is required, internet access won't get you there in real time.

(3) Teachers should be smart enough to create assignments and tests that are not amenable to solution by quick internet access, and require understanding and analysis.

(4) I would be curious to know how a long-tenured teacher would feel about this question. Are students helped or hindered by this wonderful technology?

 

[RWS]

Depends on where you live, and the teachers in that environment. In AZ, they don't give a crap because of the large class sizes. So Google is probably at least 50% of the research done in AZ schools, because teachers can't possibly get one-on-ones with students except in the few labs available per week. They have no books to bring home and study. Well, a couple. So online research is highly encouraged. Though the funny thing is they say never to quote WIKI. Maybe because that's the only thing they check. Anyway, plagiarism is rampant. Very few kids are actually learning the right thing.

 

[Unkotare]

..... Very few kids are actually learning the right thing.

Spend a lot of time in schools evaluating this, do you?

 

[RWS]

Fuk yeah. I've also been teaching the possibility of other planets in our solar system.

Guess who has been doing HIGH FIVES recently?

 

[RWS]

You know... when I was arguing stuff about 15 years ago on Bad Astronomy, regarding the possibility of Nibiru...

They said, and I paraphrase.... "IF THERE WAS ANY PLANET OUT THERE WE WOULD KNOW BY NOW!!"

I added the caps because that was the way they rolled!! And I said, "no, you cannot stay in the box like that!"

The debunkers were so sure of their beliefs, that they could not let any truths in.

 

[RWS]

It's not Nancy Planet X. But it flies in the face of all the people that said that a new large planet cannot exist outside of our observed solar system. It's probably not Nibiru either. But I would love to talk to someone again that says these possibilities cannot exist.

And the initial "by-the-book" prognosis is that it has to be a gas giant. (because rocky planets cannot exist beyond Mars). And that "gas giant" is smaller than any gas giant in our solar system. It's a little bit bigger than Earth. But it's a "gas giant" because that's the way it has to roll out there!!!


http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016...eptune-sized-planet-lurks-unseen-solar-system

 

[frigidweirdo]

Because, instead of reading about stuff, and learning, kids use their cellphones.

To look up quick answers and not really think about stuff. Just give an answer. Like some posters here...

It pains me to think what society is going to be like in a few generations.

Children should not be permitted near electronic information devices before the age of 16.

But most jobs require you to be able to use electronic devices. So, your idea of "better education" is to keep kids away from the very things they'll need in their future jobs. Hmm... doesn't sound so smart to me.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Opening up a book, and doing the effort to research something, and maybe learning something along the way... is a lot different than googling an answer on your phone at school!

Does anyone want to dispute this?

Yes.

When you go on Google, or whatever search engine, you need to learn about why people make sources. You need to evaluate them for whether they are valid or not.

If you take a book, many people will just assume the information is valid, because it's been published. However dealing with something like the internet, you have to be more savvy.

Just googling something and then writing it down is the same from a book as from Google, you don't learn how to think either way.

 

[RWS]

Why can't it be a rocky planet out there, disturbing the comets just as much as a mini-gas-giant?

Why are they dismissing it right off the bat?

I'm telling ya... It's Nibiru!!

 

[RWS]

whoa.... weirdo....

where did you come from all of a sudden?

 

[RWS]

Weirdo, let's talk about history. And you are not allowed to use the internet.

How did you learn to write?